David Kirk Brings Youngsters Another Fictional Piggy to Love

A friend of mine informed me that the other day was Pig Day. I was surprised, as I didn't realize that pigs had a day set aside especially in their honor, but I think it's a lovely gesture. They're magnificent creatures, after all; I've loved them since I first heard Pigs Can't Fly, the whimsical final track on the Irish Rovers' Tales to Warm Your Mind, as a toddler, and that love has deepened through the years with introductions to E. B. White's Wilbur, Dick King-Smith's Babe and my cousin's very own Porky. As a t-shirt my dad used to have says, "Pigs are precious."

In Little Pig Biddle Pig, by Miss Spider creator David Kirk, the title character is perhaps a little too precious. While all his fellow piglet grunt and squeal with pleasure while rolling around in the muck of a squishy brown mud puddle, this particular piggy insists on staying pristinely clean. But while she may be "sweet as alfalfa and grand as a queen" and "pink as a posy in soft summer light," can she really be happy when everyone else is having fun without her?

This book is one in a series of Biddle Books, itty bitty volumes just perfect for easy gripping by tiny tots. Comparable in size to a Little Golden Book, it features a progression of four-line stanzas that are both easy to read and artful. One of my favorite verses is the following, which includes a satisfying instance of both alliteration internal rhyme: "Snorting and rolling, / They frolic and flop / Belly down, / Into the smelly brown slop."

Just as endearing as Kirk's rhymes are his paintings, which are very realistic-looking, from the many illustrations of pigs in various degrees of happiness to the small creatures that appear on the same page as the words: a frog, a rabbit, a dragonfly and so on. My favorite of these side pictures is the goose that preens its feathers underneath the aforementioned verse.

While the book's small pages make it easy to grasp, because this isn't a board book it could also be easy to tear, so parents might want to watch out for such a possibility when they read it with their youngsters at bedtime. Though this is designed for pre-readers, it's a book that could be of value to folks of all ages as it advises letting go of one's pride once in a while and just having a good time. In this hectic world, we could all use a little permission now and then start "dancing for joy"!