The Peppermint Pig

by Nina Bawden

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Polly, the youngest, finds it difficult to adjust to a sudden change in the family's fortunes until she acquires a special pet pig.

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7 reviews
Not really so much about the pig as about the year the children learned who their family is, and who they are, and what their place in the world might be. Even though it takes place over a century ago, it's not really historical fiction, as the world's context isn't relevant. It's actually easy to read as something that may have happened to ppl just one generation ago.

It's easy to read as just a story, but a careful reading reveals a poignant, odd, magical book, with depth. Though [a:Sonya Hartnett|138742|Sonya Hartnett|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1203041513p2/138742.jpg] is darker, I believe it likely she was influenced by Bawden; they give me a similar feeling of satisfaction, admiration, and even an odd kind of show more fierce joy. I will absolutely look for more by Bawden. show less
This book isn't about the pig; it's about the family that raises the pig. Told from the youngest child's perspective, it really tells how a family ought to act. The Greengrass family is not perfect, but they actively try to be good to one another. This is about people in all their mixed up complexity, even the side characters who at first seem all negative. Mama Greengrass and her sisters-in-law remember the good points and the difficulties of their neighbors, and teach the children sympathy, courage and honesty. In their small actions, each of the family make the world a better place. The story itself is unremarkable, but the life lessons it teaches are very precious.
A young girl, along with her mother and her brothers and sister, must move out of their nice London home and back to the countryside whence their parents came, while their father goes off to America to seek a new fortune. The story follows the family, through the eyes of 9-year-old Poll, for a year in the life as they adjust to their new circumstances and surroundings. There's also a pig involved.
A comfortable read, with lots of lovely details of rural Norfolk at the turn of the century, but it ended too abrupt and pat for me, I think.
I could write about this book all day. Who knew this would be such an intriguing book? The cover didn’t lead me to think this. The title didn’t lead me to think this. But I knew from page one that this was a special book.

It’s a little story of a family that is set around the turn of the century. The father has to leave his job abruptly and decides to pursue a new career in America. The mother and four children are left in England, staying with two elderly aunts, while the father gets settled.

There’s lots in this little story...a ghost story...a friendship with an impoverished child...a long sickness...and, of course, a pig.
a coming of age story about 4 children who stay with relatives in Norfolk while their father goes to America to start a new life for them. The protagonist gets a pig because she is lonely. The name is a take-off of the Peppermint pigs were candies made at Christmas to bring prosperity and wealth. This was a YA book. 189 pages
When the Greengrasses move from London to rural Norfolk, mischievous nine-year-old Polly acquires a runt piglet, whose rapid growth and uncontrollable antics surpass even Polly's expectations
½

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55+ Works 4,563 Members
Nina Bawden was born in Ilford, Essex, England on January 19, 1925. She received a B.A. in 1946 and a M.A. in 1951 from Somerville College, Oxford. During her lifetime, she wrote more than 40 books for both children and adults. Her first adult novel was published in 1953. Her books for adults include Circles of Deceit, The Ruffian on the Stair, show more and Dear Austen. Her first children's book The Secret Passage was published in 1963. Her children's books include Kept in the Dark, Humbug, The Birds on the Trees, Carrie's War, The Outside Child, Granny the Pag, and Off the Road. She received numerous awards for her work including the 1976 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Peppermint Pig and the 1977 Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year Award for Afternoon of a Good Woman. She was made a CBE in 1995 and received the ST Dupont Golden Pen Award for a lifetime's contribution to literature in 2004. She died on August 22, 2012 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Some Editions

Cooper, Dawn (Illustrator)
Jones, Arabella (Cover designer)
Jones, Richard (Cover artist)
Leger, Patrick (Cover artist)
Lilly, Charles (Illustrator)
Marks, Alan (Illustrator)
McKendry, Kenny (Illustrator)
Winwood, Tracey (Cover designer)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
The Peppermint Pig
Original title
The peppermint pig
Original publication date
1975
Related movies
The Peppermint Pig (1977 | IMDb)
First words
Old Granny Greengrass had her finger chopped off in the butcher's when she was buying half a leg of lamb.

Classifications

Genres
Children's Books, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
LCC
PZ7 .B33 .PLanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
327
Popularity
97,584
Reviews
6
Rating
(3.76)
Languages
6 — Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Swedish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
27
ASINs
13