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Parents wear many"hats." This one is just being a good reader/listener/sharer of time.

A Garden for Pig by Kathryn K. Thurman, illustrated by Lindsay Ward

Pig lives on an apple farm where they grow lots and lots of apples.  And what does Pig get to eat?  Apples, apples, and more apples.  Mrs. Pippins owns the farm and she makes all sorts of apple dishes for pig to eat, but he is sick of apples all the time.  What he really wants to eat are vegetables!  So Pig breaks into the vegetable patch and begins gulping down squash, seeds and all.  When Mrs. Pippin finds him in the garden, she is not happy.  She ties Pig up.  When she catches him trying to break the rope, she shuts him in his pen.  Though Pig tries to escape, he can’t.  But he is determined not to eat any more apples!  Pig notices the next day that his pen looks a lot like a garden.  And after digesting the squash, he has the seeds he needs to make one.

Thurman’s words are simple and have a jaunty rhythm to them.  There are wonderful sounds woven into the book that children will enjoy mimicking.  Pig’s determination and tenacity as well as his creative solution to the problem add to the appeal.

Ward’s collage and cut paper illustrations have a warmth to them.  This is accentuated by the use of fabrics that offer a texture to the images.  In the apple orchard, there are words on the paper that make up the leaves: apple recipes.  The illustrations are large enough to read to a group.  And goodness knows, the poop event at the end will be a hit!

A friendly and warm introduction to gardening in an organic way, this book is a happy addition to gardening story times.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Kane Miller.

• Also reviewed by:
  • Cover to Cover Kids
  • Jean Little Library
  • Vegbooks

Another gem from the awesome animator, Nick Cross. Gorgeous animation gives way to nightmares, ending with poignant social commentary. Don’t watch it with your kids, but do watch it. 

The Pig Farmer (by Nick Cross)

So Mikey Cunningham of The Hours fame was judging the NPR 3-Minute Fiction contest a couple months back. The rules were simple. Start a story with the line, “Some people swore that the house was haunted,” and end it with the line, “Nothing was ever the same again after that.” Don’t exceed 600 words and if you win, your entry will be read aloud the FM radio! Like Little Orphan Annie!

I entered a subtle little tale of teenage machismo and abandoned farmhouses. And guess what? Mikey didn’t like it. I lost. Actually, I’ll give myself some credit. I’m pretty sure I just missed the cut of the top 25 runners-up. That fact isn’t exactly confirmed by Carl Kasell, but I’m going to operate under the notion. And if 27th is good enough for the Maldives, then it’s good enough for me.

I thought of tucking the story away in a drawer and pulling it out on rainy Sundays to provide myself with a good windowsill weep, because what else am I gonna do, send it to the Paris Review? Postage to France is expensive! Then I remembered I have a blog and so I might as well share it in the style that is popular with the youth of today. That is, blogically (check Urban Dictionary for me, cause that’s gotta be something the kids say). So here you go. A very short story.

Oh yeah, and after reading it, read this real life tale that was uncovered a few weeks after my fictional one hit the bottom of Ira Glass’s trash can. Disturbing and creepy to say the least.

Covington

Some people swore that the house was haunted. Mark thought haunted wouldn’t fly. Poltergeists were subtle, and the time for subtle had passed. We needed raving. Bleeding. A sweaty lunatic with a painty maul.

Kelly had a girl’s name, but he insisted that back when men were men, they were called Kelly. Lesley. Marion.

“Sue?” asked Mark.

“Sure. Song about it, isn’t there?”

I drove. Always. Hand on the tuner. In search of night music. Not dark exactly, but something that stalked.

“This works,” Mark said.

“Whatever.” Kelly rolled down the window and I could smell the stuff they sprayed to kill mosquitoes. It was a summer of puddles, the summer that was supposed to matter.

We pulled up, noticed that Byron’s place had nylon siding and a sofa on the porch.

“Making crystal in the bathtub, I bet.”

I shook my head, but Mark probably wasn’t far off. I poked the horn, just enough to announce our presence.

Byron was out immediately, screen door snapping behind him. Kelly ducked down to hide his face and I motioned to the back seat.

We’d gone about half a mile when Byron acknowledged it was Kelly sitting shotgun. “Not hittin’ that party, are we?”

“Bingo.” Mark was e

Young readers may already be familiar with Farmer Greenstalk and his farm thanks to Chickens to the Rescue, a 2006 picture book featuring a flock of poultry that responds every time there’s a crisis on the farm.

In the follow-up, Pigs to the Rescue (Henry Holt, 2010), the pigs respond to small farm disasters, but they’re a bit … over eager.

Here’s what Booklist had to say: “Eight excitable pigs mount overachieving rescue missions to cope with minor problems at the farm. Does the rooster have a sore throat? Pigs to the rescue! Eight pigs, perched on the barn roof, wake the farm at daybreak with oinks, squeals, and snorts. Emily broke her shoelace? Pigs to the rescue! The weirdly costumed swine lasso her and tie her up, mummy style. Written with a minimum of fuss and illustrated with comic delight, this picture book from the To the Rescue series offers plenty of laughs for the read-aloud crowd.”

Now, let’s see what Tyler has to say:

Today’s reviewer: Tyler

Age: 5

I like: Playing with my cars, going to Wisconsin to visit my cousins, eating ham-and-cheese sandwiches.

This book was about: Pigs coming to the rescue!

The best part was when: The cows came to the rescue at the end.

I laughed when: The pigs were carrying on in the pool. When the pigs tied up Emily.

I was worried when: The tractor broke and Farmer Greenstalk couldn’t plow his fields.

I was surprised that: The pigs were helping people and other animals.

This book taught me: About helping people.

Other kids reading this book should watch for: The silly noises the pigs make.

Three words that best describe this books are: “Funny.” “Colorful.” “Fast.”

My favorite line or phrase in the book is: “Pigs to the rescue!”

You should read this book because: It teaches people about helping.

Thanks, Tyler!

To learn more about author and illustrator John Himmelman, visit his website. You also can listen to an interview with him on Just One More Book.

If you’d like to see other blog reviews of Pigs to the Rescue, visit:

• Books for Kids.
• Kids Lit.
• Chalkfull of Books.

Piggie!
Yes, Gerald?
I think someone is looking at us.
Someone is looking at us!
Who is looking at us? A monster?
No. It is...a reader!
A reader is reading us!
How is a reader reading us?
The reader is reading these word bubbles!

I have had a hard time writing any text in my posts recently, hopefully I will have more inspiration come next week.

Sheesh! I just realized it’s been a while since I posted anything. What is going on with me anyway?

Well, here is a wee piggy I posted on Dueling Banjo Pigs a while ago. You really must visit that site. It’s piggy-licious and full of hammy goodness!

Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman

I loved Chickens to the Rescue which was released in 2006 and this next book is just as winning and funny as the first!  Each day of the week Farmer Greenstalk and his family need help.  The tractor breaks down, the garden needs watering, a shoelace breaks and a kite gets stuck in the tree.  In each case, the pigs launch in to help out, always leaving the situation a bit worse than when they “helped.”  This zany book is sure to have guffaws galore as the illustrations are there to tell the rest of the story, especially the results of the pigs’ frenzied help.  The book ends with a wonderful twist that will have readers laughing all over again.

Himmelman allows his illustrations to really tell the story here.  The text is matter-of-fact, playing the straight man against the wild humor of the illustrations.  The cartoon feel of the pictures works perfectly here with the larger-than-life humor that is mostly physical.  Reluctant readers will enjoy the juxtaposition of the simple text against the vibrant background.

Sure to be a hit, this book will work best one-on-one because the illustrations should be enjoyed close up.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

Although it’s been a while since we had a Fantastic Fiction for Kids post I’m thrilled this week to be able to bring you another post in the series all about brilliant picture books which share a common theme, which this week is independence.

Today’s contributor is Stephanie Burgis. Stephanie was born in the US but has ended up in Wales via Vienna, Pittsburgh, and Yorkshire. She’s a full-time writer, having published almost thirty short stories for adults. Her first published novel, A Most Improper Magick came out yesterday in the UK! Many congratulations to you, Stephanie! Stephanie’s husband is also an author, and he and Stephanie have a young son, who I’m sure gets read to a great deal what with 2 writers as parents!

Now, without further ado, let me hand you over to Stephanie:

One of my [Stephanie's] favourite parts of parenting so far has been getting to discover great new books together with my son. Even before he was born, I’d started collecting some of my old favourites from my own childhood, but for this post I wanted to talk about three books we discovered together and both love. The linking theme is independence: all three of these books feature characters going out into the wide world without their parents, dealing with strange adults and facing the unknown, just like every little kid eventually has to do.

I’m Not Scared by Jonathan Allen

Baby Owl ventures out into the woods at night, carrying his stuffed owl with him. He’s not scared…or at least, he won’t admit he is, despite all the interfering adults who keep on startling him by popping up out of the darkness to worry about his feelings.

My son and I laugh and laugh when we read this book. The writing is sharp and funny, the pictures are hilarious, and I love that at the end, when Papa Owl whispers: “It’s okay to be a little bit scared of the dark,” feisty Baby Owl immediately says to his stuffed owl: “He means you, Owly.” Baby Owl is not about to learn any silly moral lessons himself…but his story is wonderfully reassuring, as well as funny, for little kids to read. (And as a parent, I’m intensely grateful for picture books that make me laugh on the hundredth re-read!)

There’s an Ouch in my Pouch! by 1 Comments on Fantastic Fiction for Kids – Independence, last added: 8/2/2010