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The Pig In The Spigot
A PIG in a spigot? An AX in a taxi? An ELF in a belfry?
Richard Wilbur has been playing with his words again! Aided and abetted by illustrator J.otto Seibold, he reveals that you must choose your words carefully--because you never know what you'll find in them!
Richard Wilbur has been playing with his words again! Aided and abetted by illustrator J.otto Seibold, he reveals that you must choose your words carefully--because you never know what you'll find in them!
56 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
38 people want to read
About the author
Richard Wilbur
255 books72 followersEarly years :
Wilbur was born in New York City and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey.He graduated from Montclair High School in 1938, having worked on the school newspaper as a student there. He graduated from Amherst College in 1942 and then served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University, Wilbur taught at Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan, he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the University Press.He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and, as of 2011, teaches at Amherst College.He is also on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common, based at Amherst College.He married Charlotte Hayes Ward in 1942 after his graduation from Amherst; she was a student at nearby Smith College.
Career :
When only 8 years old, Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine. His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Since then he has published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur is also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and the dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the standard English version of the play, and has been presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available on DVD.)
Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into lyric writing. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical, Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow." He has also produced several unpublished works such as "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".
His honors include the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award for his translation of The Misanthrope, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award, both in 1957, the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Prize, and the Chevalier, Ordre National des Palmes Académiques. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, this one for his New and Collected Poems. On October 14, 1994, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton. In 2006, Wilbur won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award for the translation of The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille.
Wilbur was born in New York City and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey.He graduated from Montclair High School in 1938, having worked on the school newspaper as a student there. He graduated from Amherst College in 1942 and then served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University, Wilbur taught at Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan, he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the University Press.He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and, as of 2011, teaches at Amherst College.He is also on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common, based at Amherst College.He married Charlotte Hayes Ward in 1942 after his graduation from Amherst; she was a student at nearby Smith College.
Career :
When only 8 years old, Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine. His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Since then he has published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur is also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and the dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the standard English version of the play, and has been presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available on DVD.)
Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into lyric writing. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical, Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow." He has also produced several unpublished works such as "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".
His honors include the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award for his translation of The Misanthrope, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award, both in 1957, the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Prize, and the Chevalier, Ordre National des Palmes Académiques. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, this one for his New and Collected Poems. On October 14, 1994, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton. In 2006, Wilbur won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award for the translation of The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 17, 2015
Loved it. It's amazing it was written 15 years ago- this author was way ahead of the curve.
January 12, 2022
Simple poems full of word play - words within words. Some of them were very clever and I liked them very much. What brought this down so much for me were the illustrations. I'm hit-or-miss with Siebold's style anyways, and while I liked a lot of the intent (depicting the nested words and the silliness that might mean), a lot of the illustrations were just too. Too much, too busy, too distracting... just pulled away from the fun of the poems and puns themselves.
The other downside is that the illustrations make you look at this as a picture book (like some of Siebold's other works, Olive, the Other Reindeer for example). The big bold pictures seem a bit young for the age that would appreciate the poems and word play the most. The better target range for the text of the book would be upper elementary school or even middle school students. I can definitely see using this as an example book for a lesson on poems or puns or language roots. But it's definitely not the easy picture book that the illustrations might imply.
The other downside is that the illustrations make you look at this as a picture book (like some of Siebold's other works, Olive, the Other Reindeer for example). The big bold pictures seem a bit young for the age that would appreciate the poems and word play the most. The better target range for the text of the book would be upper elementary school or even middle school students. I can definitely see using this as an example book for a lesson on poems or puns or language roots. But it's definitely not the easy picture book that the illustrations might imply.
January 15, 2020
Absolutely wonderful. If you love wordplay (eg Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Dr Seuss) you'll love this.
It doesn't need to be educational to be worth the read, because it's so funny and beautifully illustrated, but the added bonus is it gives kids another way to explore language. We had a lot of fun trying to find words hidden inside other words and come up with our own "pig in a spigot" stories!
It doesn't need to be educational to be worth the read, because it's so funny and beautifully illustrated, but the added bonus is it gives kids another way to explore language. We had a lot of fun trying to find words hidden inside other words and come up with our own "pig in a spigot" stories!
November 27, 2018
It's seldom that you see a hen or cock
Come strolling down a busy city block.
They much prefer the country, for their part,
Because a chicken is a hick at heart.
Doing yeoman's work for parent's of little kids on Goodreads this year.
Come strolling down a busy city block.
They much prefer the country, for their part,
Because a chicken is a hick at heart.
Doing yeoman's work for parent's of little kids on Goodreads this year.
March 4, 2018
Very clever rhymes finding smaller words inside longer words.
January 23, 2022
I laughed out loud! Don't miss Peter Shea's brilliant philosophical review of this book in the "Thinking in Stories" weblog: https://www.montclair.edu/iapc/review...
November 20, 2009
From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. "If you're fond of road-blocks, this one can't be beat: A big tree in the middle of the street." In this picture book for older children, poet Wilbur once again has fun with rhymes, puns, and wordplay, this time discovering short words within longer ones and the funny fit they make: boo and OK are both in book; sea is in nausea; no location is catless, and so on. J. Otto Seibold's computer-generated cartoon art picks up the outlandish connections and runs with them; in fact, the frantic pictures are sometimes distracting. For an older audience this could be a start for crossword puzzle games, where letters relate in surprising ways.
I enjoyed reading this book of poems. The poems were very unique that contained words that were silly and fun to read. The author has expressive illustrations that compliment each poem with bright colors.
Gr. 3-5. "If you're fond of road-blocks, this one can't be beat: A big tree in the middle of the street." In this picture book for older children, poet Wilbur once again has fun with rhymes, puns, and wordplay, this time discovering short words within longer ones and the funny fit they make: boo and OK are both in book; sea is in nausea; no location is catless, and so on. J. Otto Seibold's computer-generated cartoon art picks up the outlandish connections and runs with them; in fact, the frantic pictures are sometimes distracting. For an older audience this could be a start for crossword puzzle games, where letters relate in surprising ways.
I enjoyed reading this book of poems. The poems were very unique that contained words that were silly and fun to read. The author has expressive illustrations that compliment each poem with bright colors.
January 8, 2017
4.5 stars rounded up because this deserves a lot more love from the community.
Crazily original artwork with details to keep a youngster engaged for hours. Terrific vocabulary. Verses that rhyme. Clever word-play that will help a reader learn more about the shape and structure of words and therefore help her become a better speller. And, not least, inspiration for a reader to find his own words within words, maybe even compose a little poem and/or draw a picture to go with the word-pair. (I would totally use this book in a grade 3-5 classroom.)
Some tiny insects make a seething sound,
And swarm and jitter furiously around,
Which seems to me sufficient explanation
Of why there is a gnat in indignation.
(I will continue to look for more children's books by Wilbur. And illustration by Seibold.)
Crazily original artwork with details to keep a youngster engaged for hours. Terrific vocabulary. Verses that rhyme. Clever word-play that will help a reader learn more about the shape and structure of words and therefore help her become a better speller. And, not least, inspiration for a reader to find his own words within words, maybe even compose a little poem and/or draw a picture to go with the word-pair. (I would totally use this book in a grade 3-5 classroom.)
Some tiny insects make a seething sound,
And swarm and jitter furiously around,
Which seems to me sufficient explanation
Of why there is a gnat in indignation.
(I will continue to look for more children's books by Wilbur. And illustration by Seibold.)
December 29, 2015
This is Redding's favorite book right now. All of Wilbur's poems play on the vagaries of the English language, and J.Otto's art is a good match for the twists and trips of the tongue. Redding, nearly 15 months old, insists it be read at least once a day.
December 18, 2015
Kiddo's favorite is
When battling airplanes chase each other 'round
Till one is hit and crashes to the ground,
It's called a "dog-fight." Is that, do you suppose,
Why there's an arf in warfare? Heaven knows.
When battling airplanes chase each other 'round
Till one is hit and crashes to the ground,
It's called a "dog-fight." Is that, do you suppose,
Why there's an arf in warfare? Heaven knows.
April 29, 2013
This book is very creative in explaining the creation of words. It has funny illustrations that would intrigue the students. I would recommend it for older elementary or middle school students.
July 18, 2012
Ahhhh, didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Little words in big words, kind of weird.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews