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Freddy the Pig #4
The Story of Freginald
His extraordinary adventures with other animals-including Leo the lion and Freddy the pig-involve a stirring battle, a weird mystery successfully solved by careful deduction, and some very comical misunderstandings between the bear and an elephant, and between a lion and a mouse. Fans and initiates, alike, will rejoice!
Illustrated by Kurt Wiese.
Illustrated by Kurt Wiese.
220 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1936
About the author
Walter Rollin Brooks
70 books68 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 10, 2024
Taking over a month to finish a simple children’s book says it all. It started strong, but I lost interest about halfway through.
I started the Freddy series after remembering how much I loved them as a kid. However, I had never read The Story of Freginald (a bear who writes poetry and joins the circus). We don’t meet Freddy until about 70% of the way in, and I guess I just missed all the familiar characters. Brooks’ writing had the same charm, but this one wasn’t my favorite.
I started the Freddy series after remembering how much I loved them as a kid. However, I had never read The Story of Freginald (a bear who writes poetry and joins the circus). We don’t meet Freddy until about 70% of the way in, and I guess I just missed all the familiar characters. Brooks’ writing had the same charm, but this one wasn’t my favorite.
November 14, 2019
Freddy doesn't show up until 70% of the book is over, so if you're hoping for a Freddy book, lower your expectations. The book is pretty good, though, and the central mystery was sufficiently cryptic to intrigue my seven year old.
Freginald starts the story as a boy named Louise who is teased for having a girl's name; woke modern readers might be driven to hysterical rage.
A few chapters deal with a farm full of animals who are unaware that the Civil War is over, and they claim to belong to the Confederacy. When they hear that some of the circus animals come from Africa, a farm animal remarks, "We used to have slaves that came from Africa, too." Slavery isn't presented as good or bad, just as something that happened once.
Also, getting your hair permed is a central plot point, so be prepared to explain what that is.
Freginald starts the story as a boy named Louise who is teased for having a girl's name; woke modern readers might be driven to hysterical rage.
A few chapters deal with a farm full of animals who are unaware that the Civil War is over, and they claim to belong to the Confederacy. When they hear that some of the circus animals come from Africa, a farm animal remarks, "We used to have slaves that came from Africa, too." Slavery isn't presented as good or bad, just as something that happened once.
Also, getting your hair permed is a central plot point, so be prepared to explain what that is.
August 27, 2022
Who’s a Sissy? OR Too Much Circus, Not Enough Plot, Depth, or Freddy
Rather than the usual protean porcine protagonist, the fourth book in Walter S. Brooks twenty-six book Freddy the Pig series, The Story of Freginald (1936), centers on a young male bear called (at first) Louise. Louise’s father wanted to call him Fred and his mother Reginald, but his grandfather, thinking he was a girl, named him Louise. The girl’s name ostracizes Louise from his fellow bears (“We don’t want to play with girls!”) and leads him to become a natural poet, composing poems to deal with his loneliness. Early in the story, Leo the lion recruits Louise to join Mr. Boomschmidt's Colossal and Unparalleled Circus, because they need animals with unusual abilities to satisfy their audiences, and a bear called Louise is unique. And when Mr. Boomschmidt discovers (and exploits) the bear’s poetic talents, the circus enters a new era of success. The only problem is that a young girl elephant also called Louise and the bear dislike each other, because the other animals like to call “Louise!” and watch both animals come running. Eventually, the bear changes his name to Freginald, joining the two names his parents wanted to give him.
The novel is episodic, a series of exciting and comical adventures leading to a big climax and a satisfying resolution. Freginald recruits a cantankerous mouse to perform as an expert diver; Freginald and Leo are captured by a band of wild southern plantation domesticated animals still fighting the Civil War; a boy shoots at Fregninald and Leo (it’s America after all); Freginald has trouble with a tall, dark man with a long, black mustache; a rival circus tries to drive Mr. Boomschmidt out of business; Freginald enlists Freddy as a detective; etc.
In addition to the circus competition, there is a fair amount of American capitalism here, grounding the whimsy in details like circus tickets costing twenty-five cents, photographs of Freginald selling for ten cents, mistreated animals going on strike, better work being found for them with a contractor, and so on. Brooks finishes the book by saying that if we tell Freginald we know the author, we’ll get a free pass to see Mr. Boomschmidt’s circus.
Like other Freddy books, there is much humor here. There’s a cute scene where Freginald tries to convince Leo that it’s impossible to jump on one’s shadow: “But you never get anywhere arguing with a lion.” And there’s a funny moment where Freginald receives a cryptic message from Freddy, because his typewriter is missing the n, i, and y keys, so he substitutes m, w, and j for them. There’s slapstick humor like with Jerry the rhino, who’s so near-sighted that when you want him to charge something, you’d better point him in the right direction. There are exaggerated character traits, like “it would have been pretty hard to tell whether Mr. Boomschmidt was awake and singing or asleep and snoring.”
Much of Brooks’ whimsical humor derives from humanizing his animals (who speak English with other animals and people and have human names) while retaining some of their natural traits (Freginald tries but can’t stay awake in winter and finally hibernates in his circus wagon till April). Brooks’ narrator provides quirky facts about animals like, “It is no use trying to explain to an ostrich, though few people realize it. It isn’t because they are really stupid, but they are so vain they won’t listen.”
Throughout the book, Brooks dispenses dollops of wisdom. A man explains that clowns paint their faces “Because there ain’t anybody can tell the same jokes over twice a day, week after week, year after year, and not get pretty sour.” Louise gives Freginald some writing advice (that Brooks himself follows): “Louise noticed that when she used ordinary language she said much more interesting things. He tried it with his poems, and he found that the simpler they were, the better people liked them.” Fregninald also learns “that suspicious people are the easiest to fool.”
The monochrome illustrations by Kurt Weise enhance the charm of the book. His animals are far from Disney, being realistic rather than cartoonish. As a result, the anthropomorphisizing of Brooks’ text forms a pleasing mismatch with the art. At the same time, the pictures have as much whimsy as the stories, and are funny and apt.
The humor in the book concerning masculinity and femininity becomes a theme: be yourself and don't worry what other people think. Freginald doesn’t mind being Louise, while Leo doesn’t feel his masculinity compromised by getting his mane permanented into beautiful long curls. However, the message gets mixed. Later when Freginald visits his home, another bear continues calling him Louise, so he forces a confrontation by calling him Mabel, while Leo strikes a leopard who laughs at his beauty-parlored mane. Leo says to Freginald, “Sure, Fredg, have a manicure,” only to have a squirrel mock the bear, “Shiny-toes! Sissy-toes!” Leo is a brave, intelligent lion—the right paw of Mr. Boomschmidt—who permanents his mane and manicures his claws, but the few female characters in the story are mostly made fun of.
Like other Freddy books, apart from the animals, this one is white. Only one character of color plays even a minor role, a scary Native American called Pedro who has no lines, when most characters talk a lot. The book has offensive touches dating it to the 1930s. Once, Leo says, “We tried dressing up the monkeys in fancy costumes and advertising them as members of the wild African tribe of the Bwango-Bwango, but the people saw through the disguise.” Elsewhere, Freginald convinces a “dull and dowdy” wren that if he made a nest from Leo’s gold hair, his children would be “much brighter colored,” which would give them social advantages: “It’s no good being bright inside if you aren’t bright outside.”
The kindle version has typos: misspellings (e.g., Shakspere, coud) weird punctuation (“the ceremony was very. impressive”), random letters (e.g., “wilder and more ferocious I than any wild animals can possibly be”). It’s a pity, because Brooks’ straightforward American prose is clean, unadorned, and fun. At times it waxes almost beautiful: “The countryside was so wide and mysterious under the stars, and the woods through which they passed were so deep and black and yet friendly, too.”
Mr. Boomschmidt’s circus appears in several other Freddy the Pig books. It adds humor to the novels (owner and animals being idiosyncratic and amusing), as well as enhances the themes on the humane treatment of animals initiated by Mr. Bean’s farm where Freddy lives. However, a little circus goes a long way, and The Story of Freginald is less charming, funny, and focused than the best of the Freddy books, so readers new to the series should start with the third, Freddy the Detective.
Rather than the usual protean porcine protagonist, the fourth book in Walter S. Brooks twenty-six book Freddy the Pig series, The Story of Freginald (1936), centers on a young male bear called (at first) Louise. Louise’s father wanted to call him Fred and his mother Reginald, but his grandfather, thinking he was a girl, named him Louise. The girl’s name ostracizes Louise from his fellow bears (“We don’t want to play with girls!”) and leads him to become a natural poet, composing poems to deal with his loneliness. Early in the story, Leo the lion recruits Louise to join Mr. Boomschmidt's Colossal and Unparalleled Circus, because they need animals with unusual abilities to satisfy their audiences, and a bear called Louise is unique. And when Mr. Boomschmidt discovers (and exploits) the bear’s poetic talents, the circus enters a new era of success. The only problem is that a young girl elephant also called Louise and the bear dislike each other, because the other animals like to call “Louise!” and watch both animals come running. Eventually, the bear changes his name to Freginald, joining the two names his parents wanted to give him.
The novel is episodic, a series of exciting and comical adventures leading to a big climax and a satisfying resolution. Freginald recruits a cantankerous mouse to perform as an expert diver; Freginald and Leo are captured by a band of wild southern plantation domesticated animals still fighting the Civil War; a boy shoots at Fregninald and Leo (it’s America after all); Freginald has trouble with a tall, dark man with a long, black mustache; a rival circus tries to drive Mr. Boomschmidt out of business; Freginald enlists Freddy as a detective; etc.
In addition to the circus competition, there is a fair amount of American capitalism here, grounding the whimsy in details like circus tickets costing twenty-five cents, photographs of Freginald selling for ten cents, mistreated animals going on strike, better work being found for them with a contractor, and so on. Brooks finishes the book by saying that if we tell Freginald we know the author, we’ll get a free pass to see Mr. Boomschmidt’s circus.
Like other Freddy books, there is much humor here. There’s a cute scene where Freginald tries to convince Leo that it’s impossible to jump on one’s shadow: “But you never get anywhere arguing with a lion.” And there’s a funny moment where Freginald receives a cryptic message from Freddy, because his typewriter is missing the n, i, and y keys, so he substitutes m, w, and j for them. There’s slapstick humor like with Jerry the rhino, who’s so near-sighted that when you want him to charge something, you’d better point him in the right direction. There are exaggerated character traits, like “it would have been pretty hard to tell whether Mr. Boomschmidt was awake and singing or asleep and snoring.”
Much of Brooks’ whimsical humor derives from humanizing his animals (who speak English with other animals and people and have human names) while retaining some of their natural traits (Freginald tries but can’t stay awake in winter and finally hibernates in his circus wagon till April). Brooks’ narrator provides quirky facts about animals like, “It is no use trying to explain to an ostrich, though few people realize it. It isn’t because they are really stupid, but they are so vain they won’t listen.”
Throughout the book, Brooks dispenses dollops of wisdom. A man explains that clowns paint their faces “Because there ain’t anybody can tell the same jokes over twice a day, week after week, year after year, and not get pretty sour.” Louise gives Freginald some writing advice (that Brooks himself follows): “Louise noticed that when she used ordinary language she said much more interesting things. He tried it with his poems, and he found that the simpler they were, the better people liked them.” Fregninald also learns “that suspicious people are the easiest to fool.”
The monochrome illustrations by Kurt Weise enhance the charm of the book. His animals are far from Disney, being realistic rather than cartoonish. As a result, the anthropomorphisizing of Brooks’ text forms a pleasing mismatch with the art. At the same time, the pictures have as much whimsy as the stories, and are funny and apt.
The humor in the book concerning masculinity and femininity becomes a theme: be yourself and don't worry what other people think. Freginald doesn’t mind being Louise, while Leo doesn’t feel his masculinity compromised by getting his mane permanented into beautiful long curls. However, the message gets mixed. Later when Freginald visits his home, another bear continues calling him Louise, so he forces a confrontation by calling him Mabel, while Leo strikes a leopard who laughs at his beauty-parlored mane. Leo says to Freginald, “Sure, Fredg, have a manicure,” only to have a squirrel mock the bear, “Shiny-toes! Sissy-toes!” Leo is a brave, intelligent lion—the right paw of Mr. Boomschmidt—who permanents his mane and manicures his claws, but the few female characters in the story are mostly made fun of.
Like other Freddy books, apart from the animals, this one is white. Only one character of color plays even a minor role, a scary Native American called Pedro who has no lines, when most characters talk a lot. The book has offensive touches dating it to the 1930s. Once, Leo says, “We tried dressing up the monkeys in fancy costumes and advertising them as members of the wild African tribe of the Bwango-Bwango, but the people saw through the disguise.” Elsewhere, Freginald convinces a “dull and dowdy” wren that if he made a nest from Leo’s gold hair, his children would be “much brighter colored,” which would give them social advantages: “It’s no good being bright inside if you aren’t bright outside.”
The kindle version has typos: misspellings (e.g., Shakspere, coud) weird punctuation (“the ceremony was very. impressive”), random letters (e.g., “wilder and more ferocious I than any wild animals can possibly be”). It’s a pity, because Brooks’ straightforward American prose is clean, unadorned, and fun. At times it waxes almost beautiful: “The countryside was so wide and mysterious under the stars, and the woods through which they passed were so deep and black and yet friendly, too.”
Mr. Boomschmidt’s circus appears in several other Freddy the Pig books. It adds humor to the novels (owner and animals being idiosyncratic and amusing), as well as enhances the themes on the humane treatment of animals initiated by Mr. Bean’s farm where Freddy lives. However, a little circus goes a long way, and The Story of Freginald is less charming, funny, and focused than the best of the Freddy books, so readers new to the series should start with the third, Freddy the Detective.
May 5, 2016
The Story of Freginald is the fourth in the Feddy the Pig series by Walter Rollin Brooks. Freddy, however, plays a very minor role in the story. Instead, the star of the show is a young bear, Freginald, who sets out on his own to join a traveling circus. I think Mr. Boomschmidt, the circus owner, and Leo really steal the show, though. I loved seeing our introduction to Mr. Boomschmidt, who makes appearances in later books. His is always a fun character as is his leading lion, Leo.
November 5, 2015
This was the first book in the series so far where I felt a wee bit let-down.
I liked Freginald well enough, but he took some of the focus away from the "primary" characters.
Still, a solid 3.5 read for me (rounded up to 4 for nostalgia's sake.
I liked Freginald well enough, but he took some of the focus away from the "primary" characters.
Still, a solid 3.5 read for me (rounded up to 4 for nostalgia's sake.
September 18, 2023
Despite the whole small town, farm animal POV, written in the 1930s thing, the Freddy books are off the hook satire that reminds me of Discworld more than anything. This whole business is folksily taking on capitalism, the carceral state, cisnormativity, the Rotary club, environmental destruction of bear habitat, you name it. I used to think Walter R Brooks didn't write Animal Farm in the first book, "Freddy Goes To Florida," because he was too optimistic and naive about labor and class struggle. Now I fully believe he absolutely could have written Animal Farm, he just chose not to because he preferred to write jokes.
April 25, 2018
Very pleasing!
August 23, 2021
Though this one does not feature Freddy much, it's still a pleasure to read these books to the kids.
3.5 star, but since the characters and writing is so delightful I'm rounding up.
3.5 star, but since the characters and writing is so delightful I'm rounding up.
November 6, 2022
Brooks branching out a little, but basically more of the same. Introduction of Mr. Boomschmidt!
October 29, 2023
These circus Friends of Freddy were just as charming and humorous!
July 20, 2024
Very creative story for young readers. While some things about this story are a little outdated, I think today's children would enjoy this title.
July 1, 2008
This is a fun read aloud with new readers. It's filled with funny stories, silly words and stuff to get imaginations and love of books fired up. My 7 year old has been caught sneaking to read ahead with this book it was so fun!
November 10, 2016
I like it because It is about a bear and a pig. The bear is in a circus. The owner of the circus is getting broke because someone named Hackenmeyer is following the circus with his own performing animals and spoiling his show.
October 4, 2011
Read with Blake; some very funny bits!
March 3, 2016
This is a great story of a circus run by a friend of Freddy's - Mr. Boomschmidt. A favorite line is from the marching song which has a refrain of "Boomschmidt, Boomschmidt, Boom, Boom, Boom!"
December 31, 2016
i liked it
January 4, 2017
i liked it
January 27, 2013
Very little Freddy in this book, but still a fun read.
March 11, 2016
It's too far removed from the core characters for me.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews