This Little Piggy Learns a Lesson in Crispin: The Pig Who Had It All

When I see the name Crispin, the first person who always comes to mind is Crispin Glover, an actor who excels at portraying characters who are extremely socially awkward (though judging by the interviews I’ve seen with him, I’m not sure that’s much of a stretch for him). So as I began to read Crispin: The Pig Who Had It All, a picture book by Ted Dewan, I couldn’t help comparing him with jittery George McFly and brooding Willard. He has a certain kinship with those characters.

Crispin, as the title indicates, is a little pig with a seemingly endless supply of possessions. The trouble is that he always gets tired of them, and he leads a lonely existence in his fancy home surrounded by broken toys. Then, one Christmas, he receives a most unusual present from Santa: a giant box with nothing inside. Like Dudley Dursley, the spoiled rotten cousin of Harry Potter, Crispin is accustomed to getting whatever he wants, but an encounter with this emptiness alters him. When the sight of his box on the front lawn attracts some neighborhood children, he begins to understand that friends are much more valuable than stuff.

Dewan’s paintings are colorful and exceptionally detailed, from the first page of the story, in which he slips in visual references to Pringles, Green Eggs and Ham and the Velveteen Rabbit. On most pages, there is ample white space, upon which the text is printed. But some illustrations take up a full page or even two. These two-page spreads are the most lavish portions to pore over, and Dewan makes especially good use of light, with tiny bulbs blinking out at the reader from the page. The effect is especially striking in the almost gothic image toward the middle of the book of Crispin’s home in the midst of a downpour, with strings of white lights covering the bushes and trees that surround the extensive property.

Most pages feature somewhere between one and half a dozen sentences, and aside from some odd names of high-tech fictional toys, there’s little here likely to trip up a tot’s tongue. The print is large, and there’s some repetition as Crispin responds to various changes in his circumstances, each time fearing that the friends he has made will abandon him. The book effectively shows how friendships can begin and develop and also demonstrates the value of imagination. While Crispin has some undesirable traits, they dissipate as he becomes less self-absorbed.

Though Christmas is a key element of this book, very little time is spent on the holiday itself, and the its lessons are important in any season. So while I would especially recommend Crispin: The Pig Who Had It All at Christmastime, Dewan’s tale of a little nothing going a long way is worth perusing all through the year.