When Pigs Go Bad

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University and the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

Jeannie is determined to win the 800-metre race on Field Day. Super Pig,
a soft, pink toy pig, is Jeannie’s good-luck charm, and she takes it
wherever she goes. Jeannie and her friends Monica and Zora challenge the
regulations for the 800-metre race that say girls are not allowed to
compete. Zora’s cousin, a reporter for the local newspaper, assists
the girls in drawing public attention to their gender-inequity
objection.

Mrs. Olafson, Jeannie’s grandmother, lives on a farm just outside of
town. While at the farm completing their science project, Jeannie,
Monica, and Zora discover that two pigs have been devouring Mrs.
Olafson’s garden. Jeannie and her friends often talk about “Girl
Power” so Mrs. Olafson challenges them to devise a scheme to rid the
garden of the pigs. The girls eventually formulate a “noisy” plan
that saves both the garden and the swines.

When Pigs Go Bad is another chapter book in the Mudkat Kids series. The
two main subplots of the book are intertwined, and black-and-white
illustrations are scattered throughout the text. The book’s messages
are didactic and the story events are predictable. The subplot of
purging the garden of two pigs lacks reader-appeal. Not recommended.