Gruntle Piggle Takes Off

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This hilarious variation on the classic “town mouse and country
mouse” theme finds a young city pig on the farm with her grandfather.

Gruntle lives in Pigs’ Digs, a highrise apartment building in which
she takes a bath every night and enjoys reading. When Grampa Bacon sends
her a pair of rollerblades, Gruntle sets out for Swine Corners to see
how “real” pigs live. She is not pleased to find that farm life
involves rolling in muck and eating slops. The worst shock comes when
Grampa tells Gruntle he won’t have a book on the place: “Real pigs
don’t read!” As an exasperated Gruntle heads home, she realizes that
Grampa probably can’t read.

Talking animals are considered a tired genre by some critics, but Jean
Little, author of more than 20 children’s books, makes it fresh. The
bold and whimsical illustrations by Torontonian Johnny Wales perfectly
capture the spirit of the story.

Gruntle Piggle Takes Off is the kind of book for small children that
adults will be happy to read numerous times. Highly recommended.