Pigs in the Pantry: Fun with Math and Cooking (Pigs Will Be Pigs) - Hardcover

Axelrod, Amy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689806655 ISBN 13: 9780689806650

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1997

Synopsis

When Mrs. Pig comes down with the sniffles, Mr. Pig and their piglets decide to help by making five-alarm chili, but because they know little about reading a recipe or measuring ingredients, an outrageous meal is haphazardly prepared.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4. A mildly entertaining picture book with a tenuous math connection. Mrs. Pig isn't feeling well, so while she rests, Mr. Pig and the two piglets decide to cook her a meal. Of course, disaster occurs when these three strangers to the kitchen fail to follow the recipe for Firehouse Chili, which is included on a double-page spread. Mrs. Pig recovers and finds a kitchen full of chaos, mess, and firefighters (dalmatians). McGinley-Nally's cartoons are humorous and children will enjoy the details as well as the bordered endpapers filled with chili ingredients and the vegetable-decorated recipe page. It is difficult not to smile at the pigs as they dance through the colorful pages. At the end of the book, readers are asked to determine exactly what mistakes in ingredient amounts were made. Most youngsters will not look carefully at the recipe as they enjoy the slight story, so they may not realize until the last page that the point is the errors Mr. Pig made rather than the mess. On the other hand, third- or fourth-graders might have fun approaching the tale as a problem-solving activity.?Rosie Peasley, Empire Union School District, Modesto,
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-7. The pig family, who previously appeared in Pigs Will Be Pigs (1994) and Pigs on a Blanket (1996), return in another picture book that purports to teach math. When Mrs. Pig takes to her bed with sniffles, her family leaps into action in the kitchen. Mr. Pig glances at a recipe, then starts throwing together the ingredients for Firehouse Chili. Soon the kitchen's a wreck, but the pot's on the boil, so Mr. Pig and the piglets go watch TV. Mrs. Pig awakens to the sound of sirens and enters the kitchen/disaster area to see firefighters arriving to investigate the smoke and eat the chili. The last page includes a cooking conversion table and a suggestion that children to go back and see where Mr. Pig went wrong adding his ingredients. The simple story is pleasing enough, and the illustrations are bright and lively, but the math activities tacked on to the end seem unlikely to interest children, particularly those young enough to find the story entertaining. For larger collections or those where the pigs already have a following. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0689806655
• ISBN 13: 9780689806650
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: McGinley-Nally Sharon