Customer Reviews

Henrietta

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4 star:		(1)
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Henrietta is an endearing story of a young pig who wants an education very badly. She specifically wants to study law at a good institution. In her pursuit of learning, she attempts to use libraries and tries to attend lectures, but is often thrown out of those places of discovery because, after all, she is just a pig. This is a new look at prejudice!

This story is presented as a story for children and I really liked the fact that the vocabulary chosen by David Mamet is not the usual fare. Some of the words will need an explanation which adds another dimension to the book. The little fable is greatly enhanced by the illustrations of Elizabeth Dahlie who makes Henrietta real and shows how she looks in good times and in bad. One drawing in particular made me laugh out loud and the image has remained in my mind. The book has general appeal and could even be a "coffee table" book.

Henrietta is a good example of the saying, "don't judge a book by it's cover", because I think this book is an adult book in a children's storybook format. The story of Henrietta is about an intelligent pig who lives in Cape Cod and dreams of becoming a lawyer and going through college at Harvard Law School. When she finally becomes old enough to go to college, she is rejected simply because of the fact that she is a pig. Time passes, and Henrietta is found wandering around the city with nowhere to go. She has been unable to find lodging, and has been forced to sleep on the streets. One day, Henrietta was wandering about the city as usual, when she found an old man searching for his glasses under a park bench. Henrietta decided to help the poor man find his glasses. Even though the glasses remained unfound, the man thanked Henrietta for her kindness and took her to his house. I will not say the rest because it will spoil the ending. I thought that this book was very unique and that, as I said before, this book is an adult's book in a storybook format. I liked the fact that this book is more like an adult's book because some children's books, in my opinion, can be slightly irritating. I really enjoyed the moral (or what I think the moral is). The moral that I perceived was: believe in yourself. This moral is shown when Henrietta tries to enter Harvard. I think that people should read this book and see for themselves that this is much more than a children's book.

How can you not be appealed when you read a literate children's book from a man who's works are very testosterone-laden and profanity filled? But his gift fills the pages with a story of a pig who overcomes adversity and discrimination to become a lawyer. I buy this gift for friends who are in law school to put smiles on their faces.