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Freddy the Pig #7
Prosiaczek Fryderyk Wielka wojna o imbryk
Na farmę państwa Beanów przybywa młodszy kuzyn Fryderyka, prosiaczek imieniem Weedly. Młodzieniec jest, jak na świnkę, szalenie nieśmiały. Jinx, kot, który nader często myli odwagę z brawurą, postanawia zaopiekować się gościem i wyleczyć go z nieśmiałości. Kot jako wychowawca prosiaczka nie sprawdza się jednak najlepiej... Niezwykła, zaliczana do klasyki literatury dziecięcej, powstająca w latach 1927-1958 i zupełnie nieznana w Polsce, seria o prosiaczku Fryderyku. Porównywany do Kubusia Puchatka cykl opowiada o farmie państwa Bean - miejscu, które według Adama Hochschilda, znanego krytyka New York Timesa, było "moralnym centrum wszechświata" dla dzieci z jego pokolenia. Głównym bohaterem serii jest prosiaczek Fryderyk, obdarzony darem mowy, umiejący czytać i pisać "najmniejszy i najmądrzejszy prosiaczek na farmie".
The irrepressible Freddy's cousin Weedly comes to Bean Farm, and what a timid soul he turns out to be. Jinx, the cat, decides to take charge of him, so as to help him get over his shyness and poor Weedly doesn't know what exciting events are about to occur. Mr. and Mrs. Bean have gone to Europe leaving the animals to care for themselves and the farm. While they are away Mr. Bean's Aunt Effie and her husband arrive, break into the house and attempt to steal a silver teapot.
The irrepressible Freddy's cousin Weedly comes to Bean Farm, and what a timid soul he turns out to be. Jinx, the cat, decides to take charge of him, so as to help him get over his shyness and poor Weedly doesn't know what exciting events are about to occur. Mr. and Mrs. Bean have gone to Europe leaving the animals to care for themselves and the farm. While they are away Mr. Bean's Aunt Effie and her husband arrive, break into the house and attempt to steal a silver teapot.
271 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1940
7 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Walter Rollin Brooks
52 books69 followersWalter Rollin Brooks (January 9, 1886 – August 17, 1958) was an American writer best remembered for his short stories and children's books, particularly those about Freddy the Pig and other anthropomorphic animal inhabitants of the "Bean farm" in upstate New York.
Born in Rome, New York, Brooks attended college at the University of Rochester and subsequently studied homeopathic medicine in New York City. He dropped out after two years, however, and returned to Rochester, where he married his first wife, Anne Shepard, in 1909. Brooks found employment with an advertising agency in Utica, and then "retired" in 1911, evidently because he came into a considerable inheritance. His retirement was not permanent: in 1917, he went to work for the American Red Cross and later did editorial work for several magazines, including The New Yorker.
In 1940, Brooks turned to his own writing for his full-time occupation. Walter married his second wife, Dorothy Collins, following the death of Anne in 1952.
The first works Brooks published were poems and short stories. His short story "Ed Takes the Pledge" about a talking horse was the basis for the 1960s television comedy series Mister Ed (credit for creating the characters is given in each episode to "Walter Brooks"). His most enduring works, however, are the 26 books he wrote about Freddy the Pig and his friends.
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Born in Rome, New York, Brooks attended college at the University of Rochester and subsequently studied homeopathic medicine in New York City. He dropped out after two years, however, and returned to Rochester, where he married his first wife, Anne Shepard, in 1909. Brooks found employment with an advertising agency in Utica, and then "retired" in 1911, evidently because he came into a considerable inheritance. His retirement was not permanent: in 1917, he went to work for the American Red Cross and later did editorial work for several magazines, including The New Yorker.
In 1940, Brooks turned to his own writing for his full-time occupation. Walter married his second wife, Dorothy Collins, following the death of Anne in 1952.
The first works Brooks published were poems and short stories. His short story "Ed Takes the Pledge" about a talking horse was the basis for the 1960s television comedy series Mister Ed (credit for creating the characters is given in each episode to "Walter Brooks"). His most enduring works, however, are the 26 books he wrote about Freddy the Pig and his friends.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 21, 2016
Still loving this series.
But my reading plate is a but full, so this series is going on the back-burner for a little while, but I will certainly come back to it!
But my reading plate is a but full, so this series is going on the back-burner for a little while, but I will certainly come back to it!
December 17, 2022
“I like honesty, even in an enemy”
OR
Home Alone on the Bean Farm
OR
Draw a Fierce Mustache and Angry Eyebrows on a Timid Piglet at Your Own Peril
In the main plot of Freddy’s Cousin Weedly (1940), the seventh entry in Walter R. Brooks’ humorous and savory Freddy the Pig series (twenty-six books published from 1927 to 1958), Aunt Effie and Uncle Snedeker show up at the New York farmhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Bean, who are absent vacationing in France. The aunt and uncle aim to locate and abscond with the silver teapot Effie believes that her mother should have left to her instead of to Mrs. Bean. Needless to say, Freddy the pig and his fellow Bean farm animals will do everything they can to foil the interlopers. The sub-plot consists of Jinx the black cat adopting Freddy’s timorous cousin Little Weedly and trying to instill confidence in the piglet.
The book is a comedy of manners: uninvited house guests, contested heirloom, practical jokes, apologies and forgiveness, and so on. The aunt and uncle who seem like villainous invaders turn out to be responsible house guests, helping the animals protect the Beans’ garden from an invasion of martial caterpillars, maintaining the farm in good order, and even, finally, inviting all the farm animals and a number of local wild ones to a consummately polite tea party. As Freddy and company learn that Effie has redeeming qualities, so she learns that pigs and other animals can be at least as well-mannered as people. Effie thinks that being “polite to people even when they’re your enemies” should be in her etiquette book. The book posits that “There are two things you can do if you have a disagreement with somebody. You can try to settle it by fighting, or you can try to settle it by being friendly with them.”
Through all that runs an allegorical commentary on race relations using animals as stand ins for people of color. (This is not as offensive as it sounds, because Brooks respects and likes animals at least as much as people and writes most of his stories from the animal point of view.) When Effie goes to watch a movie, she discovers Freddy (a pig!) sitting next to her and demands his removal, only to be told, “We make no class distinctions in this theatre, madam… Bankers, working men, Eskimos, Hottentots, elephants, lizards—we treat them all alike. If they have the price of admission.” It may seem condescending to minorities when Freddy comes off as admirable (and wins Effie’s approval) for offering to leave to avoid causing a disturbance. But as the book was published before the Civil Rights era, Brooks’ attempt to open child readers’ minds about “people” who are different is impressive.
Like the other Freddy books, this one is pretty funny. Brooks here presents many amusing animal “facts” like, “Cows do a good deal of resting. They are not very ambitious, and few cows have ever made great names for themselves in the world. They would much rather sit around in the shade and talk. But they are often very wise animals, and their opinions are well worth listening to.”
Indeed, the cow Mrs. Wiggins says several wise things. Once she explains the difference between manners and politeness: “Aunt Effie’s only polite when her etiquette book says she ought to be, and that’s when she’s having a party, or maybe when somebody else is being polite to her. I guess with her it’s just manners, and not real politeness.” Elsewhere she explains why she doesn’t open letters: “As long as it isn’t opened, I can think of lots of nice things it might be. But as soon as I open it, then it means I’ve got to do something.”
Brooks also writes interesting animal behavior that seems like something real animals might do, as when Jinx tries to get Effie to let him into the house: “Jinx had used his saddest and most mournful mew. It made you think of little children crying and cats dying of starvation and all sorts of sorrowful things, and you would be pretty hard-hearted if you could keep from going to the door.”
There is plenty of humor for adults here, too, like when the narrator says that “Uncle Snedeker was usually considered to be a pretty good husband. That is, he almost always did what Aunt Effie told him to.”
Brooks usually writes unadorned, straightforward, demotic English suitable for kids, but he’s also capable of vivid, original, and poetic figures of speech like, “The first raindrops pattered like mice running over the shingles.”
Freddy is a charismatic protagonist, a protean pig whose interests run from detective work to poetry. Yet he is quite lazy, so that he trains his animal staff at his First Animal Bank to say “good morning” when he shows up late in the afternoon. And he likes poetry too much: “Freddy should have seized the teapot and made off with it without a moment’s delay. But he was a poet as well as a pig of action.”
The illustrations by Kurt Weise are perfect: realistic (his animals look like real animals, not Disney cartoon creatures), accurate (he has carefully read the story), well-chosen (he illustrates important and or funny scenes), and witty (his minimalistic picture of Emma the duck trying to look like a wicked tiger is comical).
Finally, this is a solid, if not stellar book, being sillier, lighter, and less tightly plotted than the best Freddy books (like Freddy the Detective and Freddy and the Poppinjay), but it has many virtues. The high point is an absurd tour de force play in verse written by Freddy, performed by the Bean farm animals, and featuring Queen Elizabeth I (the cow Mrs. Wiggins), her ladies in waiting (the ducks Emma and Jane), Sir Walter Raleigh (Weedly), Captain Kidd (the horse Hank), Sherlock Holmes (Freddy), a G-man (Jinx), and an unsanctioned marriage plan, stolen jewelry, a lot of ordered executions, and a bad rhyme competition. A smaller-scale high point is a Paul Revere-esque mouse-back midnight ride by the husband-and-wife spiders Mr. and Mrs. Webb (the illustration by Kurt Weise is prime). Oh, and the idea of Jinx (a cat!) adopting Little Weedly (a piglet!) and the timid piglet turning into a cocky prankster after Freddy paints a fierce mustache and angry eyebrows on him is funny. Hey, it’s starting to sound pretty good after all!
OR
Home Alone on the Bean Farm
OR
Draw a Fierce Mustache and Angry Eyebrows on a Timid Piglet at Your Own Peril
In the main plot of Freddy’s Cousin Weedly (1940), the seventh entry in Walter R. Brooks’ humorous and savory Freddy the Pig series (twenty-six books published from 1927 to 1958), Aunt Effie and Uncle Snedeker show up at the New York farmhouse of Mr. and Mrs. Bean, who are absent vacationing in France. The aunt and uncle aim to locate and abscond with the silver teapot Effie believes that her mother should have left to her instead of to Mrs. Bean. Needless to say, Freddy the pig and his fellow Bean farm animals will do everything they can to foil the interlopers. The sub-plot consists of Jinx the black cat adopting Freddy’s timorous cousin Little Weedly and trying to instill confidence in the piglet.
The book is a comedy of manners: uninvited house guests, contested heirloom, practical jokes, apologies and forgiveness, and so on. The aunt and uncle who seem like villainous invaders turn out to be responsible house guests, helping the animals protect the Beans’ garden from an invasion of martial caterpillars, maintaining the farm in good order, and even, finally, inviting all the farm animals and a number of local wild ones to a consummately polite tea party. As Freddy and company learn that Effie has redeeming qualities, so she learns that pigs and other animals can be at least as well-mannered as people. Effie thinks that being “polite to people even when they’re your enemies” should be in her etiquette book. The book posits that “There are two things you can do if you have a disagreement with somebody. You can try to settle it by fighting, or you can try to settle it by being friendly with them.”
Through all that runs an allegorical commentary on race relations using animals as stand ins for people of color. (This is not as offensive as it sounds, because Brooks respects and likes animals at least as much as people and writes most of his stories from the animal point of view.) When Effie goes to watch a movie, she discovers Freddy (a pig!) sitting next to her and demands his removal, only to be told, “We make no class distinctions in this theatre, madam… Bankers, working men, Eskimos, Hottentots, elephants, lizards—we treat them all alike. If they have the price of admission.” It may seem condescending to minorities when Freddy comes off as admirable (and wins Effie’s approval) for offering to leave to avoid causing a disturbance. But as the book was published before the Civil Rights era, Brooks’ attempt to open child readers’ minds about “people” who are different is impressive.
Like the other Freddy books, this one is pretty funny. Brooks here presents many amusing animal “facts” like, “Cows do a good deal of resting. They are not very ambitious, and few cows have ever made great names for themselves in the world. They would much rather sit around in the shade and talk. But they are often very wise animals, and their opinions are well worth listening to.”
Indeed, the cow Mrs. Wiggins says several wise things. Once she explains the difference between manners and politeness: “Aunt Effie’s only polite when her etiquette book says she ought to be, and that’s when she’s having a party, or maybe when somebody else is being polite to her. I guess with her it’s just manners, and not real politeness.” Elsewhere she explains why she doesn’t open letters: “As long as it isn’t opened, I can think of lots of nice things it might be. But as soon as I open it, then it means I’ve got to do something.”
Brooks also writes interesting animal behavior that seems like something real animals might do, as when Jinx tries to get Effie to let him into the house: “Jinx had used his saddest and most mournful mew. It made you think of little children crying and cats dying of starvation and all sorts of sorrowful things, and you would be pretty hard-hearted if you could keep from going to the door.”
There is plenty of humor for adults here, too, like when the narrator says that “Uncle Snedeker was usually considered to be a pretty good husband. That is, he almost always did what Aunt Effie told him to.”
Brooks usually writes unadorned, straightforward, demotic English suitable for kids, but he’s also capable of vivid, original, and poetic figures of speech like, “The first raindrops pattered like mice running over the shingles.”
Freddy is a charismatic protagonist, a protean pig whose interests run from detective work to poetry. Yet he is quite lazy, so that he trains his animal staff at his First Animal Bank to say “good morning” when he shows up late in the afternoon. And he likes poetry too much: “Freddy should have seized the teapot and made off with it without a moment’s delay. But he was a poet as well as a pig of action.”
The illustrations by Kurt Weise are perfect: realistic (his animals look like real animals, not Disney cartoon creatures), accurate (he has carefully read the story), well-chosen (he illustrates important and or funny scenes), and witty (his minimalistic picture of Emma the duck trying to look like a wicked tiger is comical).
Finally, this is a solid, if not stellar book, being sillier, lighter, and less tightly plotted than the best Freddy books (like Freddy the Detective and Freddy and the Poppinjay), but it has many virtues. The high point is an absurd tour de force play in verse written by Freddy, performed by the Bean farm animals, and featuring Queen Elizabeth I (the cow Mrs. Wiggins), her ladies in waiting (the ducks Emma and Jane), Sir Walter Raleigh (Weedly), Captain Kidd (the horse Hank), Sherlock Holmes (Freddy), a G-man (Jinx), and an unsanctioned marriage plan, stolen jewelry, a lot of ordered executions, and a bad rhyme competition. A smaller-scale high point is a Paul Revere-esque mouse-back midnight ride by the husband-and-wife spiders Mr. and Mrs. Webb (the illustration by Kurt Weise is prime). Oh, and the idea of Jinx (a cat!) adopting Little Weedly (a piglet!) and the timid piglet turning into a cocky prankster after Freddy paints a fierce mustache and angry eyebrows on him is funny. Hey, it’s starting to sound pretty good after all!
August 22, 2025
The Freddy books will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up on these, and for the most part they hold up. I spent a good part of this book giggling.
Mr. and Mrs. Bean are in Florida and while they are gone, some relatives stop in for a visit with an ulterior motive: to reclaim the family tea pot. The animals see this as shameless thievery, immediately hatching plans to waylay them until the Beans return.
These plans include making work around the farm that Mr. and Mrs. Snedeker (what great names) won't be able to resist taking care of, hosing a tea party, performing a play, and Freddy dressing up like a distressed old lady to create a diversion.
It's a grand time, and includes some fun new characters. 3.5
Mr. and Mrs. Bean are in Florida and while they are gone, some relatives stop in for a visit with an ulterior motive: to reclaim the family tea pot. The animals see this as shameless thievery, immediately hatching plans to waylay them until the Beans return.
These plans include making work around the farm that Mr. and Mrs. Snedeker (what great names) won't be able to resist taking care of, hosing a tea party, performing a play, and Freddy dressing up like a distressed old lady to create a diversion.
It's a grand time, and includes some fun new characters. 3.5
January 17, 2012
What makes a person brave? Freddy, Jinx and the other barn animals learn that important lesson as they try to cure Freddy's cousin Weedly of his paralyzing shyness. Jinx comes up with a remarkable plan to instill courage and confidence in the little pig, but will it succeed or, as is more likely with a plan from the mischievous Jinx, will it backfire horrendously? To complicate things, the animals are also in the midst of battle of wits against Mr. Bean's old aunt, who has taken up residence at the farm in Mr. Bean's absence in hopes of stealing back a family heirloom that she believes rightly belongs in her home. When their attempts at trickery and cunning fail, the animals resort to a surprising tactic to prevent the theft: "killing" their enemy with kindness! Will Aunt Effie learn the lesson they're trying to teach her? And will you, gentle reader, do the same?
Full of simple wisdom and clean fun, this book is certainly a classic in children's literature and one of the better installments in the Freddy series. The lessons it imparts are timeless and, perhaps, needed more than ever today. Accompanied by adorable illustrations by Kurt Wiese, the book is sure to delight readers of any age (including this thirty-something year old "girl!")
My favorite quotes highlight Brook's wonderful sense of humor:
"It is a nice jail, if I do say so," said the sheriff. "One of the most popular jails in the state. I have to make it nice, or I wouldn't have any job. You see, ma'am, we don't have any crime...and if I didn't keep a nice comfortable jail that people want to stay in, why I wouldn't get any prisoners to look after, and where'd my job be? So I got all the cells fixed up with good beds, and we got a game room and tennis courts and so on, and we set a better table than the hotel does. Folks like to stay in my jail, so now and then they break a few unimportant laws so they can..."
"...yelling is about the hardest exercise there is, and if a lot of people who weigh too much would just yell ten minutes a day, instead of playing golf or tennis or swinging Indian clubs, they would reduce very quickly. Only, of course, the neighbors probably wouldn't like it much."
Full of simple wisdom and clean fun, this book is certainly a classic in children's literature and one of the better installments in the Freddy series. The lessons it imparts are timeless and, perhaps, needed more than ever today. Accompanied by adorable illustrations by Kurt Wiese, the book is sure to delight readers of any age (including this thirty-something year old "girl!")
My favorite quotes highlight Brook's wonderful sense of humor:
"It is a nice jail, if I do say so," said the sheriff. "One of the most popular jails in the state. I have to make it nice, or I wouldn't have any job. You see, ma'am, we don't have any crime...and if I didn't keep a nice comfortable jail that people want to stay in, why I wouldn't get any prisoners to look after, and where'd my job be? So I got all the cells fixed up with good beds, and we got a game room and tennis courts and so on, and we set a better table than the hotel does. Folks like to stay in my jail, so now and then they break a few unimportant laws so they can..."
"...yelling is about the hardest exercise there is, and if a lot of people who weigh too much would just yell ten minutes a day, instead of playing golf or tennis or swinging Indian clubs, they would reduce very quickly. Only, of course, the neighbors probably wouldn't like it much."
June 8, 2017
Around the Year in 52 Books 2017 Reading Challenge. A book with an animal on the cover.
For those of you unfamiliar with this series, Walter R. Brooks began writing the Freddy the Pig books in 1927 and by the time he died in 1958 had written 26 books. Among his other adventures, Freddy and the other animals from the Bean farm went to Florida to avoid a Wisconsin winter, went to the North Pole and met Santa Claus, played detective and found the hideout of some thieves near the Bean farm, played football, play baseball against a team of Martians, published a newspaper, opened a bank, went camping, and more. It is a wonderful series, especially for a young boy with an imagination.
In this particular book, Mr. and Mrs. Bean have gone to Europe leaving the animals to care for themselves and the farm. While they are away Mr. Bean's Aunt Effie and her husband arrive, break into the house and attempt to steal a silver teapot.
For those of you unfamiliar with this series, Walter R. Brooks began writing the Freddy the Pig books in 1927 and by the time he died in 1958 had written 26 books. Among his other adventures, Freddy and the other animals from the Bean farm went to Florida to avoid a Wisconsin winter, went to the North Pole and met Santa Claus, played detective and found the hideout of some thieves near the Bean farm, played football, play baseball against a team of Martians, published a newspaper, opened a bank, went camping, and more. It is a wonderful series, especially for a young boy with an imagination.
In this particular book, Mr. and Mrs. Bean have gone to Europe leaving the animals to care for themselves and the farm. While they are away Mr. Bean's Aunt Effie and her husband arrive, break into the house and attempt to steal a silver teapot.
December 24, 2020
Nie oczekiwałam od tego dużo, bo to w końcu książka typowo dziecięca, lecz oczekiwałam ze będzie tak nie ZA dziecięca, lecz jednak była. Typowo dziecięca książka idealna dla wieku może 9 lat. Gdybym miała 8,9 lat to napewno by mi się bardzo spodobała.
January 7, 2024
Charming & humorous.
He is able to add on new characters that fit right in.
Love Mrs. Wiggins.
It's funny when Freddy outsmarts humans, and funny when he doesn't understand them-
RSVP - refreshments served very promptly!
He is able to add on new characters that fit right in.
Love Mrs. Wiggins.
It's funny when Freddy outsmarts humans, and funny when he doesn't understand them-
RSVP - refreshments served very promptly!
November 4, 2024
I read my first Freddy in first or second grade about sixty years ago. Even then, some cynics would say these stories of smart animals and good manners were somehow dated but I still treasure them for their gentle humor and simple decency.
July 25, 2022
Zakończenie gdy prosiaczek wyjął walizki było dla mnie nie prawdopodobne i odjęło jedną gwiazdkę:/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2022
Slight plot, and the play at the end admittedly does go on a bit, but this is extremely charming. Brooks has definitely hit his stride.
May 5, 2023
Not as good as Freddy the magician
October 15, 2023
One of the best in the series.
February 20, 2024
This one isn't satirical. It's more emotionally resonant and features an amazing Hamlet-style j'accuse kind of play that's half Shakespeare and half Dr. Seuss.
November 12, 2014
It's really funny. Freddy writes a play and they do the play, but there's some people who come trying to a teapot that the Beans have, but they're in Europe, so they try to hold them back. But the Beans come back with a teapot that belongs to Queen Elizabeth.
January 22, 2015
good. My son and I couldn't figure out what event in the book the cover illustration depicted, but maybe it is just generally descriptive of the story. Nice discussion of manners and diplomacy in the events with Mrs.....and the silver teapot, useful even for adults like me!
July 13, 2008
The Freddy the Pig stories were favorites of mine in childhood. Now, my daughter has taken an interest in them, too. Clean, wholesome, and engaging.
March 26, 2024
This series is so great. Whenever I need to make myself happy I read one of these.
November 9, 2014
I Liked it
March 4, 2016
Freddy's cousin, Weedly, needs some lessons in manners. Freddy is just the one to teach him a few lessons. We named our first hamster Weedly.
July 26, 2015
This book marked my childhood! Opened my eyes when it came to reading.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews