Tales of the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Pig

Tales of the Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Pig
Characters from the Year of the Pig

Characters from the Year of the Pig

THE YEAR OF THE PIG

Chin, Oliver. The Year of the Pig, Tales of the Chinese Zodiac. San Francisco, CA: Immedium, 2006.

Mama and Papa Pig just had a baby. They named her Patricia or Patty for short.

Patty was small and soft. All the neighbors admired her.

Patty was a fast learner. She learned where Farmer Wu’s family and the other animals lived, their names and their duties on the farm. But it was hard to teach her manners especially to understand the manners of the other animals that had their own habits.

One day, Farmer Wu lost his jade ring. Cousin Dog couldn’t find it. Farmer Wu searched the fields, riding Auntie Horse. Farmer Wu’s wife searched the stream, riding Uncle Ox. Their son combed Auntie Sheep’s wool looking for the ring.

Mama and Papa Pig encouraged Patty to look for it. She came up with a plan. One night, she tiptoed to the pigpen’s gate, rolled on the ground and covered herself with mud. She squeezed and slithered until she slipped under the gate’s bottom rail.

Patty picked up and sniffed Farmer Wu’s dropped gloves. She noticed a strange smell and followed its scent. The scent led to the compost heap behind the barn. Patty dug through the vegetables piled high on the mound. She kept digging and digging through the food until she found the jade ring!

She squealed.  Everyone rushed to the compost heap, surprised that Patty had found the ring. Farmer Wu rewarded her by letting her out of the pig pen when she wanted!

Shadow Puppets:

Patty, the pig

Cousin Dog

Mama Pig

Papa Pig

Farmer Wu

Auntie Sheep

Uncle Ox

Act out The Year of the Pig. What other objects can Patty look for?

Shadow Theatre

Shadow Theater made of recycled materials

 

 

 

Share Button

About marion

I first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. I received her first recognition for my creativity when I won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in my first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan. I was fourteen and a half when I moved to Cyprus with my family. I experienced culture shock but I continued to write about and sketch the sights and sounds of another country and many other things. I am a creative person. I write children's and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I write historical and Coming of Age Young Adult novels. I also write picture books and art books for elementary school children. I am in the process of writing a fictionalized biography of a member of the Belgian Resistance who also fought for the US Army during World War II. I worked as a freelance editor for two local companies: College Prowler and SterlingHouse Publisher. I also worked as an assistant literary agent for Lee Shore Agency. I was attending Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction Program at the time and the experience was invaluable. My course work toward my Master of Arts degree in turn helped me at work. As an assistant literary agent, I reviewed all incoming manuscripts, cultivated a relationship with the writers we contracted and marketed our books to book publishers for sale. I “freelanced” my editing skills which included working with the manuscript acquisitions editor, selecting book covers with the art department, writing the book jacket blurb, reading film scripts and executing general office duties as assigned. Oh, by the way, I edited books, too. I even utilized Adobe InDesign for the editing that I did for College Prowler. I’ve also reviewed published books and conducted research. I have published nonfiction articles and books online and in print. As an artist, I have exhibited my mixed media drawings and collages nationally and regionally and have worked as a freelance designer and calligrapher. I have a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

Comments are closed.