by Moe Zilla

Created on: May 29, 2010

"Once upon a time there was an old pig called Aunt Pettitoes..."

Ever wondered about the life of a pig? Beatrix Potter delivers a definitive pig epic in "The Tale of Pigling Bland." Aunt Pettitoes names her four ittle girl pigs Corss-patch, Suck-suck, Yock-yock, and Spot, and the boy pigs are named Alexander, Chin-chin, Stumpy, and Pigling Bland. She's proud of how much all her little pigs eat - but they seem to get into lots of trouble!

Stumpy is so-named because of an accident to his tail. As the book opens, Alexander gets stuck in the hoops of the pig's trough. On the pig family's bath day, Chin-chin "was already in disgrace" for eating a whole piece of soap. And when Cross-patch and Suck-suck start rooting  carrots out of the garden, the book's narrator - presumably a farmhand - says he "whipped them myself and led them out by the ears.

"Cross-patch tried to bite me..."

This is the first Beatrix Potter book I've ever read that was written in the first person. And instead of her glorious full-color illustrations, some of the pages are illustrated with crisp black-and-white sketches. This makes the color sketches seem even more special, but it's also sensible because this a longer book than usual. It's a full 84 tiny-sized pages, versus, say the 55 pages for "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher."

Aunt Pettitoes is warned that her children are mischievous - except for Pigling Bland - and then she makes a very disturbing decision. "The others must go...there will be more to eat without them." She wipes away tears, and wipes the tears on her children, and then "sighed and grunted" and gives the children some advice. ("Beware of traps, hen roosts, bacon and eggs...") Four of the pigs are actually shipped off "to market" - and little Alexander actually giggles "Wee, Wee wee!" just like in the nursery rhyme. And later, when Alexander and Blanding leave their family behind, they amuse themselves by reciting "Tom, Tom the Piper's Son." ("stole a pig and away he ran...")

It's a complicated and interesting story, but it's almost as though Beatrix Potter met Oliver Dickens. It's the story of two poor youngsters finding their way in the world, and it's surprisingly serious, since the lost Alexander Pig is soon in dire danger of being converted by a pig thief into a delicious ham. Sometimes the narrator seems to be conversing directly with the characters, as though the whole book were a strange moment of Beatrix Potter stream-of-consciousness. For example, as soon as the two pigs start singing "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son," they're immediately confronted by a police officer.

"What's that, young sirs? Stole a pig? Where are your licenses?"

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