The Three Little Pigs: The Bedtime Story Retold
Quick answer: The Three Little Pigs retold for bedtime: houses of straw, sticks and bricks, a wolf who huffs and puffs, and the pig who outwits him three times. Origin and reading tips.
Three pigs leave home to build houses, and two choose the quickest material to hand. The wolf who comes down the lane is the most famous huffer in English storytelling, and the tale is one of the great chants for reading aloud: door, wolf, huff, puff, and the house that stands.
The story
An old sow had three little pigs and not enough to feed them, so she sent them out to seek their fortunes. The first met a man carrying straw and said, “Please, sir, give me that straw for a house.” The man did. Along came a wolf and knocked. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” “No, no, by the hair of my chinny chin chin.” “Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” He huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in, and that was the end of the first little pig.
The second pig built a house of sticks. The wolf came, the same words were said at the door, the sticks went down like the straw, and that was the end of the second little pig.
The third pig met a man with a load of bricks and built a house of bricks. The wolf huffed and puffed until he was out of breath, and the house stood. So he tried cleverness. He said there were fine turnips at Mr Smith's field, and would call at six to take him. The pig went at five and was home eating turnips when the wolf arrived. The wolf said there were apples at Merry Garden; the pig went earlier still, but the wolf caught him up the tree, so the pig threw an apple far off and ran home while the wolf chased it. The wolf said there was a fair that afternoon. The pig went early, bought a butter churn, saw the wolf coming up the hill, climbed inside and rolled down at him, and the wolf fled.
At last the wolf came down the chimney. The pig had a pot boiling on the fire, took the lid off at the right moment, and that was the end of the wolf. The third little pig lived in his brick house happily ever after.
Where it comes from
The tale is English, printed in the nineteenth century and given its familiar shape by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales, 1890, turnips, apple tree and churn included. Many tellers now let the first two pigs escape to their brother's house, a good choice for the very young.
What the tale is about underneath
The tale is about taking the trouble. Straw and sticks are quick; bricks take a day's carrying. The huffing tests what each pig made, not who he is. Once the house holds, the wolf turns to invitations, and the pig beats him by getting up earlier every time. Patience built the house and punctuality defends it.
Reading aloud
Say the door lines the same way each time and let the child huff.
Write your own
Borrow the escalating test. Give three characters the same threat and let their preparation decide, then let the winner face a cleverer version of the enemy. The wolf's three invitations, which most retellers drop, turn a story about walls into a story about wits. Judges at Writory's short story contest, where every entrant receives a score out of 100 and a certificate, reward that second turn, where a plot stops repeating and climbs.
What writers can take from this
- Keep the door exchange word for word each time. Children correct you if you vary it.
- Make the huffing louder for the straw house than the sticks; the wolf is confident, then tired.
- If the first two pigs are eaten, say it in one line and move on to the next house.
- Give the churn a good rumble down the hill.
- End on the pig in his warm house, not on the pot.
Try it yourself
Write a story in which three people prepare for the same danger in three different ways, and the one who prepared best then has to outthink the danger three more times without leaving home. Let each of the enemy's invitations be more tempting than the last.
Questions
What is the moral of The Three Little Pigs?
Hard work and forethought pay: the pig who took longest to build was the only one whose house stood. The second half of the tale adds a point that is often missed, that after strength has done its work, quick thinking has to finish the job.
Is The Three Little Pigs too scary for a 3-year-old?
The huffing and puffing is thrilling rather than frightening. If the eating of the first two pigs feels too much, use the common telling in which each pig runs to the next house, so that all three end up safe behind the bricks.
Where does The Three Little Pigs come from?
It is an English folk tale, printed in the nineteenth century and given its best-known form by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales in 1890. The turnip field, apple tree and butter churn all come from Jacobs's version.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
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