Today is National Pig Day! Admittedly this is not a well-known holiday, at least here on the West Coast, but it was the perfect excuse to do a Pig Storytime. Here’s what we did:

BOOKS:

My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza

Keiko Kasza is one of my favorite authors, and this is my favorite book of hers. When a piglet knocks on the door of a hungry fox, the fox is delighted to have dinner show up right to his door. But, the piglet points out, he is pretty dirty. Shouldn’t the fox give him a bath first? By the end, the piglet has been treated to a bath, a nice meal, and a massage, while the fox collapses exhausted on the floor. The ending always gets a laugh.

The Book Hog by Greg Pizzoli

This book fit the theme perfectly! Not only is it about pigs, it’s also about storytime. The Book Hog loves everything about books: the way they smell, the way they feel, and the wonderful pictures inside. There’s just one problem: he doesn’t know how to read. Luckily, a helpful librarian offers to read him as many books as he likes, and soon the Book Hog learns to read on his own.

Happy Pig Day by Mo Willems

I could have done any of the Elephant and Piggie books, but this one was the best fit for the theme, and for our Pig Mask project at the end. My coworker Angela and I read it together. Piggie is excited because it is Happy Pig Day, the best day of the year. But her friend Gerald is worried that, as an elephant, he can’t join in the celebration. But Happy Pig Day isn’t just for pigs, Piggie says. It’s for anyone who loves pigs. The kids loved joining in on the “Oinky Oink Oinks.”

SONGS:

These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner

I sang this one as a follow-up to The Book Hog and it was a big hit. Laurie Berkner has a great YouTube video of the song and the motions.

The lyrics are:

These are my glasses,

This is my book.

I put on my glasses,

And open up my book.

Then I read, read, read,

And I look, look, look.

I put down my glasses and whoop! close up the book.

Five Little Piggies

I got this rhyme from Let’s Play Kids Music:

Five little piggies playing in the mud (hold up five fingers)

Squishy, Squashy, it felt good (pat your left hand on your right palm, then your right hand on your left).

The farmer took one piggy away (put one finger behind your back)

“Oink, Oink, Oink!” the piggies did say!

Repeat until there are no piggies left. At the end I said, “The farmers gave all the piggies a bath, and here they are again, all clean!”

Happy Pig Day

To the tune of Alouette. I started by teaching the ASL sign for Happy and the sign for Pig, and we did those signs whenever we said the words.

Happy Pig Day, Happy, Happy Pig Day! (do the signs for Happy and Pig)

Happy Pig Day!

Come and Oink with me!

We will eat a lot of slop, (pretend to eat and make slurping noises)

Then in the mud we will flop. (fall down)

Lots of slop, (pretend to eat)

Down we’ll flop. (fall down)

Lots of slop. (pretend to eat)

Down we’ll flop. (fall down)

Oh-oh!

Happy Pig Day, (do the signs for Happy and Pig)

It’s great to be a pig!

Old MacDonald

We did this for our instrument play-along at the end, and Angela held up the Monkey Mitt with the Old MacDonald animal set:

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

And on that farm he [F] had a [C] pig,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

With an oink-oink here, and an oink-oink there,

Here an oink, there an oink,

Everywhere an oink-oink.

[C] Old MacDonald [F] had a [C] farm,

E-I- [G7] E-I- [C] O!

STAY AND PLAY: PIG MASKS

These was an easy craft, and a lot of fun. I pre-cut eye holes in paper plates, and also printed out noses and ears on pink paper (there are lots of templates online, but the one I used was here. I put out markers, glue sticks, popsicle sticks, and tape (to hold the popsicle sticks), and told the kids they were welcome to make their mask into anything they wanted, or use the pig noses and ears that I provided. Some of them made hybrid animals, like the cat/pig above.

Do you have any favorite books about pigs? Please share them in the comments.