View source for Ping Pong Pig by Caroline Jayne Church

{{infobox2 
|title= Ping Pong Pig
|author= Caroline Jayne Church
|reviewer= Jo Heffer
|genre=For Sharing 
|summary= Most of the time all of the animals on the farm get on very well but they are all becoming a little fed up with Ping Pong Pig. He is so busy trying to fly that he gets in everyone's way and destroys the farm in the process. One day the animals come up with a plan to get Ping Pong Pig out of their way and, who knows, it may even help him to fly as well!
|rating=4 
|buy= Yes
|borrow= Yes
|pages=32 
|publisher= Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
|date= July 2008
|isbn=978-1847382085 
|aznuk=1847382088
|aznus=1847382088
|cover=1847382088
}}

Just by looking at the front cover with its wonderfully alliterative title and a mischievous looking pink pig hurtling through the air, you can tell that this is a story that young children will really enjoy.

Ping Pong Pig lives on a farm and is very keen to find out if he can fly. Unfortunately, through all his attempts, he gets in the way of all the other hard working farm animals and causes mayhem in the process. He knocks all the apples off the apple tree, smears all the new paint on the barn, allows the bees to escape from their hives and knocks over all the hay.

Eventually, all the animals have had enough so they build Ping Pong Pig a trampoline and put it on the far side of the farmyard so he can't get in anyone's way. He has a great time jumping but soon realises that he can put his trampoline to good use and help do some of the jobs like picking apples or stacking hay. Once he starts doing this he actually discovers that he rather likes helping. Unfortunately though, he still has that burning desire to fly and right at the end of the story, much to my daughters' amusement, he climbs the apple tree, leaps off onto the trampoline, catapults over the farmhouse and ends up in the pond! Therefore, at the end of the story, rather than a flying pig we have flying fish!

This is essentially a simple story with a lovely sense of humour that is very likely to appeal to young children. The story is spread out over about twenty pages with only a small amount of text on each page but with some lovely illustrations that also help to tell the story. These pictures are clear and colourful but are not so detailed that they distract from the story. There are some wonderfully funny pictures showing all the trouble that Ping Pong Pig wreaks on the farm. Both my daughters really enjoyed looking at all the lovely pictures and using these to help them retell the story.

The language used in the story is very simple and straightforward which makes it very accessible for all ages. I think that the storyline really appealed to my three year old whereas my five year old enjoyed attempting to read some of the words. The repetition of ''Ping Pong Pig'' was particularly helpful to her and she seemed to look forward with relish to being able to read these words.

Both my daughters found this story both enjoyable and amusing. As a parent, I liked the fact that when Ping Pong Pig started helping the other animals with the work he actually enjoyed doing so. I think there's a subtle message for all children here especially those who are a little reluctant to help tidy up!

Overall, this is a very entertaining read which is likely to appeal to most small children. If they enjoy this book, they may also want to read [[ROAR! by Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe]].

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.  We also have a review of [[Ruff and the Wonderfully Amazing Busy Day by Caroline Jayne Church]].

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