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The Old Woman and Her Pig: An Appalachian Folktale

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Remember the one about the old woman trying to coax her pig to cross a stile?
Storyteller and folklore expert MacDonald offers a bright new interpretation of this old favorite Appalachian story. Her sprightly, rhythmic text retains what's best about the traditional tale while adding original elements to please a contemporary audience.
You know the plot already: the old woman goes to market and buys a fine pig, but heading home, she can't get piggie to cross the stile (updated to a wooden bridge over a river in this version). She begs for help from passers-by and even natural elements in a cumulative plea that grows progressively more outlandish.
MacDonald's jaunty retelling offers a pair of contrasting refrains children will quickly learn to chant. At the outset, the old woman's happy song exults, "Goin' to town, gonna buy a little pig. Jig jog jig jog jiggety-jig!" Caught on the wrong side of the river, the hapless woman sadly sings to herself, "I can't get to my little boy tonight. It's almost dark . . . but the moon does shine." For storytellers who'd like to sing the refrains, the songs are included in an author's note at the end of the book.
Folksy, colorful paintings exaggerate the story's humor and enhance the emotions in the expressions of each character. Particularly pleasing is the stubborn pig's smug smile on the page where rat and dog defy the homeward-bound woman.
New to the story is a charming cat who resolves the impass at the bridge through cooperation rather than the violence of the original. This cheerful alteration is so smoothly integrated into the narrative that children unfamiliar with the folktale will accept it as natural, and those who know the earlier version will find this ending even more satisfying.