Classic tales · for 1–2 years · 2 min read

The Three Little Pigs: huff, puff, snug!

A gentle retelling of the old English tale for the very youngest. Join in with the huffing, the puffing and the “chinny chin chin”!

Three little pigs in bright scarves build side by side in a sunny meadow: one with straw, one with sticks and one with red bricks.

Three little pigs build houses.

Pim builds with straw. Pom builds with sticks. Pia stacks bricks, one by one.

A round, silly wolf in a polka-dot scarf puffs out his cheeks and the straw floats away, while the smallest pig trots to his brother for a hug.

Knock, knock! “Little pig, little pig, let me in!” says Wolf.

“Not by my chinny chin chin!” says Pim.

Huff! Puff! The straw floats away. Pim scurries to Pom for a hug.

The stick house lies in a tidy pile as two little pigs hold hands and trot to their sister, who waves from the door of a red-brick house.

Knock, knock! “Little pig, little pig, let me in!” says Wolf.

“Not by our chinny chin chins!” they say.

Huff! Puff! The sticks tumble down. Off they scurry to Pia.

A wolf puffs his cheeks as big as balloons at a red-brick house that does not move, while three pigs hug and peek out of the round window.

Pia hugs them both. Knock, knock!

“Not by our chinny chin chins!” say all three.

“I’ll huff, and I’ll puff!” says Wolf. Huff! Puff! HUFF! PUFF! Pia built well, brick by brick. The house stays up.

A sleepy wolf with droopy ears yawns and waves as he toddles home up the path at sunset, and three pigs wave back from the brick house door.

Wolf is out of puff. He yawns, waves and toddles home to bed.

Three little pigs tucked into three small beds by a warm lamp, sleepy and smiling, with stars in the round window.

Three pigs, snug together.

Night night, little pigs.

the end

let’s play: huff and puff together

Puff up your cheeks like Wolf, and let your little one copy.
Blow out together: whoosh!
You say “Not by my chinny chin chin!”, and they join in on “chin chin”.
Stack two or three blocks, one by one, like Pia.

talk about it

Which house stayed up?
Can you huff and puff like Wolf?
Who gave Pim and Pom a hug?

for grown-ups

What this story helps with: Careful work pays off, and friends and family keep each other safe.

This retelling practises joining in: the repeated lines and the huffing and puffing invite even very young children to say or blow along. It also shows Pia’s careful, brick-by-brick work keeping the house up, and siblings sharing so everyone is safe. The refrains are shortened for little ones; the full line most people know is “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”, if you’d like to say it together. Jacobs’s 1890 tale is much harsher; to keep it gentle for the youngest, here the houses simply fall over, each pig scurries to a sibling for a hug, and the tired wolf toddles home to bed. Afterwards, try stacking a few blocks together and blowing on them.

Retold from: The Story of the Three Little Pigs (in English Fairy Tales), Joseph Jacobs (collector and editor) (1890). The tale is in the public domain; our words and pictures are new, and gentler for little ones. This is an independent retelling, not affiliated with or endorsed by any publisher, studio or trade mark owner connected with the tale or its later versions.

sources we checked

English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs (1890) | Project Gutenberg

Written and illustrated by the wishyou.today team. Every story is checked for age, kindness, safety and facts before it is published. Spotted something? Tell us on Instagram.

let’s play: huff and puff together

talk about it

for grown-ups

sources we checked

more stories