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Now in its second printing with a playful new cover design, The Three Little Puppies And The Big Bad Flea by Ted Lish is a picturebook parable with a moral about how important it is for children to listen to their parents. A wry spoof on the more commonly known tale of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, The Three Little Puppies and the Big Bad Flea features a terrible flea capable of blowing down houses - or sneaking into keyholes! The Three Little Puppies are ultimately forced to flee all the homes they have built, while the Big Bad Flea moves in and takes over. The Three Little Puppies, having learned a valuable lesson about listening to their mamma, move far away, and the Bid Bad Flea's children pester puppies everywhere to this very day. Delightfully illustrated by Charles Jordan, The Three Little Puppies And The Big Bad Flea is a lighthearted, whimsical, entertaining story, but with a more sobering message buried underneath - namely, that the "good guys" don't always win.

Remember "The Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf" story, and how quickly it became one of your favorites? Well, Ted Lish's book THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA is sure to become another one of your favorites, but this one has a surprise ending and hidden things to look out for.

Deciding that they are grown enough to live on their own, three little puppies leave their mama's house to seek their own futures, and soon find themselves in a heap of blown feathers and leaves caused by the big bad flea.

THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA is wonderfully written and the charming illustrations by a talented illustrator, Charles Jordan, kept my children pointing and giggling throughout till the books end. It's a quality book all around, and I know children everywhere will love it. Included throughout the shiny pages are hidden Munchweiler elves. My children, including my ten-year-old-son, and me enjoyed searching for them. Reading it one time wasn't satisfactory for my little ones--we had to read it about five times in a row!
If you are looking for a children's book hidden with learning lessons, then you've found it. Children will learn to deal with adversity; they will learn that it pays to listen to their mentors/parents/guardians; and they will learn that sometimes you just can't win everything that life has to give you.
"Ted Lish teaches second grade in the Victor Elementary School District in Victorville, CA. He has long loved children's book and has written several. This is his first one to be published. Ted resides in Victorville with his wife, Vicki. Two of his four children are now school teachers as well.
"Charles Jordan is a self-taught illustrator who has illustrated numerous picture, chapter, and activity books. To his credit are The Whale Comedian, A Pile of Pigs, The Twiddle Twins' Music Box Mystery, and others. This is his first book for Munchweiler Press. Charles was born in Washington DC, raised in Maryland, and currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children...As an author of children's books, a children's book reviewer, and a mother to three children, I highly recommend THE THREE LITTLE PUPPIES AND THE BIG BAD FLEA by Ted Lish.

--Reviewed by Jennifer LB Leese, ASTORYWEAVER'S Book Reviews...

This book was an easy read for my third grader, who read the book for his younger siblings. They all three enjoyed the pictures and had fun finding the hidden drawings.

Poor Wolf--he's so lonely! Nobody wants to be his friend. Not the ducklings, not the goslings, not the fuzzy yellow chicks. "Perhaps it's because I'm big and scary," he thinks. "Perhaps it's because I'm bad, bad, bad." Then he has a bright idea: What if he changes his ways and becomes good? What if he does a noble deed? But, none of the animals will listen when Wolf tries to tell them about his new plan. They just flee in terror, slamming the door right in his face. Then something really awful happens: one of the ducklings disappears and everybody thinks Wolf has eaten him all up. Can the Big Bad Wolf prove he didn't have duck for dinner--and bring the lost little baby safely home? A charming and delightfully fractured fairy tale about friendship, and a wonderful example for children that a person can change, with sweet and funny illustrations that will delight youngsters over and over again.
Anchorage School District librarian

This story has always been a favorite of our 3 year old son Sam. He is particularly enamored of this version however. When we had to return it to the library he suggested, "Can you go on the computer and get me my own?" What more can we say- the 3 year old is well versed with amazon

The book begins as a clever retelling of the classic Three Little Pigs. The pigs and the wolves have changed parts, and the building materials have been upgraded, but the classic story remains...the big bad pig is coming to destroy the home that the wolves have worked so hard to build. But in this story, the big bad pig is prepared to blow the house down no matter how well it is built and the attacks escallate. Explosives are launched, once again their home is completely obliterated, and the wolves "just managed to escape with their fluffy tails scorched". At this point, the wolves have resigned themselves to the fact that the pig will never leave them alone and it's no use to build again. They go off to live in the open and plant a few sweet smelling flowers.

It isn't long before the big bad pig reappears, but this time he's subdued both by the pretty flowers and by the fact there's no longer a home asking to be obliterated, and the weary wolves invite the pig to live with them happily ever after. What's the moral of the story? If you find yourself being terrorized and victimized, the fiend that's after you really wants to be friends with you if only you'll share? Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but I think this would be a very unhealthy message for children who haven't been blessed with story-book perfect lives of their own and who may have a big bad pig or two in their own lives to contend with.

In "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig," Eugene Trivizas puts a twist on the classic children's story. Instead of the three little pigs being terrorized, it's now the three little wolves having their houses blown down by the big bad pig.

My grandma bought me this book when I was just 5-years-old and I absolutely adored it! I made sure I read it everyday. I, personally, thought the ending was funny and cute.

Although a few of the words may be too difficult for really young kids to understand, this is a great book to purchase for your child!

As a kid, I loved wolves and hated the Three Little Pigs. So this funny, wolf-friendly revision of the creepy old classic really tickles me! It begins with Mama Wolf sending her doting pups off into the wide world with the warning: "Beware of the Big Bad Pig!" Keeping Mama's message in mind, the trio decides to build a strong house for protection from the boorish boar. The three fluffy, friendly, refined little wolves are never named, but I like to call them Frasier, Niles, and Daphne. The pig, a burly bully of a construction-worker, could be named Brutus. Safe in the yard of their new brick home, the little wolves play a spirited game of squash. Suddenly the swaggering swine shows up! In a reversal of the original tale, the Big Bad Pig pounds on the wolves' door and demands to come in, while they quaver, "Not by the hair on our chinny-chin-chins!" Then, using his construction hardware, the pig destroys the brick house, and the wolves flee with their fluffy tails between their legs! As the three little wolves build progressively massive fortresses, the big bad pig employs heavy ground-breaking and demolitions equipment to smash them to rubble. At last, the little wolves have no materials left with which to build, except -- ah, but I'm not going to give away the surprise! Let's just say, the ending is a lot sweeter than the original. No one gets boiled alive or devoured, and the the classic adversaries even become friends. Kids and parents will love the beautiful artwork and the silliness of the story, although the ending might seem just a bit too saccharine after all the destruction and mayhem.

This is one of the few books I remember from childhood, and now that I am a parent I had to get it for my kids too!

This book was one of the first books i ever read. I was 6 years old then, now i'm 35. I loved the elephant's "rumpita, rumpita, rumpita"ing all through the town. I have shared this book with my three children who love it just as i did. It is a bit dated now, but so are most books that are this old. Times change. I still can recite it almost word for word from my memory. This is a classic and hopefully i can share this book with my grandchildren one day.

What a fantastic book! This is one of our perennial read-aloud favourites. As a previous reviewer points out, it IS a little strange; in our house, that's what makes it stand out from the run of the mill. You never know exactly WHY the baby is called a "bad baby" even before the story begins -- but that makes it even more intriguing for kids.

And of course, the art does look dated and peculiar, and the words ("crisps," "sweet shop") are all kind of funny to my kids. Also, because we're Jewish, when I read it, I say "meat store man" instead of "pork butcher," so as not to offend my kids' kosher sensibilities! But all of these quirks just make it more fun to read and -- judging from their reactions -- all the more fun to listen to.

The story is straightforward and fun -- a baby and its kleptomaniac elephant friend go out for a romp on the town, a romp which culminates when the elephant decides that the baby is not polite enough and must be brought home for pancakes. That's the basic plot, but it is thrillingly executed in a classic style.

We have been taking this book out of the library regularly for years, and my only fear is that we and other fans of this book will eventually wear out their single copy -- leaving us without this one-of-a-kind gem!!!