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 Theater made of recycled materials