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Publisher - Clarion Books “Christelow’s vigorous, broken-lined watercolors capture
the story’s humor and suspense perfectly...Great fun.” ABA Pick of the Lists Other books inspired by true stories...
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| The Story: |
Bert and Ethel grow the best vegetables around. But then, Bert
gets it in his head that they should raise a few pigs as well. "Sounds
like trouble to me," says Ethel. "I'd rather stick with turnips." But
Bert brings home six little piglets, and they aren't much trouble
until the day Bert decides they've grown big enough to sell at
the market. That's when the squealing and oinking begin, and so
does the trouble -from a hard time loading the truck, to a big
surprise at the market. What has happened to those pigs? Well,
that's their secret, hilariously revealed in the book's final pages. |
| Where did you get the idea?: | When I was visiting schools
in Iowa, I read a story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette about a farmer
whose pigs escaped from the back of his truck as he was taking
them to the livestock auction. After the farmer discovered his
loss, he retraced his trip and found all of his pigs in various
parts of town, miraculously unhurt. "Too bad for the pigs!" I thought. "They
should have escaped!" I imagined the pigs climbing on a bus and
heading out of town. It was a story! |
| Tidbits: |
The setting: Feedback from readers! Several years after this book was published, a teacher from Iowa wrote to say that she is a friend of the farmer who lost his pigs. I sent her a signed book to give to her friend. I asked if he would let me know if he had any more adventures with his pigs. I haven't heard a word. Since I wrote this story, several people have told me tales of livestock escaping on their way to an auction or county fair. Some of those animals were never found! The illustrations:
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| Other Books Inspired by True Stories: | |