"His mother didn't even know he was there" So first I'd like to admit I spend alot of my spare time searching for the greatest children's books ever written and stumbling upon this has been a magical little treat. I frequent the library and Borders and Barnes and none of those places have I found "Perfect the Pig" this book is really something special. The illustrations are all in black and white throughout the book but are done by a masterful illustrator that was something about the book I hadn't known before purchasing but don't let that tidbit stop you its definitely enough to hold the attention of your toddler. "Perfect the pig" himself is charming, unique, loving and deserving of all the attention he desperately seeks. The story starts out with "perfect" on the farm with his other pig siblings and he's clearly the smallest of the bunch and is really different from birth I mean "he was so small his mother didn't even know he was there" I think that says it all! So you see charming "perfect" laying in the sun and day dreaming and of course never wants to roll in that dirty mud and his siblings often tease him and he really just doesn't fit in but one day something big happens to him, "perfect" being the sweet pig he is hears a sow stuck in the mud on its side and rushes to her to help so he wedges something and helps turn her and the sow is so grateful she says "I'm gonna grant you a wish" and so "perfect" asks for wings so he can fly and see the world from way up above and a few hours later viola "Perfects" got his wings and hes soaring to a big city nearby where he eventually becomes tired needs to rest and stumbles upon the fire escape of a tenderhearted woman named "Olive" and immediately the two are inseparable she likes to grow all kinds of delicious veggies in her apt and of course "Perfect" loves to eat them and shes an artist and she paints him and they take walks together in the city (of course with a litlte sweater she made for "Perfect" so people don't take notice to his unusual wings" and the two are so happy but "Perfects getting a little big for the apt and eventually misses flying. So one day Olive starts taking "Perfect" to the rooftop for flying but one day a when Olive isn't with him a storm rolls in and fog appears he loses his way and then becomes so tired from flying around trying to find home he stops to rest on a park bench where a shady mean looking man stumbles upon him and thinks hes found his fortune a winged pig and snatches up tired and tender "Perfect" just to make a buck. He chains "Perfect" up and hardly ever bathes him and makes him perform in the streets and never feeds him yummy vegetables only garbage and you watch as "Perfect" almost loses all hope of ever returning to his best friend Olive. But Olive never stops looking for her winged pig and one day sees signs advertising the "amazing flying oink" and becomes curious stops inside to glance and sees a sad slumped "Perfect" being yelled at and forced to fly around for a crowd, and luckily she swoops him up he flies into her arms, the mean man and Olive get in a disagreement about who's pig it is the crowd yells "Let a judge decide" and sure enough in the end the judge says "Let the pig decide" and of course "Perfect" returns to sweet Olive and they move to the country together and live happily ever after. I think to sum it up its a whimsical tale of friendship and love great for ages 3+ or whoever believes pigs CAN fly.
A Great Childrens Books That Sticks By Me I loved this book from when I heard James Coco reading it on Reading Rainbow in 84 I think. I LOVED the book too-it really helped me to have a great interest in pigs. This is the story of a flying pig who is kicked out of barnyard for his newfound wings and ends up the muse of a kind artist who cares for him. When he misses flying the artist lets him do so,only for Perfect to end up with a sleazy man (who from the sound of things should be arrested for animal cruelty-he locks Perfect in a cage crying and literally feeds him trash) who exploits Perfect for profit. The artist finds out what's happened and a judge allows Perfect to decide who he wants to stay with. He chooses Olive,the artist and they pair move to a home in the country and live "happily ever after". This is a great book and with all the modern day adaptions of famous childrens books I think 'Perfect The Pig' would be a great story to adapt for the silver screen,especially with all the CGI characters you can make. This book made me think a lot more of pigs and,like many Reading Rainbow books truely enouraged me to think imaginately in all things and reach for my dreams.So even though it's almost twenty years along I want to say hats off to you Pefect!!
Read this when I was a child. Loved it. I have been trying to figure out what the name of this book was for years. Little did I know, I could have saved a lot of time by doing a quick Google search.
This is a magical story that children, as well as their parents, will love. I remember watching the special on Reading Rainbow, and then running off to the library to check out the book.
I'd recommend this to any child, or child at heart.
A Favorite of My Now-20 year Old Daughter This is a wonderful book that was read over and over and (need I say) over again to my 3 year old daughter once upon a time. Our copy finally fell apart from all the "loving" it took. My daughter is now 20 years old and a sophomore in college and in an early childhood ed program. I am so excited to have found that I can still get this book to surprise her!
An wonderful story about a small pig with big dreams. "Perfect the Pig," is a story about a pig who rises from a lowly birth and sees its dreams come true. The relationship between Perfect and his guardian Olive is lovely. Young children I know who have read this book have simply adored it, even the tenth or twelfth time.
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