Book Review: The Little Piggy Who Could...and Did

The Little Piggy Who Could...and Did. Janet Feduska Cole & Andrew Jonathan Cole. Pegasus Pony, California, November 2014, Trade Paperback, 50 pages.

Reviewed by Christine Cassello.

Sassyfrass is the boldest and most outgoing of a litter of piglets Momma pig gives birth to on the farm. She is always wandering off in search of something new to explore, and the other piglets follow along because she is a natural leader. One day they are picked up and put in a truck with other pigs to be taken to market. While the other little pigs are crying because they are scared and miss their mothers, Sassyfrass is busy exploring the truck. She finds a hole in the side of it and keeps pushing at it to make it larger. When the truck stops at a light, Sassyfrass convinces the rest of the pigs to jump out of the truck with her.

As they journey to try to get back home, they encounter other little animals: an orphaned fawn, young owl, and skunk who have been rejected by their peers.

Sassyfrass invites them to come along with the pigs. When a policeman finds the group of animals, he takes them to an animal rescue site, and the farmer who had owned the pigs comes to take care of them. When he finds out they are not eating and are sad, he knows they miss their mother, and he brings her to them. So, Momma pig gets her piglets back and becomes a mother to the other pigs and the fawn, owl, and skunk.

The book is based on a true story and is one of a series about Sassyfrass. The other books written by Janet Feduska Cole are The Continuing Adventures of Sassyfrass; Sassyfrass Spreads the Wealth; and Sassyfrass's Outdoor Adventures. I enjoyed this story and the character Sassyfrass with her fearlessness and friendliness and I believe children will find her entertaining and inspiring. The back of the book contains discussion questions a teacher could use in a class or a parent could ask their child.