Audiobook · read by volunteers
Story of the Three Little Pigs
L. Leslie Brooke (1862–1940)
Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015) · 1 chapter · 8 min
About the book
Three little pigs set out into the world and build their houses from different materials, the last of them brick, and a hungry wolf soon arrives to test them. The famous threat to huff and puff and blow the house in is here, of course. The tale is old and well loved, but this version, published in 1904 by L. Leslie Brooke, has a new twist in its second half, with a cleverness on the part of the pigs that gives the story a fresh, comic energy. Short, brisk and full of repeated phrases that children love to join in, it is just right for a first story, and a delight to hear aloud. You can listen to it by itself or follow along with the Library of Congress facsimile. A few minutes of simple fun for the very young.
Introduction
Leonard Leslie Brooke, who lived from 1862 to 1940, was an English illustrator and author of books for children, and his picture books were widely admired for their humour and for the charm of their drawings. The Story of the Three Little Pigs, published in 1904, is one of the best known. It is a version of the classic tale of the three pigs, their houses and a wolf.
The story begins in the familiar way, with the pigs leaving home to seek their fortunes and each building a house from a different material. What sets this retelling apart is the new twist in its second half, in which the pigs show more ingenuity than in many other versions. The refrains and the clear pattern of the story make it easy for children to follow, and they invite listeners to join in with the repeated lines.
The recording is a single short reading that lasts only a few minutes. It can be enjoyed by itself, or you can read along with the Library of Congress facsimile version from the International Children’s Digital Library, where the original illustrations can be seen.
A LibriVox volunteer provided the reading, one of many such recordings of children’s classics made by the project. It makes a suitable bedtime story, a quick listen between other activities or a welcome addition to a collection of short fairy tales. For parents and teachers, it offers a way to compare this retelling with other versions of the same story, which is a pleasant exercise for children who already know the tale well.
Public domain
L. Leslie Brooke died in 1940: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text