Lady Lollipop

by Dick King-Smith, Jill Barton (Illustrator)

Lollipop is no ordinary pig. According to her young owner Johnny Skinner, she's the cleverest pig in the whole kingdom. When people stare into Lollipop's bright, intelligent eyes, it seems to change them for the better. But will Lollipop win over spoilt Princess Penelope - and the King and Queen?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, Animals, Fantasy, Humor

Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sallie and I finished this last week. She absolutely loved it. There is a simple pencil drawing on nearly every page, and the story was perfect for a four year old read aloud. It's about a spoiled princess who wants a pig for her birthday. She gets the pig, but the pig, named Lollipop, will only obey its trainer, not Princess Penelope. So the trainer moves into the palace stables with the pig. The trainer, Johnny Skinner, ends up training the princess . . . to learn to think of others and to not act so spoiled. The king is so impressed with Johnny, that at the end of the book, he makes Johnny a duke and Lollipop a lady! We could easily read one or two chapters in a sitting, and Sallie often asked to read just one more! This is a great book for little ones branching into chapter books. Dick King Smith also wrote Babe The Gallant Pig. I think we are going to look more of his books.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

rating: 3.5

A chapter book with illustrations on almost every page and double-spaced lines of text.

Most of the sentences are 'friendly' but a few seem more appropriate for adult readers (especially when referencing the rose garden).

Jill Barton's drawings capture the feeling of the text and add humor to the story. The five sketches illustrating Lollipop's vocabulary provide a perfect opporunity to interpret an animal's body language. (Some of this looks a lot like 'dog talk' -- do pigs and dogs have similar body language?)

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Redemption through gardening and animal husbandry. The Secret Garden, in fact.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading books on my shelf that I have not read yet. Cute illustrations and story.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite the caliber of Babe: The Gallant Pig, but another endearing pig book from farmer-turned-children's-author Dick King-Smith. Too much summarizing and telling versus showing and not enough conflict, even for a children's chapter book. On the other hand, King-Smith really knows how to bring a pig character to life, and the relationships between the pig and the humans are especially fulfilling. The animal training process and the turnaround of the princess are also satisfying, though both happen too quickly to be entirely credible. Despite this story's technical shortcomings, I found it to be enjoyable on a personal level.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable tale of a pig & his young trainer who subtly teach a bratty princess (and her entire family) a thing or two about kindness, thinking of others, and making compromises.

Mr. King-Smith has a huge catalog of books & we can't wait to try The Waterhorse and Babe, seeing as we've seen the movies & had no idea they were based on books.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

2001 ALA Notable Children's Book
An easy to read book with large print; great for 3rd grade and up. Interesting characters that change and grow in this short novel.

[Kristine M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not already reading it but I'm so excited because the comments were so good! And that means that I will enjoy it! (hope!) Wish me good luck!

[Jeyanthi Manokaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dick King-Smith, a farmer turned writer, understands kids and animals- especially pigs. He has a wry sense of humour in this chapter book peppered with wacky black and white sketches. A heartwarming story of a spoilt Princess Penelope who demands nothing but a pig for her 8th birthday. The King and Queen are confused, but give in to her tantrums. She picks the pig with the most intelligent eyes belonging to Johnny Skinner.

Since the pig (Lollipop) will not obey anyone but her master, Johnny Skinner has to move into the Royal Palace stables with Lollipop. Johnny Skinner, while training Lollipop, finds he has to train the Princess as well. The change that comes over the Princess surprises everyone in the palace and Johnny Skinner is made a Duke, while the pig is Lady Lollipop.

Learning to be kind, gets you what you want. A tale that I return to because of the author's conversational, witty style.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

We listened to this 1-hr audiobook today during a longer-ish drive. The narrator does a fantastic job doing all the different voices, but at first princess Penelope's whiney voice got on my nerves. I was very close to shutting it off, but my almost-6 year old daughter was very into it, and I must admit the story even caught my attention. It had a satisfactory ending, of the princess becoming more kind and quiet, having learned that people listen to you better if you talk nicely to them. (A somewhat ironic moral-of-the-story, considering I had been very impatient with my children before we got in the car, so it was a good reminder for all of us).

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My four year old is just starting to be interested in listening to chapter books before bed. You better believe I’m thrilled (send all the recommendations, especially if they occasionally have an illustration and don’t have any scary themes).

I found this book on a list of good beginner chapter books for reading aloud. I like that it had little illustrations frequently and young characters. The language wasn’t always relatable for my daughter but she still enjoyed and asked lots of questions afterwards. A good start. We have also enjoyed the Mercy Pig books though those have been much shorter and are usually read in one sitting when reading aloud.

[Mine · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my child stated, Queens are always evil as this queen refuses to allow a well trained pig in Palace. She does not entertain the idea of living with a pig in her house, but I bet she enjoys eating them.

I often wonder why fairy tale royals are extremely incompetent and have only one child, who happens to be a girl most of time. King and Queen in this book are the softest royals that I have read. Only a peasant and a pig can fix their problems. I wish there was a successful peasants revolt at the palace and Pig becomes the queen🐽

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't appeal to Miss 4; we abandoned it after about 30%. Reading it I couldn't help but be reminded of the UL cartoon 'Little Princess'!

Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to read with littles. One Note : The princess is super spoiled and bratty, and the king used a boy to help teach her patience and kindness. We had lots of conversations about how the king was not fulfilling his God given role of training his child to obey. It was a very sweet and well written story, though, and I appreciated the opportunity it gave me to teach my babes discernment.

[Marijo Taverne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it doesn’t deserve a full four stars. It’s not as charming and repeatable as Charlotte’s Web, or even as delightful as Babe by Dick King-Smith, but it is a good and enjoyable book. I read it aloud to my three youngest in one sitting. I think King-Smith’s books are worth reading, and they are great for that early independent reader who wants something more challenging than beginning reader books, but isn’t up to most chapter books yet.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suits Candlewick Press's vision well, which prejudices me in favor. Also written by King-Smith, so of course I'll read it. Turns out to be, indeed, a very funny and homely book, and met my expectations. The characters were not-quite caricatures, their growth plausible, and the plot twists engaging. Recommended to newly-independent readers and to families.

[Amber]

I read this with my four year old daughter and she LOVED it. I read it as a young girl, so it was really fun to return to an old favorite with my little girl. I appreciate that it’s a princess story with a living mother (!!!) platonic friendship with a boy, and a relatable and rewarding character arc. Really happy we read this.

[libreroaming · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Babe" author, Dick King-Smith, writes another charming book about a pig who manages to change the lives of those around the porcine prodigy. When Princess Penelope demands a pet, and not just any pet, but the best pig in the kingdom, the King and Queen are flummoxed that she picks a skinny runt named Lollipop. But Lollipop's owner, Johnny Skinner, knows how to train such a pig, and ends up training the bossy princess as well.

It's a cute conceit of "attract more with honey than vinegar" when teaching Penelope to be patient and kind in order to have Lollipop respond to her. Each chapter shows a small growth of Penelope, and focuses on the indirect ways Lollipop manages to win over the King and Queen. It's a small thing, but I very much liked the repeated line where each of the royals looked into Lollipop's eyes and saw someone like themselves in it. There's a nice rhythm for read alouds, with chapters that last about six pages each. And of course Jill Barton's black and white illustrations are expressive but still very grounded in their style.

A wonderful read for third graders.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story in chapter book format about a very spoiled little princess who demanded a pig for her 8th birthday. What she didn't expect was the change that would occur for the whole palace through the pig and her trainer. Fun story.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book six by DKS that I have read and this one is about a pig - not that pig - this is a different pig tale but by jokes it is an entertaining yarn and again DKS Smith has won me over with an animal tale. This is the first one in I'm not sure how many about Lady Lollipop

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Penelope is a spoiled brat, always getting her way because no one wants to endure the tantrums she throws when she doesn't. A sensitive pig and her humble keeper teach Penelope the value of kindness. Very cute story with a worthwhile message.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Clever Lollipop first, but that does not mean I didn't enjoy this prequel just as much! What a delightful cast of characters and a lovely set of adventures! I look forward to reading more from Dick King-Smith.

[Kathryn Chipchase · Rating 1 out of 5]

Parents are not good role models and don't discipline their child who is a brat. She learns to be less selfish by a boy and a pig instead of through parenting. The dad tries to manipulate his daughter and wife.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. A good read aloud to first or second graders. Third graders would enjoy it independently.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally really enjoyed this book. My preschooler age kids lost interest quickly so I'm guessing this book would be great for them in a year or so. Very clever characters and fun.

[Nikki Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for kids!

[Maya gabay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny

[Jonah Stirratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kind of good but it was mildly interesting. I would recommend this book to people who like animals.

[Charlotte Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, where do I even start. This has a real spot in my heart. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. Read it you have to

[Fairus · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re a season read out loud reader for your children, this book is boring and predictable. But the characters are fictionally pleasing