Freddy and the pig by Charlie Higson and Mark Chambers

Freddy didn't like school - he found it boring and would rather be anywhere else than in the classroom.  One day Freddy had the brilliant idea of dressing up a pig in his uniform and sending it to school in his place.  While the pig went to school Freddy stayed home and played his games and ate whatever he wanted.  As time passed the pig did such a good job of being a boy, and the Freddy did such a good job of being a pig that his mother began to have some interesting thoughts.

Freddy and the pig was one of those laugh out loud picture books that kept me guessing what was coming next when I read it the first time, and anticipating what was coming next ever other time I read it.  I have shared this with some of my colleagues (much in the same way I was introduced by a colleague) and they were just as amused/shocked as I was the first time I read it.

Stories that have a learning message are known as didactic stories and some of them are very blunt and lack subtlety - hitting you in the face with their message.  Freddy and the pig has a message about the dangers of being a lazy "pig", but it is delivered with charm and surprise rather than too bluntly.  This is a read for slightly older preschoolers and for children in their first few years of school as it will go over the heads of much younger readers - although the enjoyment parents express may make it easy for them to get into the story.

If you like this book then try:

• If I had a raptor by George O'Connor
• Barnaby Bennett by Hannah Rainforth; illustrated by Ali Teo
• Elephants cannot dance! by Mo Willems
• Blue chicken by Deborah Freedman
• New socks by Bob Shea
• Wait! No paint! by Bruce Whately
• Giggle, giggle, quack by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewin
• Press here by Hervé Tullet
• Cushie Butterfield (she's a little cow) by Colin McNaughton
• If you give a mouse a cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff; illustrated by Felicia Bond
• The monster at the end of this book by Jon Stone
• Shout! Shout it out! by Denise Fleming
• The children who loved books by Peter Carnavas
• No T.Rex in the library by Toni Buzzeo; ilustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa
• Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
• Don't let the pigeon drive the bus by Mo Willems
• Click, clack, moo: Cows that type by Doreen Cronin
• Tadpole's promise by Jeanne Willis; illustrated by Tony Ross
• No, David! by David Shannon
• Croc and bird by Alexis Deacon
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
• Stephanie's ponytail by Robert Munsch; illustrated by Michael Martchenko

Reviewed by Brilla