Wait! No Paint!: An Interactive Picture Book for Kids (Ages 4-8) About the Three Little Pigs and a Mysterious Voice

by Bruce Whatley

The three little pigs go off to build their separate houses one out of straw, one out of sticks, and one out of bricks. But wait! Who just spilled juice on the first little pig′s house? Why are the pigs turning green? And what is that mysterious Voice the pigs keep hearing? Ages 4 - 8

Genres: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Humor, Art, Animals, Fantasy

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Bruce jumped into the unknown world of picture books after a career in advertising as an Illustrator and art director working in London then Sydney. Since 1992 Bruce has written and/or illustrated over 80 children’s picture books. Though based in Australia his work is published internationally and in 2014 was included in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Exhibition.

His award winning titles include The Ugliest Dog in the World, Looking for Crabs, Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase, Diary of a Wombat, The Little Refugee, Flood, Fire, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda and Cyclone.

His main inspiration has been his family, who feature in several of his earlier picture books, his wife Rosie Smith being co-author on many of his projects. He uses a variety of illustration medium including gouache, pen and ink, pencil, oils, watercolour and more recently CGI software. His aim is to entertain and surprise the reader with illustration styles that vary considerably depending on the text and the age group of his audience.

Bruce completed his PhD, in 2008 Left Hand Right Hand: implications of ambidextrous image making looking at the image making of the non-dominant hand discovering that in most people the ability to draw lies in using the ‘other’ hand. He has since illustrated 3 books with his non-dominant left hand.

Bruce is continually looking for new innovative ways to make images to tell his visual narratives.

Reviews

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a book for the older children. I do enjoy when the characters cross boundaries and speak, shall we say, out of context. I'll have to decide if I want to read this one of book talk it. But I think the kids will get the humor. I like the ending. Didn't like how the 3rd pig ended up being a bit annoying. Oh well.

7/1/10 I used at the tail end of the school-age storytime when many had left but a few were still interested in one more story. I suppose it went well. But going from 30 to 4 makes a huge difference!

6/26/14 I used this in my preschool Art theme. It was the middle book. It went pretty well. The older kids (as in school-age attending with younger siblings) and adults definitely got the humor. The younger picked up on the difference in the story. Might have missed a few pieces of humor, including the end, but overall liked it.

[Newmoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 7 yo daughter found this one at the library. I read it and loved it. It is hillarious. It's about the three little pigs, with a twist. This book is especially great for anyone who loves children's illustrations or has any aspirations of being a children's illustrator themselves. I loved the surprise ending, too. Worth putting on hold at your local library. I wouldn't mind owning a copy myself.

[Jamal Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book on the front is big. There's a picture of three pigs on the front without a mouth. The one in the front has a paintbrush. On the back there's a picture of one pig on the back.

This book is not the original story. Throughout the book there are interuptions. The illustrator has conversations with the pigs throughout the book.He even starts coloring the pigs different colors to try and help them hide from the wolf.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love this book!

[Wynter]

This is a variation of the three little pigs. Reading it at first, it looked exactly like the three little pigs. Except then the illustrator comes into play- which is such a fun twist. There is a 'voice from no where' kept coming out and the third little pig figured out who it was! The illustrator 'ran out of pink' and the pigs turned green! Things like this kept happening where the illustrator would change something about the original story to make it different and funny. I give this book a 4/5. It was a good book with good twists but I feel as if the illustrations needed to be brighter and more defined to keep my attention, especially because the illustrator wrote himself into the book.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three little pigs go off to build their separate houses one out of straw, one out of sticks, and one out of bricks. this is an abduction of the three pigs. characters are the pigs and a wolf. the pigs turn green and no red paint means no fire, and the mysterious voice of the wolf. The illustrator takes the colors away from the pigs.


illustrations are watercolors, some pages have no color.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious and the illustrations are fabulous! It's too old for my preschoolers, they won't get the humor, but elementary age kids and parents will love this as a read aloud. It's a nice twist on the original tale.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at the tale of the three little pigs, and the big bad wolf, when the illustrator runs out of red paint. Totally fractured and humorous telling of a nursery rhyme classic. The backstory of why the three little pigs moved into their own homes is a refreshing twist.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrator of the 3 Little Pigs story runs out of paint, and starts making all sorts of blunders (coloring them green, which makes them feel queasy, painting them patterned like the crouch, etc). This would be a fun book for explaining what an illustrator is to a kid.

[Peace_Love_Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it ! Both of my sons thought it was hysterical . Read this to your kids !!!!

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my absolute favorite picture book to read to my primary students. Perfect for discussion of illustrator!
Part of our "March Madness" picture book contest.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twist on the Three Little Pigs tale, where the illustrator gets involved in the story. What happens when he runs out of red paint? A cute, funny, interactive take on the original.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on a story that already has too many interesting takes. Good, but not the best.

[Emily Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book that children and adults will find funny. Can work in a twisted fairytales or painting storytime.

[Riley]

so meta

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

The three little pigs are busy doing what the three little pigs always do....building their houses ... and the first little guy gets soaked with a tsunami of spilled juice which causes his straw abode to collapse right in front of him....oh my!! The big bad wolf enters the scene and gets his nose slammed into the door of the second little pig's house causing his nose to need some corrective surgery because oh my....how his nose shape has altered. Who is doing all these interventions into a perfectly happy and familiar story? Who is the driving force behind these events and whose voice is that? Well the reader comes to find out that it is the illustrator of the book who is injecting himself into their pages . The piggies are not amused. And then low and behold, right in the middle of the story, guess what? The illustrator runs out of red paint....oh my! The poor little piggies are drained of colour, pasty white in fact and then the designer has no choice but to experiment with other colours for them. He makes a creative choice and paints them green. We all know from listening to Kermit the frog how that turned out with his famous song, "It's Not Easy Being Green" don't we? Out of red paint means out of fire that the piggies need at the end of the story because how can you build a hot, steaming, menacing fire without the coveted colour red to fend off that crazy wolf who is about to climb down your chimney and gobble you up? Your child will love the quirky twist and the unpredictability of the story's hilarious ending. I laughed right out loud. This is a fabulous book. Both young and old will get such a kick out of it I promise you! I highly, highly recommend it.

[Kelly]

"Wait! No, Paint!" is a post modern story of the three little pigs. It starts out with the three pigs building their houses when a mysterious voice spills orange juice all over the first little pigs house. Later in the story we discover that the voice is the illustrator. In the middle of the story the illustrator runs out of red paint and is not able to make the pigs pink anymore, so they experiment with lots of different colors. When the big bad wolf later comes to the brick house through the chimney the pigs decide they need to make a fire, but wait, no paint. The third little pig cries up the the narrator "WE DON'T WANT TO BE IN THIS STORY ANYMORE." You turn the page and the story changed to Goldie Locks and the Three Bears.
This story is post modern because of the characters realize that they are in to story, there are disruptions (by the illustrator), intertextuality (in the end referring to a different story,) interdeterminency (when the illustrator interrupts.)
I would recommend this story to third through seventh graders.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wait! No Paint! is a retelling of the three little pigs-only the illustrator gets in the way. As the story goes on, the illustrator runs out of red paint, and so can't paint the pigs pink. To make matters worse, the wolf climbs into the chimney, and they can't create a proper fire because there is no red. The third little pig tells the illustrator he wants to be in another story, and so they find themselves as the three bears, and the wolf as goldilocks-a reversal from hunted to hunter.

Its a cute concept, and children familiar with the story are sure to love this version. The illustrations are fairly simple, without any complex backgrounds, and generally the illustrations are on individual pages. However, because of its simplistic style, a teacher might be able to use it in the classroom, though I'm not sure.

Recommended for kindergarten-second grade.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked this book out from the library and the kids really like it. It takes the tale of "The Three Little Pigs" and tells it with a very interesting twist. The illustrator of the story actually becomes one of the characters in the book. It looks at the role of the illustrator in creating a story in a very clever and fun way! I love the concept. We've talked lots about what an illustrator is, what they do, how they influence a story and picture book, etc. I like the book but I probably wouldn't "buy" it. Does that make sense?

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly story that depicts interaction between traditional fairy tale characters and the illustrator of the story. It's a fun, fast read, and we enjoyed reading this book together.

This book was featured as one of the selections for the August 2015: Meta Fiction reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.

[Lindsey Johnson]

This book is just like the three little pigs. It is funny to read this because it talks about how the one pig looked like a clown and the pig told the illustrator he did not want to look like that. I really like how the pigs talk to the illustrator throughout the story. The background of the pictures is just all white. It does not have that much color to the book. The only color to it is the pigs and the wolf.

[Catherine Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite by accident I picked up another 3 little Pigs story with a difference. This one is different again. In this tale, the illustrator is narrating the story. There is a great twist at the end and the wolf looks really silly, which really appealed to Matthew. The illustrations must have been a lot of fun to work on. The voice was fresh and lively. You could imagine peering at the book through a window almost.

[SamZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three little pigs set out to build their homes, but soon after the first and second little pigs lose their homes and join their third brother, something horrible happens: the illustrator runs out of pink paint! How can you paint three cute pink pigs without pink paint!
I thought this was a cute take on the three pigs story, and I loved the way the different colors that the illustrator used in place of pink effected the way the pigs felt!

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute bit of fourth wall breaking, but nothing that hasn't been done before. The ending's adorable, but between it and the final panel we're left with more questions than answers.

Additionally, I suspect there's some red left. The illustrator might have been mixing their own pink for the pigs from red, but there's other red-containing hues that were probably also made on the fly.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a bad day for the Three Little Pigs. Full of slapstick silliness and colourful character/illustrator interactions, this twist on the traditional tale tickles our two.

Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:

http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/1...

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the beginning of this book was mildly clever. Then it started to get cleverly mysterious and then completely hilarious! I laughed at loud on several pages. Elizabeth was giggling right along with me. William looked to see what all the fuss was about...he didn't get it. I recommend this book for minute or two of smiles.

[Asha Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Its a funny version of the three little pigs, but the illustrator runs out of red paint to make the pigs pink. But the wolf is still after them. This is a great story to read to younger students to explain what an illustrator does as well as a Narrator. Also this book would be a great book to do with a storybasket.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is truly my favorite book. It is fantastic. It has been that way since I was in preschool. I love the fact that the illistrator is a character and the fact the he runs out of pink paint. When I was in third grade, I read this to my class and we still all laughed. I still laugh at it. Highly reccommend for ANY age.

[Victoria Dimmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! It actually had me laughing out loud. It starts out as the traditional story of the three little pigs, but then goes in a different direction. The illistrator writes himself into the book, then precedes to use his power as the illistrator for his own amusement. This book would be a great read for any classroom.

[Bekkah Riecke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh so hard! It reminds me of The Stinky Cheese Man and other fractured fairy tales. I would use this book with older kids during lessons on creative writing and then let them choose a well known fairy tale to rewrite or change. I would also use it during discussions on the purpose of different types of writing and creating the tone of a piece of writing.