The Story of Cherry the Pig [Hardcover]

Utako Yamada (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007 | Age Level: 3 and up

Cherry the pig is happy and content, baking and eating desserts every afternoon. (She is, after all, a pig.) Then one day, she hears a family of mice talking about her incredible apple cake. Her apple cake is pretty incredible, so Cherry enters the bake-off at the local Harvest Festival. The rest, as they say, is (sweet) history..

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2—Cherry the pig bakes desserts so delicious that a family of mice proclaims her apple cake to be "incredible." Buoyed by their compliment, she enters a village bake-off only to discover that they meant her cake was incredibly awful. Despairing, she is surprised when she wins the contest, until she learns that the mice like things that are salty and cheesy, not fruity and sweet. She opens a bakery and as a treat for the mice—who, mistakenly or not, have set her on a happy career path—bakes them their favorite biscuits. The only nod to the book's origin is the note to the mice on the last page, written in Japanese. Otherwise, this sweet story, illustrated in shades of yellow and pink and presented on heavy stock, feels like a slice of 1950s Americana. Not a necessary purchase, but a pleasant selection that children will enjoy.—Susan Moorhead, New Rochelle Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The cherry red, green, and yellow cover featuring a smiling pig invites children into a story that is sweet, both literally and figuratively. Cherry loves to bake, and her apple cake is incredible--at least that's what she thinks she hears a family of mice say. With that encouragement, she decides to enter the Harvest Festival. Then she hears the mice finish what they were about to say before she ran them off: her cake is incredibly awful. Cherry is crushed until the judging, when she learns she has won first place. Then she sees what the mice are devouring--hard, salty biscuits--and realizes why the mice rendered the opinion they did. Although this is a Japanese import, the artwork has the feel of a 1950s picture book both in terms of colors and style--a little Bemelmans, a little Duvoisin, and Yamada nicely mixes up the happy frenzy of an outdoor festival with moments of Cherry alone to give the book balance. And even though the denouement seems somewhat forced, this book is still a tasty treat. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Pub (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933605251
• ISBN-13: 978-1933605258
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #881,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cherry makes an apple cake, February 18, 2007

By 

Karen Woodworth Roman "Happy Librarian" (DeKalb, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story of Cherry the Pig (Hardcover)

Utako Yamada's retro style makes this story originally published in Japan in 2002 seem much older. All the colors are orange and yellow and green and brown. They remind me of stories from the 1950s.

Cherry loves to make and eat desserts. One day she makes an incredible apple cake and decides to enter it in a contest. It's a simple tale that makes one wish the recipe was included.

When this book was read to my almost four year old nephew, at the end he pleaded, "read it again". Karen Woodworth-Roman, Librarian, Editor East Asian Children's Books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweetest book, March 25, 2010

By 

NEM (Warwick, RI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of Cherry the Pig (Hardcover)

My 4 year old daughter picks it every night. She shares Cherry sensitivity and love of food. A thoughtful, beautiful book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Kids Book With a Good Lesson, February 3, 2009

By 

poxbox "poxbox" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story of Cherry the Pig (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book which teaches kids an important lesson. That not everyone's perceptions of things are the same. The book teaches understanding, and keeping an open mind to how other think. In fact... the book teaches this difficult concept in the most simplistic of terms that even a kid can understand it. In some cases an adult may need to talk to the kids about the message before they get it but this book allows you to have the dialog. Such a wonderful message for kids too.

Cherry the pig is sad when she hears the mice think her food is incredibly awful. Until she learns that the mice like a certain kind of hard cheesy biscuit. So of course her delicious pie wouldn't appeal to them.