Story Time Tuesdays: Pig the Pug

We miss our weekly story time at the library! But since we can't welcome you all to the library this Tuesday morning, we're bringing a little bit of story time to you at home. Each week, we feature an author, series, topic, or book we love and want to share with all our young readers at home. Click here to see our past Story Time Tuesdays!

This week is all about a lovable bad example named Pig the Pug!

Aaron Blabey's rude canine creation is always getting into trouble...and it's usually all this fault! Sometimes he's lazy, or mischievous, or a bit of a bully, and his poor friend Trevor the dachshund always takes the brunt of Pig's bad behavior. So what's so good about a book serious with such a villain for a main character? Well, even though Pig doesn't always learn his lesson, the resulting stories are perfect examples to readers of all ages why Pig's behavior is wrong and why they definitely shouldn't do what Pig does! In the end, kids get lessons in manners, friendship, truthfulness, self-confidence, and more, all from a terrible pug and his very nice friends.

Here are some of our favorite Pig books for storytime:

Pig the Pug 
Pig's first story introduces a selfish pug who has to learn to share his toys with Trevor the dachshund.

Pig the Tourist
Pig goes on vacation! But his rudeness causes plenty of trouble all around the globe. 

Pig the Star

Pig's the star a photo shoot! But when Trevor starts getting all the attention, Pig needs to steal the show. 

Pig's stories are chock full of humor, mostly at Pig's expense, and as Scholastic notes in this article, humor is always a good way to get kids interested in reading! Yes, of course Pig is very silly. But laughing at Pig does two awesome things: it teaches them simple, important lessons, and leaves them looking for more silly stories to enjoy. These picture books are also written in a perfect story time read-along rhyme, with bold, hilarious illustrations that really entice young readers (and library ladies) to keep the pages turning. 

More from Aaron Blabey 

Before Pig the Pug made his debut, his creator was already working on The Bad Guys, a graphic novel series for "chapter book" or early middle grade readers! These books use both his bold, unique art style, signature humor, and the cartoon-narrative that's become so popular with young graphic novel fans. His website also offers an interactive video game based on The Bad Guys series and characters. 

And, of course, one of Miss Marlene's very favorite story time books is Blabey's Thelma the Unicorn! A silly, rhyming, lovely story about a horse who wishes she were a unicorn and as her wish come true...only to learn that being yourself is way better than pretending to be something you're not. 

Don't forget to check out Pig the Pug's series website (via Scholastic) for fun activities, games, and coloring sheets related to all of Aaron Blabey's works! You can find them all here.