Oink?

This is a cute, funny story about some pigs who are content the way they are, but the other farm animals don't like the way the pigs live and think they're lazy. They decide that if the pigs did certain things like eat vegetables and be tidier, the pigs will be happier. In the end, the farm animals realized the pigs were always fine the way they were, and they just spent their whole day doing all this work for nothing essentially.

My PreK class really liked this one. They thought it was good and even clapped when I finished reading it.

This was a super cute picture book that younger elementary school students would really enjoy. The author used a lot of onomatopoeia throughout the story which helped it flow and made it very interesting to read. The characters in this story were all animals which gave it an interesting perspective and would definitely appeal to children. The main idea of this story was a bit blurred, but I think that the author wanted to portray the point that what makes one person (or animal) happy may not be the same thing that makes another happy, but that it is okay to be made happy by different things!

Though this wasn't my favorite Palatini book, it is still good. You can use it when teaching varied sentence length, rule of three, one word sentences, and onomatopoeia. They're all in there. Additionally, there's a lesson to be learned in there that could be un to pick out with students. Overall, this is a fun book. Upon closer inspection, this is a book with a lot to offer if you are a close reader.

I'm a big fan of Margie Palatini, and this story of two hens, a rabbit, and a duck that try to give two pigs a makeover doesn't disappoint. The illustrations are really fun, too – relatively straight-forward, but also expressive with a nice use of white space.

Summary:
All the barnyard animals decide that the two pigs are disgusting and that they need to clean up their living area. Various animals recommend that the pigs use things like paint, collect fresh food and dig a clean water hole. However, the pigs prove to be completely inept at all these tasks and the barnyard animals proceed to accomplish all these tasks FOR the pigs. At the end of the story, the animals come to discover that the pigs were not nearly as dumb as they had supposed.

Personal Reflection:
I found the story to be humorous, although not surprising in it's end. It reminded me vaguely of Tom Sawyer tricking the other kids into white-washing the fence for him.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
- Could be used as part of a unit on pigs. show more It addresses the idea that pigs are intelligent animals and their habitats.
- This story would make a great example of not assuming things about someone's character or intelligence based on what you see. show less

This book is about 2 pigs, Thomas and Joseph, who lifestyle is unpleasing to some of the other farm animals. Two hens, a rabbit, and a duck set out to shape up their lifestyle. The hens tries to show them how to paint their fence but they can not hold the paintbrushes, so the hen finished the job. The rabbit tries to show them how to gather vegetables so they can eat healthy but, they end-up trampling down the rabbit's garden so the rabbit finish the job and since they can not hold a shovel, the duck digs them a pond and fills it with clean water. It is not until the other animals are finished with all the tasks that they realize the pigs were not a dumb as they thought and that they used them. The pigs did not ask for help but was show more satisfied with the outcome.

I enjoyed this book because it had a lesson in it. The lesson was you can not change anyone lifestyle, you can only advise them and let them figure things out for themselves.

I would try to incorporate this book in my classroom by getting the students to draw a picture of each of the farm animals presented in the story. Also, I could have a group discussion and have the students talk about which animal they liked the most and why. show less

Oink is about two pigs that are very lazy. The other animals on the farm start to complain about how much the pigs stick and they take it upon themselves to fix the pigs. The chickens try to get the pigs to paint their fence but the pigs act like they dont know how to paint, so the chickens wind up doing it for them. The rabbit wants the pigs to eat healthy, but again the pigs pretend they do not know how to pick vegetables so the rabbit does it for them. The ducks wind up digging a pond for the pigs as well. In the end, the farm animals realize that they pigs are not as dumb they thought they were.

I liked this book. It shows that alot of people are smarter then we give them credit for. They are just too lazy to do things themselves and show more would rather have someone else do it for them.

For my class activity, I would ask the students if they had ever met anyone like the pigs in the story. I would have them write a short story about what happened to them.
The other activity I would have the class do is draw a picture of the barn animals doing all of the work for the pigs. show less