Picnic With Piggins

Piggins

by Jane Yolen, Jane Dyer (Illustrator)

Following the success of the original Piggins, this time the proper butler sets out on a search for the whereabouts of a kit fox named Rexy. “There’s plenty of humor here for children and their adult readers. . . . No one will get bored with Piggins.”-- Booklist

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Mystery, Animals, Summer, Humor

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun with Piggins, the proper and kindly butler who loves to solve mysteries. This time, the mystery occurs while Piggins and the children and some family friends are on an end-of-summer. But this mystery comes with a big surprise attached--one aimed especially for Piggins!

This is my second Piggins book and I really enjoy them; it's fun for children to have a bit of an old-fashioned British mystery in picture book form and I find all of the characters charming and fun. The Upstairs/Downstairs bits are great.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had hoped this was going to be a Piggins series. Alas, I think this is the last one. Fun to read but the illustrations make the story even better.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of a trilogy, I loved these books about the oh so proper pig butler who solves mysteries for his fox employers. Each book begins with an illustration of Piggins climbing the kitchen stairs, and on the next page, an illustration of a cut-away of the Reynard house. In the penultimate illustration, there is another cut-away of the Reynard house, at night, after all the excitement of the day. In the final illustration, Piggins is going back down the kitchen stairs.
In Picnic with Piggins, Piggins solves the mystery of the missing Rexy Reynard.
Jane Dyer's watercolor and colored pencil illustrations were full of interesting details and appealing animals characters.
Even though in picture book format, these stories are all a bit wordy, and so would be best for elementary-age students.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, it's true. We often go to the library, grab a whole bunch of books off one shelf, check them out and run home. Today we got the W-X-Y-Z section.

This must be how Sherlock Holmes got started - reading children's mysteries. It's cute.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

What starts out as a picnic turns into a mystery when one of the Reynard kits is kit-napped. There are several clues for Piggins the Butler to use to solve the case, and save Rexy.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piggins is an exceptional butler and works for Mr. and Mrs. Reynard. As a special treat, Rexy and Trixy, who have just recovered from fox pox, are going on a picnic with Piggins, Pierre Lapin, and the Lapin sisters. At the picnic site the three sisters dangle their feet in the river, Trixy throws rose petals into the water, and Pierre regales Rexy with adventures on the high seas. Piggins sets out the picnic. They eat everything except the Surprise which must not be eaten until just before they go home. After lunch the adults are quite tired. Pierre agrees to take watch the children while the others nap. Naps are soon interrupted, however, when Rexy falls into the river. At least it appears that he has for his hat is floating in the river. Then they think he might have been kitnapped. Rexy fishing pole is broken in two pieces indicating a struggle. Rexy's walking stick is found on the river bank. They also find a ransom note. It says that Piggins must walk singing down the road alone if they are ever to see Rexy again. Piggins declares the whole thing a hoax. Rexy hat hasn't moved from its spot. It is attached to the walking stick by string. The "broken" fishing pole has simply been separated into two halves at it normal joint. Nonetheless Piggins starts down the road singing "Happy Birthday to you...". When he gets to "Happy Birthday dear..., everyone says, "Piggins." Out of the picnic basket comes cook's surprise, a birthday cake. Out of the woods come Mr. and Mrs. Reynard in their "fox" hunting attire. It is quite the happiest birthday Piggins can remember.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery, with beautifully detailed illustrations and memorable characters. Though questions abound about this universe. The narrator harshly criticizes the scullery maid's personal hygiene at the start and end of the book. Meanwhile, her name is spelled differently (Sara and then Sarah). Piggins, a pig and war hero, is butler to a family of predators. How did this arrangement come to pass? And the foxes socialize with rabbits, natural prey of the fox? And, even more bizarrely, foxes engage in a fox hunt? Is this some sort of universe where anthropomorphized animals are the dominant life form, but there are also animals like we're used to, without the added baggage of one hunting the other of what would seem to be the same species?

These niggling observations about the nature of the setting aside, an enjoyable story.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Piggins and so does my son! Piggins is a very proper butler who loves to solve mysteries. I'd only read the original; I never knew there were more Piggins books. I'm so glad!

[Lisa Delaine Youngblood · Rating 4 out of 5]

pigs
England
butlers
mystery
picnics
park