Hogwood Steps Out: A Good, Good Pig Story [Hardcover]

Howard Mansfield (Author), Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

THE GOOD, GOOD PIG GETS HIS OWN PICTURE BOOK, PERFECT FOR YOUNG READERS.

Christopher Hogwood is definitely a pig with personality! He’s bright, curious, and has just a slight infatuation with rich, inviting mud. Hogwood Steps Out is Howard Mansfield’s fictionalized account of his own pig’s behavior on a fine spring day, a pig made famous in his wife Sy Montgomery’s book, The Good Good Pig. Barry Moser’s luminescent paintings give Hogwood a personality that is all his own, allowing him to remind us to notice all the little wonderful things that surround us every day.

Hogwood Steps Out is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—Mansfield has written a short, loving reminiscence of Christopher Hogwood, a well-loved pig adopted and raised by him and his wife, naturalist writer Sy Montgomery. The Good, Good Pig (Ballantine, 2006) details their life with Christopher from a tiny runt carried home in a shoebox to the huge (700-plus pounds) hog whose loving personality deeply touched their lives and the lives of their hens, their neighbors, friends, and even strangers. In this story, the huge hog lets himself out of his comfortable pen and goes on a spring jaunt, enjoying some lettuce in a neighbor's garden; rooting a winding trench through a lovely green lawn with his flat nose; then scaring away the backhoe operator with his congratulatory bellowing. Finally, bribed with an apple, he allows the town policeman to lead him home. Moser's realistic double-page watercolors introduce youngsters to an endearing, bright-eyed pig whose obvious enjoyment of the small pleasures of life in his rural village is contagious and childlike in its naïveté and sincerity-possibly the reason that Moser has placed himself in the role of policeman. Mansfield's story provides insight into realistic porcine character and behavior in a most enjoyable format.—Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
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From Booklist

Christopher Hogwood, the 600-pound, black-and-white pig featured in Sy Montgomery’s memoir for adults, The Good Good Pig (2006), makes his picture-book debut as a personable narrator. The text is short and appealing. After spending the winter in a cozy barn snuggling with the other barnyard animals, Hogwood is itching to get out and wallow in some good mud. Unfastening the gate is no challenge for him, so off he goes to a garden with fresh lettuce, only to be run off by the angry gardener. Next he tears up a lawn and gets chased off. Finally, he’s apprehended by a policeman. Back, cozily asleep in the barn, Hogwood dreams of the next crops that he’ll raid, expressing the sentiment, “God bless gardeners.” Completing the appealing package are bold, full-page, realistic watercolors featuring handsome Hogwood, usually front and center, in a lush setting. Children will cheer for the unruly, unrepentant Hogwood. Grades K-2. --Randall Enos

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; First Edition edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432691
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432697
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hogwood Sure Does Step Out!, May 4, 2008

By 

Vicki Stiefel "Tally Whyte creator" (Hancock, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hogwood Steps Out: A Good, Good Pig Story (Hardcover)

What a marvelous, delightful and wry book. Okay, I admit I'm an adult, but I'm definitely a child at heart, and, boy, did I love this book. Christopher's substantial presence roams through each page of this pig-centric piece. Told from Christopher Hogwood's mighty perspective, the book is simple and clear, yet enormously funny. After all, Christopher was a very special pig. FYI - Christopher Hogwood was a real pig who lived many of this fictional Hogwood's adventures. The illustrations are superb and bring Christopher to majestic life. I can't recommend this book enough for kids and adults alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mischievous Pig, January 17, 2011

By 

Spudman (Pasadena, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hogwood Steps Out: A Good, Good Pig Story (Hardcover)

Having read Sy Montgomery's Good Good Pig, I thought Hogwood Steps Out would be a good follow up and satisfy my appetite for more things Hogwood. The artwork by Barry Moser is absolutely fabulous, especially the expressions on Hogwood's face. I especially like the portrayals of the smiling, blissful Hogwood, but my favorite is that of the tolerant, unconcerned Hogwood watching the crazy human coming after his 600 pound self with a broom.

The story is told in the first person, a device that probably works well for a read aloud story. Kids should also get a kick out of Hogwood eating the gardener's lettuce and digging up the woman's lawn. Seeing the backhoe operator run for the hills is also a funny moment. Although seeing Hogwood snuggle with cats and hens is endearing, I would have liked to have seen at least one page showing him enjoying getting his belly rubbed by his loving "feeder."

I like that the writer uses a reasonable vocabulary bank for his young readers. Too many writers for children lose track of verbal limitations of their audience.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unfettered Porcine Bliss, November 19, 2008

By 

S. L. Bickford (Culver City, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hogwood Steps Out: A Good, Good Pig Story (Hardcover)

Have you ever felt the pull of warm sun and a mild day just as spring is begining to dress the earth in damp greenness after a long winter? Hogwood certainly does. As he meanders about his neighborhood investigating gardens and lawns to the consternation of the owners, Hogwood lets us in on the only perspective he has...a pig perspective. 600 lbs of porcine centricness delighting in the bounty of his world. In this joyful homage to a pig he knew personally, Mansfield's words convey Hogwood's lack of concern about how the humans think the world should proceed while he still appreciates their skill in making his world a better place for him. Anyone who has been cooped up in the house for a long time will recognize Hogwood's pleasure in his first outing of the season. With rich illustrations and simple pig prose, this is lovely book. I, for one, hope Hogwood has more adventures beyond his barn.