Select one of the keywords
The Princess and the Pig    by Jonathan Emmett & Poly Bernatene Amazon.com order for
Princess and the Pig
by Jonathan Emmett
Order:  USA  Can
Walker, 2011 (2011)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

Children four years of age and older will love this silly tale of a baby swap. Without going into detail (I'll let the author do that), let it suffice to say that in this story a baby pig and a baby princess each end up in the wrong place.

Both families, royal and common, realize that something odd has occurred, but they accept the situation as having to do with the fairies' intervention. As the dimwitted king explains, 'A bad fairy has done this. The fairy wasn't invited to the princess's christening, so she turned the baby into a piglet to get her revenge. It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.'

The farmer isn't much smarter. 'A good fairy has done this,' he states. 'The fairy knew how poor and honest we were and how badly we wanted a child, so she turned the piglet into a baby. It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.'

OK, I think you get the picture! The little girl, Priscilla, grows up to be a happy, well-adjusted little person. Pigmella, the piglet? Well, let's just say she gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And the king and queen have to continually remind everyone that 'she was really a princess' (sort of!)

Then one day the farmer, being slightly smarter than the king, figures out that actually there's been a switch. Even though Priscilla is happy where she is, he goes to the royals to correct the mistake. For his honesty, the farmer is sent packing by the queen. 'It's a trick,' she declares. 'This girl is just a farmer's daughter pretending to be a princess so that she can marry a prince. It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in books.'

Although that means Priscilla is happy and the farm couple is happy, where does that leave the royal family? You'll discover that they convince a young prince to marry Pigmella because everyone knows that once he kisses her 'spell will be broken and she will turn back into a beautiful princess'.

Oh really? Unfortunately, someone is in for a very big surprise!

Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.

Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews