How did you come up with the idea of a trumpet-playing pig?

On 16 March 1996 I attended a workshop on story telling. The questions to be addressed included:
Why do I tell stories?
What am I trying to do with the story?
How do I want to work with story?

I discovered that I wanted to put a "spin" on the story so that the traditional meaning could be juxtaposed with the other interpretation that I put on it.

While I was working with the Three Little Pigs I found the first little pig speaking with an American accent - Texan to be precise. I stopped in the middle of the story and the idea for the whole of Gilbert Alexander Pig came to me.

I have been working on feminist version of traditional tales since the 1980s so the idea of turning stories inside out was not new. If the pig was to talk like my friend Gil, he could be black like Gil and he could play the trumpet like Gil. I thought it would be amusing to subvert the traditional story with a black pig and even funnier if the pig had a trumpet.

What prompted you to tell the traditional story of the Three Little Pigs from a contemporary perspective?

The need to make the story relevant to people today. Once I began to use a black, trumpet playing pig a modern setting followed logically.

Traditional stories have information in them that will assist us to make decisions about our lives. When we are confronted with the need to make our own way in the world we have some choices to make. The message I took from the traditional version as a child was that there was no place for fun and games. I must work hard, build on strong foundations and lock myself in (to a secure job and a proper house) if I were to be happy and successful. The story of Gilbert Alexander Pig began as a joke to poke fun at this idea and to suggest that there are, indeed, alternatives.

The character of Gilbert Alexander Pig was inspired by the life of your friend and jazz trumpeter, Gil Askey. What parallels can you draw between their life and experiences?

To be a professional musician, even today, requires one to live differently to the majority of people.
To play jazz on a trumpet is also to work on the edge of the music world (where string instruments and classical music is seen as the peak area).
For Gil to do both of these things through the 60s and 70s was incredibly brave.

The most remarkable thing about Gil is his lack of resentment and bitterness about the appalling treatment he and other black people received over the years.

He has used his enormous talent to reach out to all kinds of people, to offer them a path into his joy in music and music making.

Gil has done a remarkable job encouraging children - especially teenage boys - to undertake the difficult task of learning an instrument. The discipline to practice and the need to be cooperative in a band or orchestra are enormously valuable lessons to learn.

I felt that Gil recognized that a lot of the resentment and violence offered to those who are different (black, or "arty") comes from fear and jealousy. Offer to share and to teach them and they will become your friends.

What would you like children to learn and experience from the story?

I hope that every child or adult that comes to this story has heard the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs and notices and comments on the differences between them. Any awareness or consideration of the alternatives that Gilbert Alexander Pig means my job has been well done.

I would like people to admire Gilbert's courage, his tenacity, his athletic prowess and his ability to negotiate.

I would like them to admire the Wolf because he finally listens and so actually gains friendship and a wonderful skill.

I would like readers and listeners to be encouraged and empowered to make similar changes to the patterns of their lives. But most of all I would like them to enjoy the story, to laugh at the dialogue and the illustrations and to find the images and the story dancing in their minds long after the book is closed.

Have there been any surprise responses from children to whom you have told the story?
One child sighed and said, "It is just like the Three Little Pigs only better".

Gael Cresp is a professional storyteller who uses traditional tales to explore life issues. This story was inspired by the life of her friend Gilbert Alexander Askey, a celebrated trumpet player who was also conductor for Diana Ross and the Supremes. Gael has presented papers and workshops on aspects of storytelling at conferences in Australia and overseas. Married with three children, she lives in Melbourne, where she works in a university library.

David Cox - illustrator of The Tales of Gilbert Alexander Pig

David Cox is the author and illustrator of many fiction and non-fiction books for children. He has won awards from the Children's Book Council of Australia and Parents' Choice Magazine. He has also written the librettos for several children's operas and song cycles, and has designed many opera sets. David's previous jobs have included stockman, waiter, furniture mover, press artist and gravedigger! He now works as a freelance artist from his studio in Brisbane, Australia.

©Printed with permission of Barefoot Press.