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Babe and Other Pig Tales
by Dick King-Smith

I got interested in Dick King-Smith after seeing the movie, Babe. Unfortunately, at that time, I could not locate his books in the local library (borrowed out). But that changed recently when I spotted Babe and Other Pig Tales which I grabbed. Well, I can safely saw that the movie did preserve many of the major elements of the story: an innocent young pig who, by seeing the world through different eyes, changes the way things are done.

This book is made up of three stories. The first, "Babe," is the one that was the basis of the movie. In this story, a little piglet, known as Babe, is won by Farmer Hogget and bought on to the farm. Babe is adopted by Fly, the farmer's sheep dog and gradually begins to pick up un-pig-like behavior like trying to herd ducks and chickens. Farmer Hogget notices this and lets Babe herd his sheep with amazing results.

In the past, the sheep were insulted and intimidated by Fly as she rounds them up. So when a 'nice little pig' comes up and asks them politely to herd, they were more than happy to do so. It was then that Farmer Hogget hatches a plan to put Babe into the Sheep Dog Competition with amazing results.

The second story, "Daggie Dogfoot," is about another piglet born with what at first looks like a deformity; his front paws are not pig-like but resemble dog paws, hence his name. But those paws will turn out to have a use that will allow Daggie to become a hero. Who knows; perhaps even you may believe a pig can fly.

The third story, "Ace," is set on another farm and involves a piglet that may be descended from Babe. In all the stories, the animals understand each other but cannot understand humans and vise versa. But this particular piglet apparently can understand what humans are saying. This leads its owner to give it liberties like roaming about his farm and in his house. This leads to a series of adventures that eventually will make Ace a national phenomenon.

All three stories involve different pigs but that have a common theme; an unusual pig with unusual abilities that by looking at the world in a different manner, changes the lives of those around him, animal or human. They are entertaining and enjoyable to read.

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Babe and Other Pig Tales by Dick King-Smith

Babe and Other Pig Tales
by Dick King-Smith