Reviews

A Normal Pig by K-Fai Steele

mrsjhasbooks's review

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4.0

Adorable story about being yourself and embracing what makes you special.

rainbowbookworm's review

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5.0

Pip looks different than her peers, but it is not until a new student points it out that she realize it. Thankfully her parents know just what to do to make her feel better.

morgarelibrare's review

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5.0

Read at work for Picture Book Read-In 2019.

Love! Just because you’re different, doesn’t mean you’re not normal.

bookdragon_library's review

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5.0

I adore this book and it makes a great read aloud. It celebrates differences and questions what exactly it means to be "normal." It is one of the best books I have read for driving home the idea of diversity and what it means to be different. Is it weird to say that I love it even more because it tackles the subject with animal characters and not humans? •

I think what makes the book relateable to EVERYONE because there is no distraction or comparison of skin colors, etc. Everyone has the opportunity to see themselves in the pig characters and decide what their own "difference" is that deviates from what is "normal." Maybe it is having glasses, or being a little chubby, or having a lazy eye, or liking sushi, or having ADHD, or.... well, you get the idea.

wordnerd153's review

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4.0

A fun look at what it can feel like to be an outsider and how to embrace that which makes you stand out.

toddwe's review

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has a great story, cute, re-readable, good pictures; hopefully, they fix the dangling modifier "as a family" in future editions.

cats_cardigans_and_catalogs's review

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5.0

A great story time book, quick story, lots of fun pictures, good message.
Love it!

taarna's review

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5.0

I really liked this one for its breakdown of some complex concepts into something easily relatable for kids.

cweichel's review

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5.0

Oh wow! Pip, the pig considers herself normal until a bully moves in and makes her aware of her differences. When her parents find out they take her to the city. There Pip is exposed to many languages and all kinds of different looking people. Upon her return home, Pip has regained her confidence in being herself.
I'm a person with one foot in a small, predominantly white, town, and another in a vibrant multicultural city. This book seems to showcase both of these realities.
This book has so much potential for profound classroom conversations. I'm itching to share it with a group of students!

tashrow's review against another edition

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4.0

Pip is a pig who loves to make art, cook with her family and dream about what she is going to be when she grows up. But then one day, a new kid at school teases her about the lunch she brought saying that it stinks. The new pig also doesn’t like Pip’s art projects either. They even ask if her mother is her babysitter, since they aren’t the same color. Pip is furious when she goes home and she demands that they make her a normal lunch. Instead, they travel as a family into the city to explore a bit. In the city, Pip hears all sorts of different languages being spoken. The pigs are all different colors and patterns. When Pip asks for normal food, she is told that the food isn’t weird at all. Pip feels a lot better when they get home. Her parents offer a normal lunch, but Pip decides to take her same one. At school, she is teased again but this time offers tastes to everyone and they like it!

Steele explores what it means to be different in a sea of pink pigs. She also looks at what being targeted by a bully feels like when you are a small child and how it can shake your confidence in yourself and your family. Pip’s desire to be more normal is something that children will be able to relate to. The look at an urban setting as a place where people with differences are celebrated is done with a clarity that is very welcome.

Steel’s art is crisp and colorful. She has created pigs of all different stripes and patterns as well as colors. Pip is the only polka-dotted pig in her class and her mother is the only black pig in the neighborhood. The strong patterns and clear differences will help young readers understand that everyone is unique and that differences are worth celebrating.

Just right for kids who aren’t normal, this book celebrates diversity. Appropriate for ages 4-6.