Nursery Rhymes – Pig Tales

Pigs in the late 19th century were portrayed in literature as symbols of playfulness. They were well-mannered, cheerful and models of civilized conduct. Children's literature contains many little pig fairy tales with characters of this nature and the Shelia R. Bourke collection has many attractive examples of the classics. A popular nursery rhyme that is also part of a game of words and gestures is This Little Piggy or The Five Little Pigs. As one reads the story, the rhyme is counted out on a child's toes, concluding with a tickling of the foot for the final stanza, all the way home. The Three Little Pigs, the story of three pigs who outsmart a wolf, is an English tale of the weak who outsmart the strong. The Andrew Lang version of the tale gives the talking pigs names - Browny, Whitey, and Blacky. Precocious Piggy leaves home to explore the world and meets his end on the butcher block.