I Know a Wee Piggy by Kim Norman

Posted June 10, 2014 by Lillian in Children's Corner, Reviews / 0 Comments

Today officially starts a blog’s new feature Children’s Corner. Twice a month I will post reviews of books for children, specifically aimed at preschoolers as my son is a big part of these reviews. Today’s book my son received in the mail from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (If you’ve not heard of this wonderful project, click here to learn more). Each month is exciting as we never know what book we will get. This month’s book was a smash hit about a little pig who gets into a whole heap of trouble.

Demographics

Age Range: 3 – 5 years
Publisher: Dial (June 14, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0803737351
ISBN-13: 978-0803737358

Synopsis

A clever, colorful read-aloud in the tradition of I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

A fun day at the fair becomes color chaos when one boy’s energetic pig gets loose. Upside down, piggy wallows in brown, but that’s only the beginning of this cumulative, rhyming text. Soon, he’s adding a rinse of red (tomatoes), a wash of white (milk), a pinch of pink (cotton candy), and many more. Can piggy be caught before he turns the whole fair upside down?

With exuberant art by Henry Cole, this wild pig chase is a natural choice for teaching colors and begs to be read aloud.

Review

Rating: ★★★★

I Know a Wee Piggy by Kim Norman is a short, fun-filled, colorful adventure about a pig who gets lopes at the fair. This pig decides to get a little bit of every color on him and before long, he’s got the whole fair turned upside down.

Taken from kimnormanbooks.com

This wee piggy runs through mud, turns over a cotton candy vendor, and ends up in the dunk tank all before his owner catches him. Wonderful rhyming…

Image via iTunes

…and beautifully illustrated by Henry Cole. My son loves it! He just cackles every time the pig does something to get himself in more trouble. Maybe it’s a boy thing, because my son loves seeing the pig get dirtier and dirtier!

What makes this book so special? It’s a color-learning book. The wee piggy starts by “wallowing in brown” and then decides that he needs to add other colors. It’s great because as we read, my son will say the color at the top of each page before I read about the wee piggy’s antics. Not only is this story short and fun, but the author developed a teaching guide to go along with the story! Check it out below.

Teaching Guide developed by the author

Overall I highly recommend this fun read to anyone with a child under 5. It’s a perfect book for preschoolers and the activities with the teaching guide are good to use at home or in a preschool setting. But for now my son is handing me the book, saying “Read Mama!” so off I go!

Author Bio:

Kim Norman’s children’s books have been published by Dial, Dutton, Sterling and Scholastic. Her books have been well-reviewed in publications such as the New York Times and Publishers Weekly, and have been distributed in Scholastic Book Fairs and take-home Club fliers. Kim has built a national reputation as a school presenter, having done author visits in more than a hundred schools around the country.

Kim is an actress and singer, and has been known to practice her time step in a grocery line. Her books often feature animals, which were a big part of her childhood. Family pets included unusual critters such as a squirrel, an iguana and a raccoon named Danny.

She lives in Smithfield, Virginia, with the REAL Crocodaddy (her husband of more than 25 years.) They’re the parents of two grown sons and the grandparents of one very large, shaggy Newfoundland. Visit her website at www.kimnormanbooks.com