The Old Woman and Her Pig: An Appalachian Folktale

by Margaret Read MacDonald

"Goin' to town,
gonna buy a little pig.
Jig jog jig jog
jiggety-jig!" But when the old woman tries to take that little pig home to her little boy, the pig won't cross the bridge— this little piggy is afraid of the water! The old woman pushes and pulls, cries and cajoles, with no luck. Until she sees a dog, a rat, and a cat—can the old woman convince them to help her get the piggy back home? Acclaimed storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald and illustrator John Kanzler bring new life to this classic tale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Folk Tales, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

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Biography
Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald travels the world telling stories....always on the lookout for more great folktales to share. She shapes these found stories into tellable tales which anyone can share with ease. Filling her folktale collections with these delightful tales, she creates perfect read alouds for you and your family. MRM wants everyone to experience the joy of a beautifully told tale. She hopes you will read them a few times...then put down the book...put down the electronic device...and just TELL the story to your children!

Some of her favorite folktales she expands into picture books...hopefully with delightfully readable language while will roll right out of your mouth. Share them with your children and then....act the tales out! Revisit the tales by TELLING them! At bedtime. While on the road. Fill your pockets with great stories to share wherever you go.

Joining her Folklore Ph.D. with her 30 plus years as a children's librarian, Margaret brings folktales to life in playful, lilting language which should delight both reader and listener.

See her performance schedule at: www.margaretreadmaconald.com

Reviews

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

sort of a cumulative tale, adding on different characters, sort of like a nursery rhyme with its sing song verses. Not sure why it came up in a search for Old MacDonald variants. Author does explain the origins of this version of the story.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too scattered, imo. Only three critters in the chain. Theme of the little boy distracting. Illustrations of the woman's bosom were so odd I couldn't un-see them. Consider One Fine Day instead for the pattern, which imo is the reason to hear/ read this story.

I will look for other versions. I already didn't like The Old Woman and Her Pig despite the fact that I usually do like Eric A. Kimmel.

[Caleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This folktale told the story of a woman who went to town to buy a pig, but as she headed home with it she had to get help from animals from the forest to get the pig to cross the bridge. I liked how you could really see the Appalachian ways within the book, but the plot didn't really grab my attention like the other books I've read so far.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute retelling--I think the pictures are more kid-friendly and modern. This version leaves out asking the inanimate objects for help (like the rope, fire, water, etc) which is an aspect I sort of like, but excluding them does simplify the story a lot. I like the addition of the cute little song and the "jiggity jig" moments.

[Shaylie Dobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a cute Appalachian folklore. I loved it so much. I think this book would make a wonderful read aloud. It is very important for children to know folklores, specifically of their area. I want to teach in the Appalachian region, therefore I feel like this book would be a perfect fit in my classroom.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do enjoy folk tales, especially when re imagined as a child's story. What happens when stubborn pig refuses to cross the bridge to get home? Why you enlist the help of a cat, a dog and a mouse of course.

[Caroline Herfindahl]

This is an Appalachian take on an old English tale. In this one a woman has to go through quite a lot to get the new pig she bought over a bridge so she can get home to her son who she worries will be afraid as it gets dark.

[Casey Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading level: K-2

This story is an Appalacian folktale. Although I have never heard of the story before reading this, a lot of the ideas and messages are very similar to that of the other folklores. Kanzler uses the most bright and colorful pictures throughout the story. Even though this is an old folklore, the new faces and colors make it appear like a new cartoon. Some of the pictures appear to look like water color, while others look like they have layers and layers of paint on them to create a more textured look. The pictures add to the light feeling of the book, even in the old woman's time of worry. MacDonald uses a lot of various text sizes throughout the story. Each page has at least two lines that are bigger than the others. This seems to show excitement and grab your attention. If you were reading this out loud it would be something you would read louder, with more emotion. The traditional feelings are also met as many of the animals don't want to help out the old lady because of the other animals, but in the end they are all together dancing in the moonlight.

Used best as a read aloud to the group, even with the older ages.

Content connections:
Math: counting the animals that the old lady asked to help her and comparing the number to the number that were there in the end to celebrate together.
Animal Science: Discussing if in real life these animals would help each other in a situation. Why or why not.

[Samantha Ponting · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this story got me all the way. It was an interesting story about a boy that lives with an old woman and how he finds a shiny, copper penny. Well with that penny they were going to get a new, fat pig. So to town the old woman goes singing and having a great time. But little did she know that the pig was not going to go over the bridge to get back home. Well the old woman asked everyone for help, the dog, rat, and cat. But only one that would help her was the cat because she like the little boy that lives with her. Because the little boy was so kind to the cat, the cat was able to help get the pig home and everyone was safe.

I think this story has great teaching ability to show the kids how important it is to be nice to everyone because you never know when you might need help. Also, some critical thinking could take place with this tale on how to get the pig over the bridge… What would you do???

[Shannon Stinnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the retelling of an Appalachian folktale. It has a short, fast moving plot and of course a happy ending. It does contain cumulative elements of repetition and the usage of the magic 3. The illustrations in this version are very colorful and the expressions on the animals and characters faces are happy and inviting. Children will be engaged through the use of onomatopoeia and repetitive nature of "jig jog jig job jiggety-jig!. An old woman uses a penny to go to town to buy a pig. She buys a pig but is unable to get the pig home because he is afraid to cross the bridge to her home. Through the help of three animals, a cat, dog and rat, she is successful in getting the pig to cross the bridge. As night draws near she finds comfort in knowing that the full moon is providing light for her son waiting for her at home.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story originally appeared in Nursery Rhymes of England in 1842. This text is repetitive and fun to read. There is even a little song in the back that the Old Lady sing in the book. This books repetitive text would be easy for students to pick up on and you could even use this book for a sequencing activity. I enjoyed this book because of the repetitive text. I would recommend this book for early elementary teachers. Students would enjoy the illustrations and repetitive text. However, this isn't my favorite traditional tale. There isn't a moral to the story and the text isn't as rich as other tradition tales. If this book were in my classroom library I would have it in bins for students to choose for their book boxes. I don't think I would use it for a read aloud. If I would use this book it would be for sequencing activity for Kindergarten or first grade.

[Samantha Gacke]

A woman goes to town to buy a fat pig, but has trouble getting the pig to go over the bridge.

I think children would be more interested in the pictures than the actual tale, because they are creative and help show how the woman is feeling through her facial expressions. The other parts of the illustrations that are very entertaining are that each of the characters has their own personality. The dog looks older and seems to be lazy, the mouse is happy and adventurous, and the cat seems to be quite mischievous and always seems to be on the attack. Their personalities continue through the whole book, which helps to create consistency throughout the book.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could work really well as both a read-aloud and for storytelling. MacDonald has released several of these individual folktales in the past few years and this is high quality just like all the others. The repetition and cumulative nature of the tale make it appealing and the addition of the two songs will just add more fun for those willing to jump into the musical end of things. The illustrations (some sort of painting, maybe acrylics?) are warm and bright with lots of texture. A short, but thorough note at the end of the tale explains its origins and what MacDonald added herself.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was told to me by Maragarent Read MacDonald during a training she did for our library system. The story was so wonderful, I purchased the book from her with plans to tell it to a kindergarten group that comes to the library for a weekly storytime. They LOVED it! Their favorite part was the little song the woman sings about the moon shining keeping the boy from being afraid.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jordan picked out this story herself! Since this is her first official non-princess, non-animated-series-on-Netflix tale, I was super pumped that it was such a fun read. I'm learning that at this stage, Jordan is most enthused by stories with a lot of rhythm and meter in their telling, and the "Jiggety Jig" portions of this particular book were so entertaining for us.

[Clare Mcpherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the pictures especially in the book. I also think it would be a great way to introduce the ideas of fairytales and folklore stories. I would use the story to help teach prediction strategies, listeninh skills and story comprehension. I would also leave discussion as to the helpful/unhelpfulness of the animals.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story would practically tell itself during storytime, so lively and with perfect readaloudability (I think I just invented a word). Small wonder as it is a folk tale retold by a professional Storyteller who knows just how to make the words sing.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 5-year-old enjoyed this book and liked singing the "Jiggity Jig" song (the melody is included at the end along with a short author note).

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old woman buys a pig and has trouble getting it home. Based upon an Appalachian folktale. Wonderful illustrations.

themes: animals, moon, pigs

[Jayson Joe]

repetitive, but kids did really enjoy it

[Mikayla Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very repetitive. The pictures really helped show the emotion in the story.