Review: THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG, Genre 2, Traditional Literature

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kimmel, Eric. 1992. THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG. Ill. By Giora Carmi. New York:Holiday House. ISBN 0823409708

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This tale is a retelling of the classic THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG. The author states in the beginning that this is a “lighter version.” In this version there is no hanging of the butcher or killing of the ox. These instances are replaced by lassoing of a cowboy and spurring of a horse. In this story the old woman’s pig refuses to climb a stile which keeps them from getting home. The old woman tries time and time again to get help. She is finally successful in persuading one animal to begin a chain of events which eventually enables her and her pig to get home at night.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is a cumulative tale which is great fun to read out loud. The text is repetitious and very rhythmic. Children will chime right in with the reading of the dialogue. Each new scene builds upon the last. Children are likely to pay very close attention in order to enable them to recall the sequence of events in the correct order. In this story the old woman travels from character to character trying to get help to convince her pig to cooperate and get over a fence. The solutions which she seeks are humorous; “dog nip pig”, “stick poke dog”, “fire burn stick”, “water quench fire”, “horse drink water”, etc. The circumstances of the characters are quite interesting and promote reflection of their situations. The old woman is persistent and this pays off when she if finally able to use her cleverness (which is questionable) and convince the cat to help her. The cat begins physically persuading each character in turn to help the old woman with her predicament. This chain of events is quite a production but in the end the simple old woman triumphs and is able to get home at night.

The illustrations are extremely interesting in this selection. The animal and inanimate characters are all given personified characteristics. Most everything in this story has a face. The trees and bushes, the wall, vegetables, and the haystacks are only some of the objects which are portrayed with human faces. In first half of the story the word “no” appears in each page. The word is hidden in the animal or object that is telling the old woman “no” they are not willing to help her. Children will have great fun pointing out all the “faces” and the “no” words. The illustrations are not only great entertainment but they are also very bright and colorful.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
From School Library Journal - Kimmel's books are always welcome for their potential storyhour use, and this rendition of a standard English folktale is no exception. The familiar cumulative tale of the old woman and her pig has been done in an excellent version by Galdone (McGraw 1960; o.p.), and is the title story in Anne Rockwell's fine collection (Crowell, 1979). However, Kimmel offers a ``lighter alternative'' (his words) to the originally bloodthirsty text, making it a kinder, gentler story. Thus the dog doesn't bite the pig but ``nips'' him, the stick ``pokes'' the dog, the cat ``chases'' rather than eats rat, etc. It works very well, with no loss of rhythm. Carmi's colorful illustrations are wild, crazy, and full of life; they catch the spirit immediately. Almost everything pictured has a face (rocks, trees, clouds, flowers, even the initial caps on each page). Each successive person or thing forms the word ``no'' as an answer to the old woman's requests; children will have fun locating it on each page. Putting aside reservations about the necessity of watering down folktales, the volume is bursting with fun, and will certainly be well loved by children and storytellers alike.

5. CONNECTIONS
*This tale can be used to teach the sight word “no”.
* This tale can be used in a lesson on personification.
*This tale can illustrate that persistence pays off.
*This tale can definitely be used to teach cause/effect.