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****Babe

The Gallant Pig

by Dick King-Smith

illustrated by Maggie Kneen

Reviewed August 27, 2005.
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2005.  Originally published in 1983.  130 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (JF KIN).

If you’ve seen the movie, you know the story of Babe, the pig who learned to herd sheep by being polite.  The movie sticks pretty closely to this enchanting story, now out in a twentieth anniversary edition.

Farmer Hoggett wins Babe by guessing his weight at a fair, and the lonely pig is mothered by Fly, the farmer’s sheepdog.  Babe learns from Fly about herding sheep, but tries something that dogs have never done—being polite.  The sheep are so taken with Babe, they’ll do anything he asks.

This book had me chuckling to myself all the way through with its understated humor at the idea of a farmer herding sheep with a pig.  A thoroughly delightful book.

Review of another book by Dick King-Smith:
The Golden Goose