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Wednesday, February 7, 2007
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Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners written and illustrated by Suzanne Bloom
Suzanne Bloom is fabulous. My preschoolers are big fans of her Is This the Bus For Us, Gus?. My family just got Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners and we love it! When I first looked at the cover, I thought it would scare my chidlren, 4 and 6. That they would be afraid of turning into pigs themselves. Quite the contrary.
The book begins with a class of children who are teasing, being rude, talking in class, etc. As their behavior deteriorates throughout the day, they begin growing pig snouts, hooves, and tails, until they are all little pigs. The Pig Lady comes to the rescue and reminds them of their manners. As they begin to use manners, their pig parts disappear and they become polite young children. By the end, they are all complementing each other, reminding each other of the proper way to say things and do things, and saying please and thank you.
The illustrations are fabulous inspiring fits of laughter from my children as the students tear apart the classroom and acquire one pig part at a time. The story is in verse which always attracts the attention of young listeners and the dedication, "to that sparkling class who inspired this tale" was a great topic of conversation afterwards - "Did this really happen?" "Are there really kids who don't have any manners?" "Kids can't turn into pigs!"
A few days after reading this book my children were arguing over some precious toy they both desperately needed at the same time and I looked in the doorway and said, "I see a pig tail ... and an ear!" My children stopped arguing immediately and started looking at each other for their pig parts. They rolled in a fit of laughter and actually apologized to each other without being told to!!!! It was terrific! Later that night my husband forgot to say please and my son was quick to say, "Be careful Daddy, you're going to get a pig tail." Humor is such a great way to remind children to make good choices, rather than getting angry or frustrated. The kids catch each other and because of the fabulous imagery from the illustrations, they can't help but laugh at the thought.
I'm so glad I did not judge this book by its cover.
5 comments:
I like the way that you listed all the required texts and everyone's blog address. If I ever lose my list, I can use yours. Thank you! Ann Collet
I cannot find the button to leave a comment to "Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners," so I will leave the comment here!
I love the description of this book! I teach 7th graders and as I was reading your post, I was imagining reading the book to my students! How I wish they would respond in the same way! I know I would only get eyes rolling and snickering ... however, I may try it anyway ... anything is worth a try to get their attitudes back on track! I'm definitely keeping this title on my list to read to my kids (when I become a mother someday)!
~Amber Lacy
Kim,
I too am leaving a response to Piggy Monday A Tale About Manners. I also want to thank you for the idea of listing all of the blog addresses on my blog. It makes it super easy to respond to others.
I would love to borrow Piggy Monday. It sounds like a wonderful story. I agree that books are the best way to teach children life lessons with out having to be a constant nag. Your description of the book was very good and the connection to your own children really made me want to read this book to my girls.
I am going to have to read Piggie Monday, A Tale About Manners to my third graders! Every afternoon, before walking to the buses, I have to remind them that their mess should not have to be cleaned up by the custodians. One student in particular, makes herself at home, so to say. The added theme of treating other’s with kindness is a bonus. After reading this book, I will remind my students of the tails and ears they are growing, whenever they need to pay a little extra attention to manners! They will love it!
I read a book at the beginning of the year called Pigsty, by Mark Teague. In this story, a little boy refuses to clean his room and pigs move in. At first he finds this fun and exciting, getting to mess up the room and stay up playing “games” with pigs. However, when the pigs begin to mess up his own things, his feelings change. This, too, is a humorous reminder of what happens when cleanliness is turned into a pigsty
"Piggy Monday" sounds like an entertaining book. Like elisabeth this book reminded me of "Pigsty" by Mark Teague. When my daughter was younger she refused to clean her room so it was the perfect bedtime read.
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