This week’s story was based on a book called The Long-Nosed Pig by Keith Faulkner. It is a story in the tradition of Kipling’s Just So Stories and tells how the pig got it’s short, wrinkled snout. I actually found the book over the summer when we stayed at an air B&B in the Netherlands. It was in the home-owner’s collection of children’s books, and I thought it would be fun to use for Story Listening.

The book is out of print, but if you Google it, you will find a few YouTube videos of it being read in English.

The story tells of a pig with a very long nose. He is so proud of his nose that he goes around boasting about it to other animals. He trots away, holding his nose up proudly. Until finally, he holds his nose up so high that he can’t see where he’s going and runs smack into a tree! And that is how the long-nosed pig got it’s short, wrinkled snout.

Well, it turns out the the children were not all familiar with Just So Stories. So that interfered a bit with their comprehension of the story. Also, for some reason, I wasn’t sure if they would know what a toucan is, so I changed it to a parrot. Obviously, the parrot does not have a particularly long nose, but it is a rather distinctive one!

1st & 2nd Grade:

I decided to give the toucan a try, and of course they knew what it was! Here is what the board looked like with that drawing: