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Swine Lake
When a lean and mangy wolf stumbles into the Boarshoi Ballet, he finds tasty pigs a-plenty, twirling and whirling in a performance of Swine Lake . Faced with all those luscious porkers, whats a hungry wolf to do? Well, something totally surprising, as it turns out. Pure fun from Marshall and Sendak--an incomparable duo!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
105 people want to read
About the author
James Marshall
149 books139 followersJames Edward Marshall (October 10, 1942 – October 13, 1992), who also wrote as Edward Marshall, was a children's author and illustrator.
His father worked on the railroad, was a band member in the 1930s, and his mother sang in the local church choir. His family later moved to Beaumont, Texas. Marshall said: "Beaumont is deep south and swampy and I hated it. I knew I would die if I stayed there so I diligently studied the viola, and eventually won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory in Boston."[1] He entered the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, but injured his hand, ending his music career. He returned to Texas, where he attended San Antonio College, and later transferred to Southern Connecticut State University where he received degrees in French and history.
It is said that he discovered his vocation on a 1971 summer afternoon, lying on a hammock drawing. His mother was watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and the main characters, George and Martha, ultimately became characters in one of his children's books. Marshall continued as a children's author until his untimely death in 1992 of a brain tumor. In 1998, George and Martha became the basis of an eponymous animated children's television show.
In addition to George and Martha, the lovable hippopotami, James Marshall created dozens of other uniquely appealing characters. He is well-known for his Fox series (which he wrote as "Edward Marshall"), as well as the Miss Nelson books, the Stupids, the Cut-ups, and many more. James Marshall had the uncanny ability to elicit wild delight from readers with relatively little text and simple drawings. With only two minute dots for eyes, his illustrated characters are able to express a wide range of emotion, and produce howls of laughter from both children and adults.
His father worked on the railroad, was a band member in the 1930s, and his mother sang in the local church choir. His family later moved to Beaumont, Texas. Marshall said: "Beaumont is deep south and swampy and I hated it. I knew I would die if I stayed there so I diligently studied the viola, and eventually won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory in Boston."[1] He entered the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, but injured his hand, ending his music career. He returned to Texas, where he attended San Antonio College, and later transferred to Southern Connecticut State University where he received degrees in French and history.
It is said that he discovered his vocation on a 1971 summer afternoon, lying on a hammock drawing. His mother was watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and the main characters, George and Martha, ultimately became characters in one of his children's books. Marshall continued as a children's author until his untimely death in 1992 of a brain tumor. In 1998, George and Martha became the basis of an eponymous animated children's television show.
In addition to George and Martha, the lovable hippopotami, James Marshall created dozens of other uniquely appealing characters. He is well-known for his Fox series (which he wrote as "Edward Marshall"), as well as the Miss Nelson books, the Stupids, the Cut-ups, and many more. James Marshall had the uncanny ability to elicit wild delight from readers with relatively little text and simple drawings. With only two minute dots for eyes, his illustrated characters are able to express a wide range of emotion, and produce howls of laughter from both children and adults.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 3, 2020
While I was and remain in absolute love with Maurice Sendak's brilliant accompanying illustrations (which are lively, fun, imaginative and the depicted outrageous puns and word plays using porcine terms and descriptions from a number of different languages do totally leave me smiling gleefully and with much appreciation), indeed, James Marshall's narrative sadly and truly feels mundane and actually even rather majorly unfinished in comparison to Maurice Sendak’s artwork. Yes, I guess that I still find the text for Swine Lake basically adequate, however, it just seems to stimulate one's appetite for more, and one remains with a hunger, with a major desire for more in-depth verbal descriptions of the wolf and his escapades, a hunger that is simply not ever adequately satisfied with James Marshall's printed words (and no pun is intended here, either).
For indeed and truly, seen alongside of the illustrations, there just is not sufficient offered on a textual level in Swine Lake (especially when Sendak's artwork seems to promise all kinds of humour, parody and satire). An interesting and promising premise is Swine Lake, but one that at least on a narrative level, never even remotely materialises (still to be recommended, to an extent, but with the caveat that there most definitely is somewhat of a major dichotomy between text and image present in Swine Lake). And finally, regarding Maurice Sendak's illustrations, yes, I especially love the Hotel Schwein (but do not know if I would want to frequent such a place in real life, though), and that is equally true of the store called "Schweinerei" (in German, "Schweinerei" means a mess, something akin to a room that looks like a pigsty); and it really and truly is too bad that the humour of the illustrations, and the often clever, language based puns of the same, never really manage to appear all that much James Marshall's narrative.
For indeed and truly, seen alongside of the illustrations, there just is not sufficient offered on a textual level in Swine Lake (especially when Sendak's artwork seems to promise all kinds of humour, parody and satire). An interesting and promising premise is Swine Lake, but one that at least on a narrative level, never even remotely materialises (still to be recommended, to an extent, but with the caveat that there most definitely is somewhat of a major dichotomy between text and image present in Swine Lake). And finally, regarding Maurice Sendak's illustrations, yes, I especially love the Hotel Schwein (but do not know if I would want to frequent such a place in real life, though), and that is equally true of the store called "Schweinerei" (in German, "Schweinerei" means a mess, something akin to a room that looks like a pigsty); and it really and truly is too bad that the humour of the illustrations, and the often clever, language based puns of the same, never really manage to appear all that much James Marshall's narrative.
June 16, 2013
Printed in 1999, after Sendak's beloved friend James Marshall had died, grieving, Sendak worked diligently to give justice to the story line.
A wolf who loves pigs roams around in an unfamiliar part of town. Hungry and smelling pigs, he follows his nose to the Swine Lake Boarshoi Ballet threatre.
Aiming to eat the cast of characters, instead, the wolf becomes mesmerized by the play.
Caught up in the pagentry of emotion, during his attendance at the play, the following night, he jumps on stage and dances.
Reading rave reviews the next night, "he executed a couple of flashy dance steps!"
This was a lovely book, highly creative in the message of how art can tame the most savage beast!
A wolf who loves pigs roams around in an unfamiliar part of town. Hungry and smelling pigs, he follows his nose to the Swine Lake Boarshoi Ballet threatre.
Aiming to eat the cast of characters, instead, the wolf becomes mesmerized by the play.
Caught up in the pagentry of emotion, during his attendance at the play, the following night, he jumps on stage and dances.
Reading rave reviews the next night, "he executed a couple of flashy dance steps!"
This was a lovely book, highly creative in the message of how art can tame the most savage beast!
February 5, 2015
Swine Lake was just okay for me. Perhaps Marshall wasn't able to really polish the story since it was published posthumously. Too bad. The premise was okay it just seemed rather meandering and not very inventive in the telling. The illustrations, while not my favorite style (or favorite Sendak), did lend a lot to the story and I appreciated all the little details and humor. I did like that it showed what it is like to attend a fancy professional ballet performance; and that the wolf was unwittingly carried away by the performance and moved to dance himself. (Sensitive children might be a little nervous or upset by the first half of the book, though, when the wolf plans to eat the pigs, FYI.)
February 19, 2015
This book was featured as one of the selections for the February 2015 Dance-themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
The story is fun to read aloud the illustrations really complement the story nicely. I love how the plot also includes some explanation about ballet and numerous puns about pigs and the famous Russian ballet the story is based on.
The narrative is a bit long, and younger children might lose interest, but our girls loved the humorous details and silly illustrations. Overall, it's an entertaining tale and we enjoyed reading it together.
The story is fun to read aloud the illustrations really complement the story nicely. I love how the plot also includes some explanation about ballet and numerous puns about pigs and the famous Russian ballet the story is based on.
The narrative is a bit long, and younger children might lose interest, but our girls loved the humorous details and silly illustrations. Overall, it's an entertaining tale and we enjoyed reading it together.
February 26, 2015
Wonderful! A lone, hungry, mangy wolf finds his way in an unfamiliar part of town, only to discover "Swine Lake" playing in the New Ham Ster Dam Theater. His plan is to gobble up the dancers, but he soon discovers that there is more to the ballet than dancing pigs.
The writing is full of humour and filled with anticipation, the ending is enjoyably surprising.
Maurice Sendak's illustrations are wonderfully executed with humour not written in the text. They begin telling the wolf's story long before we read the first line.
Whether you are a fan of ballet or not, I think you would enjoy this story. I like it so much that this book may find it's way to my shelf one of these days.
The writing is full of humour and filled with anticipation, the ending is enjoyably surprising.
Maurice Sendak's illustrations are wonderfully executed with humour not written in the text. They begin telling the wolf's story long before we read the first line.
Whether you are a fan of ballet or not, I think you would enjoy this story. I like it so much that this book may find it's way to my shelf one of these days.
February 14, 2015
What a fun book! I loved all the pig-related puns: New Hamsterdam Theater, Boarshoi Ballet, the dancing pigs called Pieds de Cochon, etc. And Sendak's illustrations helped maintain the focus of the story of the hunger-obsessed wolf becoming a dance-obsessed wolf. As wordy as this story is, I don't think it is aimed at very young children; it is more for early elementary age children.
January 19, 2024
A hungry wolf ventures into the ballet hoping for a swine-filled smorgasbord, but leaves the theatre with a new appreciation for drama and dance. Marshall's artwork is always a delight, but I wish this had had a better ending.
November 11, 2025
A strange little book with fascinating illustrations.
September 2, 2014
We got this from the library this week because James Marshall (of George and Martha fame) and Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are, duh) are both old favorites, and we were not at all disappointed. Swine Lake is about a down-on-his luck wolf who stumbles into an unfamiliar part of town, lucks into tickets to the Boarshoi Ballet performance of Swine Lake, and--even as he plans to massacre the dancers to satisfy his own nefarious appetites--winds up falling in love with the ballet instead.
Readers familiar with Marshall's and Sendak's other works will find among the fabulous illustrations several clever references to other favorites: a child in the theatre audience clutches a George-the-hippo stuffed lovey, and another pig is reading a newspaper story about The Stupids.
Readers familiar with Marshall's and Sendak's other works will find among the fabulous illustrations several clever references to other favorites: a child in the theatre audience clutches a George-the-hippo stuffed lovey, and another pig is reading a newspaper story about The Stupids.
February 16, 2015
Cute story with some fun details in the illustrations...but ran a bit long to really capture my children's attention. They thought it was just okay. I did like the ending quite a bit...good but not great.
April 8, 2009
Story gets 1 star, Illustrations get 4 stars . . . .
May 30, 2020
I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this book, since I bought it simply for the Maurice Sendak illustrations, but it was an absolute delight! Marshall mashes up two classic fairytales (the stories of the three little little pigs and swan lake) to create a hilarious little gem of a story. His tale follows a wolf, hungry and wandering the city looking for fulfillment in places that he doesn’t know, setting us up for an expected “big city” story where our protagonist encounters the unexpected and finds new purpose in his life. For this wolf, the unexpected comes in the form of the theatre, and a play put on by pigs - aptly named Swine Lake. The story doesn’t go into huge amounts of detail about Swan Lake (assuming we know the basic story of enchantment and redemption), but focuses instead on the wolf’s reaction to the play. He enters the theatre thinking that he’ll wait until the right moment and then leap out to eat all the little piggies in the audience and on stage, but instead he is captivated by the action and majesty of the ballet - and especially by the antagonist character, with whom he obviously identifies. The wolf returns home wondering at his unexpected reaction and still hungry, so he returns to the theatre the following night and spends his last meagre coins on a prime ticket to the show, once again thinking that he’ll get a meal out of the pigs. Yet, when the conflict of the play arrives, the wolf leaps out on stage and instead of eating everyone takes the place of the antagonist in the play. He finds a sort of catharsis through dancing, and is pleasantly surprised when he reads rave reviews of his performance - no one figured out that a wolf was in their midst! But we are left not knowing the final outcome of his story: will the wolf return to the theatre to dance or to feast? Clearly he is not yet done with his theatrical escapades!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2018
This book is so funny but also makes me cry. So let's start with the crying part, because that has to do with the production of the book rather than the book itself. James Marshall and Maurice Sendak were gay bffs. They went to the theatre together, and they both supported each other in their changing industry. In 1992, Marshall died and left behind the Swine Lake manuscript. Years later, Sendak decides to illustrate it. And you can even see how Sendak attempts to draw in a similar style to Marshall's (see: how tiny and close together the characters' eyes are). The story of how this story came to be is just so sweet and heart-touching that I can't help but to share it.
Okay, so onto the book. It's. So. Funny. And well drawn. And so detailed. (My favorite illustration is at the bottom of a page, showing four or five pigs sitting in a row, about to watch the show. One of the pigs is reading a newspaper whose headline is THE STUPIDS DIE, which is the title of one of Marshall's books--a title that Sendak jokingly can never forgive Marshall for, for being too funny). There's this beautiful mixture of Sendak/Marshall wit and style, and it's just absolutely wonderful. As a last book in a career, it's a wonderful one.
Review cross-listed here!
Okay, so onto the book. It's. So. Funny. And well drawn. And so detailed. (My favorite illustration is at the bottom of a page, showing four or five pigs sitting in a row, about to watch the show. One of the pigs is reading a newspaper whose headline is THE STUPIDS DIE, which is the title of one of Marshall's books--a title that Sendak jokingly can never forgive Marshall for, for being too funny). There's this beautiful mixture of Sendak/Marshall wit and style, and it's just absolutely wonderful. As a last book in a career, it's a wonderful one.
Review cross-listed here!
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September 29, 2019I've added an All-Ages bookcase to our high school library, and filled it with great stuff weeded by my elementary school colleague. Consequently, I get to re-read classics and new stuff at the K-8 levels.
As soon as I saw Sendak's name, I claimed this book. The blend of irreverence and homage is fantastic. James Marshall wrote the text, which follows the experience of a past-his-prime, down-on-his-luck wolf who takes in a performance of the Swine Lake ballet. The wolf goes in with one mindset and emerges with an altogether different one. Art + story = the power of art to transform evejn the most cold-hearted of us.
Grade: A
As soon as I saw Sendak's name, I claimed this book. The blend of irreverence and homage is fantastic. James Marshall wrote the text, which follows the experience of a past-his-prime, down-on-his-luck wolf who takes in a performance of the Swine Lake ballet. The wolf goes in with one mindset and emerges with an altogether different one. Art + story = the power of art to transform evejn the most cold-hearted of us.
Grade: A
February 18, 2022
James Marshall has written a hilarious book. It's somewhat related to the Three Little Pigs, but only barely. The story is fantastic and the fact that it's illustrated by perhaps my favorite, Maurice Sendak, makes it even better. As with any of Sendak's works, pay close attention to his details (especially the Wolf's newspaper at the end). I can't wait to share this book with our 5-year-old granddaughter. I think it will fast become one of our favorites. You can't get a better recommendation than that.
April 21, 2024
A fun story about a hungry wolf who goes to the ballet to eat the cast of Swine Lake, only to get swept away by culture and story. Fun! An interesting story behind the story - that Illustrator Sendak worked on this story as a tribute to Late Author Marshall. Loved all the piggy puns in the illustrations!
August 14, 2017
Cute take on the pigs & wolf story, with a twist. The ending was rather abrupt, which was disappointing since this could have been a 5-star story with a better ending. Still, I love Sendak, and the illustrations are fantastic.
December 27, 2017
What I didn't like about the book (not thrilled with the illustrations) was how the story unfolded. It's almost a typical big, bad wolf wanting to devour pigs. I just found it to be a little dark for little readers.
July 30, 2021
An excellent book! Wonderful story, marvelous illustrations. The sort of book that reminds us all that picture books needn't be simple, short, or kid-friendly to be powerful and valid. This is one the whole family can enjoy, from its youngest member to its oldest.
December 15, 2023
A história está muito bem escrita, e as ilustrações são muito divertidas. Mas a história parece inacabada, ou sem resolução, viato que ficamos sem saber como é que o lobo resolveu o problema de não ter dinheiro e ter muita fome... Pelo menos, não comeu os coitados dos porcos bailarinos.
October 13, 2018
The drawings- A+
The Puns- A+
The Story- A+
but seriously, I want to open a "New Hamsterdam Theatre" and just have it be a live-cam of a hamster cage.
The Puns- A+
The Story- A+
but seriously, I want to open a "New Hamsterdam Theatre" and just have it be a live-cam of a hamster cage.
March 29, 2019
I honestly think this child's book shows how ballet or, any kind of dance really, can change someone's perspective.
February 20, 2020
3.5 stars
March 30, 2020
I loooooove twisted fairy tales, hehe!
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April 14, 2022What made me think of this book today? Not really sure, but it was hilarious.
April 3, 2023
So fun. The story felt fresh in the way only old books can. Got to read it aloud with funny voices. Highly recommend doing so! Such a laugh.
April 15, 2024
Adoro maurice sendak um génio
October 23, 2024
Cute story about a hungry wolf who goes inside a theatre to watch a swine performance with the goal of having pig for dinner and becomes mesmerized.
June 15, 2025
I enjoyed it more than I expected. A celebration of the arts!
October 5, 2025
Great book! Creative idea for a story, and who doesn’t love Maurice Sendak’s artwork? I will say, though, that this felt unfinished? My son grabbed it out of my hands because he thought I’d skipped something when I stopped reading. 😄
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews