Small Pig

by Arnold Lobel

Book Overview

Another sweet, funny tale from Arnold Lobel, the beloved author and illustrator of the Newbery Honor and Caldecott Honor award-winning Frog and Toad books.

Small Pig loves to sit in good, soft mud. When the farmer's wife cleans his pigpen, Small Pig runs away. In the city he finds a new mud puddle--but it is not full of mud at all. And now Small Pig has one big problem

Arnold Lobel's beloved Level 2 I Can Read classic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064441202
• ISBN13: 9780064441209
• Release Date: August 1988
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

a finely aged and well worn classic

my dad used to read this book to me when i was a small boy. it was always one of my favorites to hear and i believe my dad's favorite to read. he had a way of reading this story that was so engaging. i still have that very same book tattered and worn having also been read many many times by me to my three boys, now mid to late teens. the story is one im sure many people can relate to. something akin to the grass is always greener on the other side, be careful what you wish for and sometimes its better to leave well enough alone. at least thats what i seem to get out of it. small pig lives on a country farm with the farmer and his wife. small pig is heavy into his mud. the farmer is cool with this but his wife is not. she decieds to clean it up using a monstrous vacuum cleaner. small pig is not with a clean pigpen so he runs away. he happens upon various places with mud that look good at first but turn out to be inhospitable. eventually he finds his way to the big city. noise and filth abound and he finds what he thinks is a wonderful mud pit but turns out to be a cement square for a sidewalk. next thing he knows he's stuck and no matter how hard he tries he cannot get out. slowly people begin to notice his predicament and the crowd eventually swells to mob like proportions. mean while the farmer and his wife are frantically searching for small pig. as the fire department shows up to rescue small pig the farmer and his wife happen by. "whats going on here?" the farmer ask's a bystander. "oh nothing, just a pig stuck in the sidewalk" the man replies. the farmer and his wife make their way thru the crowd. simultaineously small pig is free'd. they speed their way back home to the country where small pig is given all the mud he needs. "he sits down and sinks down into the good soft mud". i will go my whole life remembering this book as my dad read it to me and how i read it to my son's and thats what makes it such a treasured book.

Small Pig is excellent

This book appeals to both kids and adults because, along with the great, whimsical illustrations and easy-to-read words, the book also has all the elements of a great story. The irony of the farmer's wife vacuuming up a pigpen and of a pig getting stuck in cement are precious; there's just enough tasty sarcasm to make you grin as you read. My favorite line is when the farmer pulls over to ask what's going on, and the man replies, "Oh, nothing. Just a pig stuck in the sidewalk." Classic. The small pig's expressions are priceless; Lobel has great character development. Superior book.

I love Small Pig!

My sister and I have been fighting over who gets to keep thisbook for years now. Our grandmother used to read it to us when we'dvisit on Sunday afternoons. We still know the whole story by heart!This book is great-I love when the pig "sits down, and sinks down into the good, soft, mud"!

A lifetime favorite, great story, even better illustrations

I first read Small Pig in 2nd grade... 25 years later, it's still my all-time favorite children's book. I've told friends about it and even though I haven't seen the book in years, I can still vividly remember the expression on the pig's face when he got stuck in the cement. As a learning disabled child (undiagnosed at the time, but I knew that reading was a chore nonetheless), I found the book not only easy to read, but I was in love with the expressive illustrations of the pig. An absolutely adorable character. It's a parable in many ways to the way a child feels when they don't get their way. The farmer and his wife loved this pig very much and it's obvious in the telling of the story. It's short enough to read as a bed-time story to your kids and even the "scary" parts are brief and even humorous. If more stars were available, I would add them.

Small Pig Review

Small Pig is about a pig whose pig pen gets cleaned up and so he gets mad and runs away. He searches high and low for a place to find his good soft mud. Finally he goes to the city because it's dirty so he thinks he finds mud in the city and realy he sits in cement. The farmer and his wife go to find the pig and he's stuck so the firemen come and help get him out. When they get home they make his mud reappear and the pig promises to never run away again. I love this book because every time I read it I get a new meaning out of it. I've read this book since I can rememer and will continue to until I pass it along. This book will always be in memory because it means so much to me