Pigs

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

"Meet the Pig!" This "Farm Animals" series has a distinctly personal and almost nostalgic aura: animals and the small farms shown are clean and neat, some buildings are of stone, family members are working—it's definitely not agribusiness! In each volume, ample pages bordered in a design of that animal's footprints offer engaging color photographs like one here of a blissful pink pig in a field of dandelions. Ten sections present topics ranging from descriptions of breeds and types through feeding, training, and caring for the animals to life cycles and history. Pig breeds include Berkshire, spotted, and Yorkshire; readers will learn that all domestic pigs derive from wild boars, first tamed in China. A two-page spread illustrates pig features: skin, tails, feet, teeth, eyes, and snouts. Caring for pigs requires special attention to keeping them clean, disinfecting pens, and providing vaccinations. Future farmers and city kids will be interested to discover that pigs appear in Norse folklore as a boar called "Golden Mane" and in Celtic legends as a moon goddess; a short retelling introduces readers to a Hindu tale in which the god Vishnu turns into a boar. For inquiring minds, a short quiz and two recommended books point to further research, while a "Frequently Asked Questions" section answers queries like "Can pigs become bored?" Unusual for the variety of information presented, the freshness of its graphic appeal, and recognition of the antiquity and traditions of animal husbandry, this series is an exceptional value for its reasonable price.