A Day No Pigs Would Die is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Robert Newton Peck. Robert Peck is a young boy about twelve or thirteen and is skipping school to play in the forest just beyond his home when he finds himself in a spot of trouble. His neighbor’s cow is up there as well and seems to be trying to give birth but the calf refuses to come out. Using his pants, a tree and some ingenuity, Robert is able to get the calf out only to discover that the cow also has something stuck in her throat. As Robert works on getting it out the cow takes offense and tears up his arm pretty good in the process. He ends up with stitches running up and down his arm and a new pig as a thank you from his neighbor for saving the cow and the two calves. Naming the pig Pinky he starts spending all his time with her roaming around the farm and the nearby forest, even managing a trip to the fair with the neighbor. However, Robert is soon forced to confront the perils and troubles associated with growing up.
This book was pretty good but it also was incredibly short. I mean it is a kids novel but even for that it still seems shorter than usual to me. That being said the story was pretty good and it did a good job of portraying life on a rural farm in Vermont in the early 1920’s. It also did a great job of portraying Robert Peck as a protagonist that you can sympathize with. He is just a young boy dreaming of bigger and better things even if that is nothing more than being able to buy a coat at the store instead of having it made by his mother. I think those elements of the story are perhaps the best as it makes it feel warm and at times almost cozy despite the events it portrays not always being that. The one thing I am not sure about is how accurate the portrayal of certain elements of the lifestyle are. The Peck family is supposedly shaker which would have been pretty common for the area and time period but I don’t think all of the details are entirely correct. I guess certain liberties were taken in order to tell a compelling story but it is something that I noticed nonetheless. That was really my only issue with the book and that is not really even much of an issue to be overly concerned about. I am still happy giving it four out of five stars.
This would probably best be classified as children’s historical fiction though at the original time of publication it might have been considered contemporary fiction. Well worth the read though and I would recommend it to kids though I will also say that it does contain character death and perhaps the parents might keep an eye out just in case when their kids read it. Nothing to be overly concerned about though as it is not overly graphic in regards to that. Definitely a good read and one that I have read several times now so I hope you will consider trying it. If you do consider sharing your thoughts in the comments.