This past holiday season I received an email from a wonderful teacher who shared her passion for books and children with me and thanked me for abookandahug. It was a wonderful gift to get during the season of commercial promotion and excess. She really touched my heart. Included in her email was the recommendation that I add a title to abookandahug. This dedicated educator had done a read aloud with her class and the children had loved the book so deeply that they didn't even want to leave for recess. They wanted her to "keep reading."
This is that book and after reading the adventure myself, I could see why the students were so enthralled. This is the heartfelt story of a little orphaned pig named Beryl. Winsome Beryl lives in a sty with her Aunt Misery and self-absorbed cousins who the word pig a bad name. No love is lost in this family and when the farmer comes in search of his next meal the relatives are shoving Beryl into the spotlight to save their own bacon.
Beryl is shoved into a truck and she and a few more sties full of pigs roar away headed to a less than savory place. Fate intervenes though and Beryl escapes. But to where? She's now on her own in a cold, harsh world until the worst thing happens... she stumbles into the kingdom of wild pigs. Uh oh.
Every chapter of this journey ends in a cliffhanger and those keep you turning the pages and worrying about what fate will befall young Beryl. Is there a place where Beryl can belong? Will the terrifying wild pigs she's heard about all her life intend to reduce her to scrapple?
This is a tender adventure story about fears, finding yourself, being a leader and risking change to make your world a better place. No recommendation of this book would be complete without mention of the illustrations. They will charm you and capture your heart at page one.
216 pages Ages 6-9 978-0316044103
Recommended by: Barb
