*Picture book preschool through second grade
*Three important pigs as main characters
*Rating: Hogg, Hogg, & Hog will be a hit with kids because it’s silly, and there are a lot of animal sounds. It will be a hit with adults because it’s clever with tons of little details to notice and point out in the illustrations.
Short, short summary:
Hogg, Hogg, & Hog have made it in the BIG APPLE! They are an important firm in the big business world. And why? Well, they made “The Oink” popular. Everyone is oinking thanks to those three. But as with any fad or trend, it quickly dies out. To stay on top, Hogg, Hogg, & Hog have to come up with something else. They think back to their roots on the farm and remember, “Baa! Quack! Ribbit!” So, guess what the next fad is? People just can’t get enough of those three big pigs. But soon, their old life sneaks up on them, and Sheep, Duck, and Frog come to get what is rightfully theirs. So, the hogs have to make a little change to their business plan, and soon they become. . .Hogg, Hogg, & Hog & Partners.So, what do I do with this book?
1. I don’t want to reveal everything that happens at the end of the story–as the surprise will be ruined. 
But there’s a list of animals and sounds at the end. Children can look at this list and add to it with animals that are not already in the book or on the list. At first, try to keep the animals to ones they may find on a farm. Then if they want to get silly, let them! This is a PERFECT activity for a preschool classroom or a preschooler stuck at home on a rainy day.
2. Children might not get “the next big thing” or how things trend like adults will when reading this book. So talk to them about this. What is a “big thing” right now? What’s popular? How do people find out about the next big thing? You might have to help them get thinking about this in terms of toys. What is the toy that everyone wants? How did you find out about it? Then expand to other popular items.
3. Compare and contrast urban (city) life vs rural (farm) life. This is usually a social studies objective in third grade, so you could even use this book as a fun introduction to the unit in third grade. But with younger children, this is also a good activity. You could use a Venn diagram and do a shared writing activity. After you make the Venn diagram together, students can draw a picture comparing and contrasting rural and urban life.
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