Charles Santore - Three Hungry Pigs and the Wolf Who Came to Dinner

Copyright 2005 by Charles Santore.
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All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Santore, Charles.
Three hungry pigs and the wolf who came to dinner / written and illustrated by Charles Santore.1st ed.
p. cm.
SUMMARY: When Bianca the pig and her piglets are exiled from the farm after eating, rather than just hunting, truffles, they wonder if they will survive in the wolf-filled forest.

ISBN 0-375-82946-6 (trade) ISBN 0-375-92946-0 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-0-375-98297-2 (ebk)

[1. PigsFiction. 2. TrufflesFiction. 3. WolvesFiction.] I. Title. PZ7.S2383Th 2005 [E]dc22 2004012198

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v3.1

In the Langhe, the Italian hill country in the region of Alba, grows the legendary tartufo dAlbathe white truffle. Much sought after, this elusive delicacy has been highly prized for centuries.

To Ania Litynski
C.S.

a farmer went to market and brought home three little piglets. Two of them had spots of gray and brown, but one was pure white.

Oh, Papa! cried the farmers daughter. Can I have this one? I shall call her Bianca because she has no spots.

These pigs are not pets, he said sternly. They are working piglets. With proper training, they will one day make fine truffle-hunting pigs. I will become a trufulao. And we will do very well indeed, for truffles fetch a high price at market. The piglets grew quickly, and just as the farmer had hoped, they soon became good truffle hunters.

In fact, Bianca was the best truffle-hunting pig the farmer had ever seen!

She loved her days spent deep in the woods, where with one quick sniff she knew just where to dig. Then she would plow her snout into the soft, damp ground and uncover the prized mushrooms.

Before long, Bianca had piglets of her own, and she taught them everything she knew. The farmer was happy, and life for Bianca was good

until one beautiful autumn morning when everything changed forever.

As usual, Bianca was uncovering her first truffle just as the other pigs had started to hunt. But then something strange happened. She gobbled that truffle up! She had never done that before, but the smell was so irresistible, she just couldnt help herself.

From the moment she tasted it, Bianca decided she loved eating truffles even more than hunting them!

The farmer was furious! A truffle-eating pig was a trufulaos worst nightmare. After all, a farmer could not sell his truffles if his pig had eaten them all!

Bianca and her piglets
had
to
go!

Bianca had lived on the farm ever since she could remember. Now she and the piglets were on their own with nowhere to go. Instinct seemed to draw her to the woods.

The road was long, and soon the villages and farms were far behind them. They had journeyed far and were beginning to get hungry. Bianca paused and sniffed the air. A familiar aroma wafted on the breeze.

Truffles!

She smelled

truffles!

Bianca led her piglets deep into the forest. Within minutes, she unearthed truffle after truffle, and this time they ate every one of them. The three pigs were very happy, and their bellies were soon fat and full. Bianca was beginning to think that life as her own truffle hunter might be even better than life on the farm.

But a night in the woods was much different than a night in a cozy pigsty. Bianca nestled her piglets closely as they slept in a bed of dried leaves.

The darkness was filled with strange hooting soundsshe heard distant growls, flapping wings, and the wind moaning through the trees. She saw shadowy movements in the moonlit forest and did not rest easy wondering what was lurking in the dark around them.