Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy - Hardcover

Aylesworth, Jim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590899872 ISBN 13: 9780590899871

Publisher: Scholastic, 1999

Synopsis

This rhyming retelling of "The Old Woman and Her Pig" provides beginning readers with an amusing tale abut Aunt Pitty Patty's day at the market and her search to find the perfect pig.

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Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1-Aunt Pitty Patty can't get her piggy to go in the gate, so her young niece Nelly tries to get some assistance. She is turned down first by dog, and then by stick, fire, water, and so on, until cow requests hay in payment, and Farmer Brown decides to trade some for the prospect of a good meal. "And little Nelly took the hay and gave it to the cow," starting the chain reaction that leads to the expected and satisfying conclusion. The fun is in getting there. By the same team that did The Gingerbread Man (Scholastic, 1998), this nicely paced retelling of the old cumulative tale is done in much the same style and format, although these pencil-and-watercolor illustrations don't leap off the page with quite the same wit and energy. Most of the paintings are soft-edged and grainy, thus underscoring the folksy, turn-of-the-century setting. McClintock depicts a bucolic landscape, animals with personality, and a determined and feisty Nelly. A recipe for "Aunt Pitty Patty's Old-Fashioned Corn Bread" is appended on the dust jacket. A winning read-aloud or storyhour selection.
Corinne Camarata, Port Washington Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Fresh from The Gingerbread Man, Aylesworth and McClintock offer a similarly energetic, folksy retelling of a sequential tale about a stubborn pig who refuses to pass through a gate to enter the yard of its new owner. Rendered in brown pencil and watercolors, McClintock's earth-toned art conjures a rural 19th-century setting, replete with charming period particulars. The text's repetition and rhythm virtually command readers to chime in, as the determined heroine, Nelly, tries to enlist the aid of a number of initially uncooperative animals and inanimate objects: "Stick, stick, come hit dog. Dog won't bite Aunt Pitty Patty's piggy. It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate sayin', 'No, no, no, I will not go!' " Nelly's resolve pays off in an ending propelled by an amusing chain reaction. McClintock's pictures contain spirited detailsAe.g., a butcher, complying with Nelly's request that he scare an ox, chases the animal while carrying a picture of a steak; and the title character, persuaded at last to enter the yard, licks his chops hopefully as he stares in through the window at a supper shared by his mistress, her farmer suitor and Nelly. A recipe for corn bread appears, invitingly if irrelevantly, on the back of the book jacket. Narrative and art pull equal weight in this cheerful reworking. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Aylesworth and McClintock (The Gingerbread Man, 1998) tackle the story of the old woman whose pig won't go over the stile, hindering her from going home. Here, the fat piggy is purchased at the market, but when it arrives home, it won't go through the gate. The old woman, in this case Aunt Pitty Patty, enlists her young niece Nelly to go fetch help. Nelly implores a dog to bite the pig, a stick to hit the dog, a fire to burn the stick, water to douse the fire, etc. All the while, the piggy is parked by the gate reciting, ``No, no, no, I will not go.'' Aylesworth's addition of the rhyming refrain preserves some of the cadence of the traditional tale, while softening the verbs (``hit'' instead of ``beat,'' the rope ``ties'' instead of ``hangs,'' the butcher is to ``scare'' instead of ``kill'') usually associated with it. McClintock emphasizes expression over action, and employs the same dainty brown line and soft watercolor wash of this team's previous book. (Picture book/folklore. 3-7) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

With the same old-fashioned pastoral setting as in Aylesworth and McClintock's Gingerbread Man (1998), this retelling of an old cumulative folktale is great for reading aloud and joining in. McClintock's delicately detailed double-page spreads in brown pencil and watercolor set the cozy farce in a Randolph Caldecott^-style, bucolic farmyard landscape. Aunt Pitty Patty brings a fine, fat piggy home from market, but the piggy won't go through the gate ("No, no, no, I will not go!"). Aunt Pitty Patty's niece Nelly asks the dog to bite the piggy, but the dog won't. She asks the stick to hit the dog, but the stick won't. And so on--until (surprise!) a cat agrees to help if Nelly gets it some milk, and the cow says she'll give milk, if . . . and then everything goes in reverse in a fast-paced, satisfying turnabout. The creatures' expressions and body language add to the fun, as stubborn disobedience and antisocial behavior give way to a hilarious community effort, ending when that piggy finally does go through the gate. Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590899872
• ISBN 13: 9780590899871
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: McClintock Barbara
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32