The Sheep Pig
New York: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1983. First Edition. Preceding the 1985 American edition retitled Babe, the Gallant Pig, 8vo, pp. 118. Blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, corners and spine tips a bit rubbed, page edges with some light spotting, book plate to the front free endpaper, near fine in the illustrated dust jacket, edges lightly rubbed and pushed, near fine. Item #1389
Winner of the 1984 Guardian Children's Fiction Award, The Sheep Pig draws on King-Smith's own experience as a farmer to create a work that balances authentic agricultural detail with a quietly subversive challenge to predetermined social roles. The story of a pig who learns to herd sheep functions as an accessible allegory for class mobility and the refusal of prescribed limitations, told in prose that respects young readers' intelligence without condescending to it. The 1995 film adaptation, directed by Chris Noonan and produced by George Miller, won the Golden Globe for Best Picture and remains one of the most accomplished children's films ever made. You should read this because the best children's literature tells the truth about the world, and here it is, done with uncommon grace.
Price: $500.00