As the 25^th anniversary of the picture book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs approaches author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith recount the origins of their collaboration and the challenges of securing a publisher for the sophisticated parody. As Smith recalls, “some editors liked it but were a little confused and not sure if there was a market for it. Back at that time, children’s books were either serious, earnest books, or really funny books. But the sense of parody and irony that is rampant now didn’t really exist then…Viking put the book out very tentatively. They weren’t convinced of anything and did a small run that immediately sold out. It was all word-of-mouth from teachers, librarians and booksellers. They didn’t run ads or do a publicity push. Finally by the fourth or fifth printing the runs were more like 50,000.”

Follow the link below to read the full interview with Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/64695-the-true-25th-anniversary-story-of-the-three-little-pigs.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly&utm_campaign=94f331fbd0-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0bb2959cbb-94f331fbd0-305134397