U – Under a Pig Tree

Under a Pig Tree: A History of the Noble Fruit written by Margie Palatini and illustrated by Chuck Groenink (2015)

Hilarious mix-up of text and illustrations when the illustrator thought the story about figs was about pigs. The author tells some very interesting facts about figs, but since all the illustrations were about pigs, the publisher decided to just change one letter so that everything makes sense. Of course this infuriates the author, who lashes out with her own notes written in the margins. And who can blame her. After all, she did not set out tell a story about pigs. And no, pigs were not presented to the winners of the first Olympics in 776 BC, nor were they given to Cleopatra in the basket with the famous asp back in 30 BC. And no, the author does not keep pigs in her pantry. The recipes she shares at the end of the book might go either way, but I would recommend using figs in place of pigs.

This combination of fact and fiction is superbly done! It’s so much fun to read, I’m sure many people (me included) wouldn’t even realize that they’ve been taught a thing or two about pigs, I mean figs! I meant to say figs… really!

Read it once, read it twice, read it every night if you like. Just be sure you read it they way it was written, unless of course you want to read it the way it was meant to be written.

If you love pigs…

Use hearts to show your love!

Or make yourself a piggy snout using egg carton holders and some elastic cord or ribbon.

But if you love figs…

First try one of the recipes at the end of the book.

Or give one of these a taste.

Fig Jam 

Italian Fig Cookies