FICTION

The Princess and the Pig

by Jonathan EMMETT
illus. by Poly Bernatene. 32p. CIP. Walker. 2011. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8027-2334-5; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-8027-2335-2. LC 2010049549.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 4—When two babies are switched through the kind of outrageous scenario common in fairy tales, a princess (now Pigmella) becomes the farmer's daughter and the pig (now Priscilla) becomes royalty. Naturally the girl has a much easier time growing up on a farm than does the pig in the castle. Much time passes before the farmer's wife hears about the princess who suddenly became a pig, yet she knows immediately what has happened and sets out to reveal the truth. The queen, however, believes that this is a ploy to have the farmer's daughter marry a prince. So, the girl remains on the farm and marries a shepherd, while the pig marries the prince. They all live happily ever after (except for maybe the prince), and good prevails. Each silly situation is followed by, "It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books," a line that young listeners will enjoy repeating. Digital art in bold colors with soft lines show a character holding a book in which that sort of thing indeed happened. Think Sleeping Beauty, Thumbelina, Puss in Boots. This fractured fairy tale could easily serve well in a unit on fairy-tale tropes, and it is an entertaining read-aloud.—Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa
A piglet is mistakenly switched for a newborn princess. Believing a fairy has transformed their daughter, the king and queen raise the pig as a princess while a poor, loving farmer raises the real princess. The story, with its references to other tales ("Sleeping Beauty," "Thumbelina," "The Frog Prince") and deliciously absurd turns, reminds readers that wealth and advantage don't equal self-worth.
A clever tale that brims with humor. Smart references to well-known fairy tales will amuse readers. For example, when the farmer finds a baby in his cart where a piglet had been, the farmer’s wife holds up Thumbelina and says, “A good fairy . . . knew how poor and honest we are and how badly we wanted a child, so she turned the piglet into a baby.” For each strange event, a character shows a relevant fairy tale and—in what becomes a refrain—explains confidingly, “It’s the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.” Poly Bernatene’s illustrations comically contrast Pigmella’s life—full of butterflies and flowers and hearts—with that of the pig, Priscilla, who tracks mud all over the palace and instead of learning to read books, eats them. The story’s conclusion turns a traditional fairy-tale ending on its head. In Pigmella’s happy ending, she remains a perfectly contented commoner, a change from the many fairy tales in which the heroine becomes a princess.

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