“Piggy Pie” Review And Activity

by Kathy Porter

Piggy Pie is a humorous children's book about a group of pigs who are determined to outsmart a hungry witch who is planning to eat them for dinner. The pigs come up with a plan to disguise themselves as other farm animals since Gritch the Witch is only interested in eating pigs.

The story includes an allusion to The Wizard of Oz movie. With smoke from her broom, she writes SURRENDER PIGGIES in the sky, which children won’t understand but some adults may catch the humor. It also includes a bit of the chorus to Old MacDonald Had a Farm and the Thanksgiving song Over the River and Through the Woods. I love to sing these parts instead of reading them.

The illustrations by Howard Fine are colorful and expressive, helping to bring the characters to life.

One of the strengths of Piggy Pie is its use of humor. Children will find the pigs' antics and the witch’s reactions to their disguises to be entertaining and silly. The book also contains a subtle message about the value of creativity and working together to solve problems. Even though the book is over twenty-five years old, it is my all-time favorite as a read-aloud.

The ending leaves the reader wondering if the witch will eat The Big Bad Wolf or if he will eat her. We aren’t told what happens next. In my days as a library teacher, I read this to classes during storytime, and we voted if we wanted the wolf to eat Gritch or Gritch to eat the wolf, or they both go to McDonald's for lunch. It gave children an opportunity to participate by giving their opinion.

Watch this Youtube Video for a read-aloud of Piggie Pie.

Buy the book on Amazon here.

I can use creativity to disguise the pig to look like a different farm animal. Disguise the pig by drawing cow spots, yellow feathers, or orange webbed feet on the pig. Look at the book illustrations, again. What else could you draw on the pig to disguise it?

Supplies:

Crayons and markers. Optional: fabric strips with glue, stickers, or glitter.

Directions:

1. Help your child write the name of an animal on the line. It could be a chicken, duck, cow or any other animal your child prefers.
2. Color or decorate the pig with black or brown spots for a cow, yellow caret to look like chicken feathers or orange W on the feet for duck feet. If you use fabric strips, glue them wherever you want on the pig. You could also use stickers or glitter to cover the pig until it no longer looks like a pig. Let your creativity go wild!