Porkenstein

I chose Porkenstein because I knew it would be a spin on some sort of fairytale (perhaps Rumplestilskin?!). From working with young students and reading, I know many just love spins on fairytales they know, I think it’s funny for them to hear different versions and think they are “silly”. Porkenstein is about a pig that is lonely on Halloween because his two brothers were eating by a wolf (which they kind of glance over do not make a big deal about, which I thought was interesting) so he decides to invent a new friend in his lab. After making many mistakes (a fish, a bat, etc), he finally makes a pig, but the pig is HUGE and wants to eat everything. The main character is very sad the pig turned out this way.
Since it is Halloween, people are obviously trick-or-treating. The big bad wolf comes to the pig’s house because he heard there was a HUGE pig at the house and thinks he would taste great. However, the surprise is that the huge pig ends up eating the big bad wolf. I thought this book was funny and most kids would love it. The illustrations are in a dark, gloomy color because the book takes place at night the whole time and during Halloween time. I definitely would incorporate this book in my future classroom around Halloween time. I think it would also be a fun activity to have my students write their own fairytale with a spin at the end.