Kids and food are a natural topic for children’s books – as seen in these two funny animal picture books that take a humorous look at how food is grown, used, and conserved.
A Garden for Pig
Pig loves living on the apple farm with his owner Mrs. Pippins, but he’s tired of only eating the roasted apples, baked apples, applesauce, and apple pie she makes for him. Some vegetables – like the ones growing in the garden next to his pen – would be a nice change. So Pig breaks into the garden and eats some of the squash growing there, seeds and all. Yum!
Unfortunately, Mrs. Pippins isn’t happy when she finds Pig digging up her garden, and ties him up in his pen. No fair! Still, Pig is patient. He digs up the mud in his pen and rolls the dirt over and over until his pen resembles a garden. Too bad he doesn’t have anything to plant – or does he? Soon, Pig learns the squash seeds he ate earlier – along with his own special brand of fertilizer – can help him start his own squash garden.
Based on a true story about the author’s pig, who planted his own organic squash garden, A Garden for Pig offers a hilariously memorable story about perseverance, patience, and the fun of organic gardening. Kids will enjoy Lindsay Ward’s cute animal pictures of Pig’s attempts to escape his pen while the educational “potty humor” gives young readers a chance to learn how animals can help certain plants spread and grow.
Parents and teachers interested in giving kids some first-hand experience in organic gardening will also appreciate the tips Pig (along with author Kathryn Thurman) offers at the end of the picture book on growing an organic garden. The tips, which are given in much greater detail than the sparse text of the rest of the book, include instructions for making compost bins, utilizing worms to revitalize soil, and using certain plants and bugs to naturally repel weeds and pests.
Jin Jin and Rain Wizard
In Asian culture, rice is an invaluable commodity – a fact unfortunately lost on young Chinese dragon Jin Jin who ate too much rice and even threw rice away during the annual rice festival. When this causes Jin Jin to later lose his special ability to breathe water, his guardians Old Turtle and Crane send him on a journey that takes him back through time to meet the wise Rain Wizard.
Rather than arrive at Rain Wizard’s palace in the clouds, however, Jin Jin wanders into an ancient Chinese village that has suffered from drought ever since Rain Wizard fell asleep. Can Jin Jin wake the mighty wizard and recover his own ability to breathe water in time to help the villagers?
Written and drawn by brother-sister team of Grace Chang and Chong Chang, Jin Jin and Rain Wizard is both an enchanting time travel story and a good morality tale about wastefulness. Chong Chang’s illustrations of Jin Jin are remarkably cute, although they do give him a reptilian appearance (in contrast to traditional Chinese dragons that are more mamilian).
Teachers and readers who are curious about the story’s background will enjoy the informative Chinese legends at the end of the book. These include a myth about how a dog first introduced rice to a Chinese village much in the same way Pig from A Garden for Pig grew his squash garden. Chang also includes a Chinese legend about Rain Wizard, which can help introduce kids to a few Chinese folktales.
Find more great stories about Chinese folklore at Picture Books to Help Children Study Chinese.
Chang, Grace and Chong Chang. Jin Jin and Rain Wizard. New York: Enchanted Lion Books. 2009. ISBN: 978-1-59270-086-8
Thurman, Kathryn K. and Lindsay Ward. A Garden for Pig. Tulsa: Kane Miller/EDC Publishing, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-935279-24-2
Michael Jung - Michael Jung is a professional writer, children’s literature specialist, and online book dealer whose articles, reviews, interviews, ...
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