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Pig-Heart Boy
Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.
The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.
Pig-Heart Boy, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly.
Cameron Kelsey is 13 years old. He is not well and needs a new heart. Doctors want to give him a pig's heart. Cameron cannot decide if he wants the pig's heart, and some groups are very angry about doctors using animals in this way.
Visit the Penguin Readers website
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.
The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.
Pig-Heart Boy, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly.
Cameron Kelsey is 13 years old. He is not well and needs a new heart. Doctors want to give him a pig's heart. Cameron cannot decide if he wants the pig's heart, and some groups are very angry about doctors using animals in this way.
Visit the Penguin Readers website
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.
80 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2022
8 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 23, 2025
Had to read it for uni and I got to admit I quite liked it; it’s a great book to use for teaching and had lots of topics that could spark lively discussions in class
August 26, 2024
Cameron is a 13 year old boy who loves to swim. But he has a problem with his heart preventing him from doing the things he loves. A pig heart is his only hope to live…
September 13, 2024
Tbh, I had low expectations but I liked it. It’s a short book you can read in a few days and it’s a pretty wholesome book imo.
October 30, 2024
It was a bit slow at first but then was really nice and wholesome at the end!
November 17, 2024
This book would be best for fourth or fifth grade. The book is about a boy that is having heart failure and needs a transplant from a pig. With this he is dealing with a bunch of emotions. This book will most likely be an individual read, if it is read for the class we would talk about the ways to deal with these kinds of emotions.
November 24, 2025
Read this in class with the school. This book totally just passed by
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews