Guest Editorial

The Big Bad Wolf Revisited

“There are always two sides to a story,” or so the adage goes. For those of us who are avid readers and writers, there is a deep appreciation for the importance of point of view, perhaps the most powerful element of any story.

I always have loved stories, especially fai ry tales. Even as an adult, I delight in f a i y tales and books marketed for children, stories that reflect the worlds we live in, work in, play in, and our attempts to explain and understand those worlds. What a delight it was to discover Jon Scieszka’s ”The True Story of the Three Little Pigs,” a retelling of a familiar children’s story from the perspective of Alexander T. Wolf, known to most of us as the Big Bad Wolf.

First, MY. Wolf wants us to know that there is nothing behind this Big Bad Wolf stuff. Mr. Wolf explains that preying on cute little animals like bunnies and sheep and pigs is a natural act for wolves, which have long been portrayed in a negative light. Mr. Wolf continues, refuting the association of huffing and puffing with the Big Bad Wolf image, offering instead that on the day of the alleged huffing and puffing, he had a very bad head cold. Are we to blame him, because on an errand to borrow sugar from his porcine neighbors, he happened to sneeze? (The cup of sugar, by the way, was for the birthday cake MY. Wolf was making for his dear old granny.) Being a good steward of resources, when the house of straw and then the house of sticks fell down as the result of Mr. Wolf’s powerful sneezes, he felt it would be a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the rubble, so Mr. Wolf ate

both the first and then the second pig. Soon, the scandal-hungry news media found out about the two pigs MY. Wolf had eaten. Figuring that a sick guy going to borrow a cup of sugar didn‘t sound very exciting, when the news hit the papers the headline read: ”BIG BAD WOLF.” MY. Alexander T. Wolf contends he was framed, pure and simple. ThatS the story.

The story from the wolf’s perspective was not a point of view I had ever contemplated!

So, apart from the obv ious-a pediatric nurse writing an editorial to be read by other pediatric nurses-why am I writing about the three little pigs? The three little pigs and the wolf, these familiar friends from childhood, have some new lessons to teach us. First, the importance of point of view. In this rapidly changing world, we can choose how we view the change that surrounds us. Second, the three little pigs have something to teach us about the importance of vision, goals, and planning for the future. The first and second pigs used readily available materials-straw and sticks-to build their homes and quickly accomplished their goals. Regardless of your point of view, however, the outcome for the unfortunate pigs was the same-they became the wolf’s ham dinner. The third little pig built his house of brick. It took longer, and in some versions of the story this third pig was subjected to taunting and ridicule by the first and second pigs. But again, regardless of your point of view, the third pigs planning and patience resulted in a positive outcome-his home and his life.

JSPN Vol. 3, No. 2, April-June, 1998 55

Guest Editorial

Finally, and perhaps most important, the familiar version of the story of the three little pigs has been around for a long, long time. Why did it take Mr. Alexander T. Wolf so long to come forward and tell his truth? In our current and future zuork zuith children, speaking up and speaking the truth are critical. The very existence of Mr. Wolf and his behavior, regardless of which version of the story you zuould subscribe to, challenges us. We've all suspected, and some of us have seen, the zuolves it1 our environments, some disguised

and speak our truth?

Anne E. Winch, RN, MSN, CPNP

References Scieszka, J. (1989). Thr frirr story of //it. [ l r rw l i f l l l ~ I J ~ ~ S New York:

Viking Penguin.

The Society of Pediatric Nurses and its Board of Directors would like to acknowledge and thank JoAnne Youngblut, PhD, for her work as the first editor of ISPN: \ournal of the Society of Pediatric Nirrscs. We wish her well in her new role at the Frances Pavne Bolton School of

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56 JSPN Vol. 3, No. 2, April-June, 1998