Lady Lollipop by Dick King-Smith – a read aloud review

The princess wants what for her birthday?  A pig?!   Only Dick King-Smith could pull this one off, I think.

 

Lady Lollipop

by Dick King-Smith

illustrated by Jill Barton

published 2000

 

 

 

 

Princess Penelope is about to turn eight and she wants a pet pig.  She’s a spoiled rotten child whose parents, King Theophilus and Queen Ethelwynne, do nothing to stop.

So enters a pig herder, Johnny, and his pig, Lollipop.  Between the two of them they manage to do something nobody else has been able to do — make Princess Penelope behave a bit more properly.   And yes, that means Lollipop is one special pig!

This is a silly, quick read.  Definitely a good one for the younger end of the crowd.  The chapters are short and there are plenty of line drawings tucked in throughout the story.  The princess is definitely naughty but being shocked at her behavior is half the fun of the book.   The other half, at least if you are six years old, is the fact that pig dung is mentioned more than once.  It’s good for the royal roses, which is critical in winning the Queen over to the Lollipop side.

One gets the idea that Mr. King-Smith enjoyed writing this book with the animal so obviously intelligent and the humans (except Johnny) all quite silly.  This is quite different from Babe, the Gallant Pig which we read a couple of months ago (and I reviewed then).  That was also funny but not nearly as light hearted.   I prefer Babe to Lollipop as characters but we all can’t be sheep-pigs!