1.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brett, Jan. The
3 Little Dassies. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2010. ISBN 9780399254994
2.
PLOT SUMMARY
In this reminiscent tale of The Three Little Pigs, three little dassie sisters cross the Namib
Desert in southern Africa to find new homes where it is less crowded, cooler
and safer from eagles. When they arrive at the base of the mountain, a friendly
agama lizard informs them that he is alone except for a family of eagles. The
dassies tremble with fear but decide to stay because it is less crowded and
cooler. Mimbi builds a house from the long grasses very quickly. Then, Pimbi constructs
a charming wooden house from driftwood and rests outside in a hammock. Looking at
the rocks around the mountain, Timbi takes the entire day to shape her house
out of stone.
The next morning, the eagle soars down from the
mountain looking for a meal for his chicks and spies the dassie. The eagle
screeches, “I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your house in!” Once he blows
the grass house in, he scoops up Mimbi and puts her in the nest with his
chicks. Being greedy, the old eagle flies to Pimbi’s house, blows it in, and
puts her in the nest with her sister. Continuing on his mission to capture all
the dassies, the eagle flies to the stone house. It is strong and does not
budge. Tired and covered with dust the eagle accepts defeat and sets off to eat
the dassies waiting at his nest. However, Mimbi and Pimbi escape with the
help of Agama Man and run to their sister’s stone house for safety. The keen-sighted
eagle sees them fleeing and flies down the stone
house’s chimney to recapture them. Feeling a flash from the fire, the eagle’s feathers are singed,
and he flies back to his nest forever with black feathers. The dassies celebrate
and invite their family to come live with them, “To a place cooler. To a place
less crowded. To a place safe from eagles!”
3.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Stunning, vibrant watercolors and gouache cover the
pages of Jan Brett’s The 3 Little Dassies. The story’s plot
follows the classic, folktale sequence of three animals seeking new homes and
encountering an antagonist that they must defeat. Southern Africa is the setting for the beautifully,
illustrated tale with Brett’s signature triptych
layout with the principal, centered panel representing the highlighted action with
wordless side panels describing key events of the passage. The variation of the
African landscape is depicted accurately in the illustrations with flat-topped
acacias, rolling plains and open grasslands bordered by hills and rocky
formations. Today, the dassies and agama lizards make their home in the rock
crevices of Africa to escape their predators. Brett represents the black
feathers of African black eagles when the eagle’s feathers become scorched
and covered in soot as he attempts to go down the chimney.
The dassies or rock hyraxes are mammals that
resemble a guinea pig and their big eyes influence the reader’s feeling of
empathy for the their impending doom. The three little daisies are dressed in
the attire of the Herero women of Africa with bright colored dresses and flat
turbans. The eagle is dressed in checkered pants, red suspenders and a straw
hat. A patterned Panama hat with a colorful tie and a lively, green jacket
adorns the deep-orange colored lizard.
Brett delivers amusing details within the
illustrations. Even though the reader knows that the eagles are enemies of the
dassies, the baby eagles look endearing as they sit in the nest with the
captured dassies. The agama lizard is always helpful and is shown dropping the
dassies out of the nest in a side panel.
Readers from three years old to five
years are attracted to this familiar tale with brilliantly detailed illustrations. Many children will
join in with the eagles refrain, “I’ll flap and I’ll clap and I’ll blow your
house in!” This is an engaging story for shared reading or retell with
authentic illustrations influenced from Brett’s travels to Namibia in Southern
Africa. I enjoyed Jan Brett’s interpretation of the classic story with
her amazing ability to captivate children’s interest with familiarity and
visually stimulating illustrations in the context of Africa.
4.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publishers Weekly Best Seller List
New York Times Best Seller List
Brett's sumptuous retelling of "The Three Little
Pigs" is set in southern Africa and stars three small guinea-pig-like
creatures that live in rock crevices in the Namibia desert. This tale will
captivate children and introduce a setting and animals unfamiliar to most of
them. From School Library Journal, October 01, 2010
This offering is classic Brett: meticulously rendered
animal characters, an authentically depicted setting, ornate borders,
action-filled side panels, and lively storytelling. This version of The Three
Little Pigs takes place in southern Africa, where three dassies-small native
mammals also called rock hyraxes-bid adieu to their family and set out "to
find their own place." From Publishers Weekly, August 30, 2010
In this Three Little Pigs adaptation, three dassies
strike out to make new homes. The familiar plot-line is extended in the
intricate watercolor-and-gouache artwork in Brett's signature triptych layout:
each central panel reflects the action described in the text, while wordless
panels on either side show equally involving scenes, all handsomely framed by
depictions of cloth, bead-work, and vegetation. Brett invokes the African
setting with details of the desert landscape and the animals' colorful,
patterned clothing. From Booklist, September 01, 2010
5.
CONNECTIONS
Make comparisons with Jan Brett’s The Three Snow Bears.
Have students create a different ending for the The 3
Little Dassies.
Have students dramatize The 3 Little Dassies Reader’s Theater from Jan Brett’s website
using the coloring pages for the masks from:
http://www.janbrett.com/3_little_dassies_masks_coloring_pages.htm
Have students research the ecosystem of southern
Africa and create a habitat for the eagle, the rock hyrax (dassie) or the agama
lizard.
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