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Once upon a time there was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them she sent them out to seek their fortune. The three little pigs build three houses of different materials, and then of course the big bad wolf blows down the one made of straw and the one made of sticks, until in the end the third little pig builds a house of brick and outsmarts him several times.More

Once upon a time there was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to keep them she sent them out to seek their fortune. The three little pigs build three houses of different materials, and then of course the big bad wolf blows down the one made of straw and the one made of sticks, until in the end the third little pig builds a house of brick and outsmarts him several times.

The story of the three little pigs is a well-known European folk tale, with many adaptations and variations, some of them with a different number of little pigs or other animals. It is a typical coming of age story. Like many other fable and fairy tale heroes, the three little pigs leave home to seek their fortune in the beginning. Although the traditional tale of the houses built by the three little pigs has been retold and republished many times, Leslie Brooke�s illustrations are probably the most beautiful ever made for the story. His version of the folk tale follows closely the one compiled and published by Joseph Jacobs.
This anthropomorphic fable much favoured by children has always been seen like a way to tell that foresight, intelligence and hard work make us conquer even the most terrible dangers. The houses the three little pigs built appear to be symbolic of man�s technical progress, from the shelter made of straw to the house made of solid brick. Children seem to prefer the story of the three little pigs to Aesop�s the ant and the grasshopper, parallel in more than one way. At least in the story of the little pigs a wise choice can settle things for the little pigs.

Leonard Leslie Brooke was a British illustrator and writer, who lived between 1862 and 1940. After he established his reputation with his illustrations for "The Nursery Rhyme Book" written by the Scots poet and folklorist Andrew Lang and published in 1897, he kept on working in children�s illustration. "The Story of The Three Little Pigs", included in "The Golden Goose Book", was one of his most successful stories, but he is the author of other acclaimed works, like "Ring O�Roses", the other stories included in "The Golden Goose Book", or "Oranges and Lemons". His Johnny Crow series include "Johnny Crow�s Garden" (1903), "Johnny Crow�s Party" (1907), and "Johnny Crow�s New Garden" (1935). His publisher was Frederick Warne & Co., from London, who also published Beatrix Potter�s books at about the same time.
Joseph Jacobs, who collected this particular version of the three little pigs fable, was born in Australia in 1854, lived and studied in England and in Germany and later settled in the United States, where he died in 1916. He edited and collected many folk tales, inspired by the Brothers Grimm, like many folklorists of his time. His version of the story of the three little pigs was included in his "English Fairy Tales", published by David Nutt in London in 1890.

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