Pigs Might Fly

Pigs Might Fly

King-Smith, D. (1980). Pigs might fly. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Everyone has heard the phrase when pigs fly; well this animal fantasy book, Pigs Might Fly, is a comical spin off this popular phrase.  In the story Mrs. Barleylove gives birth to a dag, which has deformed front legs.  Usually the fate of these unfortunate little ones lay in the hands of Pigman and is not long lived, but this determined little dag found his way back to his mother and escaped Pigman’s wrath.

This determined little dag’s name was Daggie Dogfoot, because his front feet were more like a dog’s paws.  This defect made Daggie special and he was determined to show everyone just how special he was.  Throughout the story he attempted to do things normal pigs could not, like flying although he was unsuccessful with his attempts to fly; he eventually found he was a great swimmer.  This skill ended up saving Daggie, the large herd of pigs, and the Pigman from a flood.  Daggie was a hero in the end.

This book is an animal fantasy because the animals throughout the story do incredible things, like talking, making friends, and even flying!!!  The events of the story were person-against-society, Daggie Dogfoot was different from the rest of his liter mates, but he was determined to live and prove how special he was. Throughout the book Daggie was faced with struggles, but his determination helped him to continue fighting.

I think the theme of the story is not to judge a book by its cover.  Poor Daggie Dogfoot was different from his liter mates and no one really wanted to give him a chance.  They assumed he wasn’t capable of doing anything worthwhile, when in fact he became the hero in the end.

The illustrations were spread throughout the book and where simplistic black and white hand sketched illustrations that gave the reader a visual of what was happening in the story.

I think this book would be a great book to use to discuss differences, acceptance, and character traits such as determination.