Classroom Connections

Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy

by Jim Aylesworth
Illustrated by Barbara McClintock
(Scholastic Press, 1999)


  • This tale is a version of the classic "Old Woman and Her Pig." Read other versions of this tale and compare and contrast the retellings. How does the cumulative verse differ in objects or order of events and how are they similar?
    • Galdone, Paul. The Old Woman and Her Pig. McGraw, 1960 o.p
    • Litzinger, Rosanne. The Old Woman and Her Pig: An Old English Tale Harcourt Brace, 1993; Voyager, 1997 (paperback).
    • Kimmel, Eric A. The Old Woman and Her Pig. Illustrated by Giora Carmi. Holiday House, 1992; (paperback, 1996).
    • Rockwell, Anne. The Three Sillies & 10 Other Stories to Read Aloud. Harper Trophy, 1986 (paperback, o.p.). Originally published as The Old Woman and Her Pig & 10 Other Stories. Crowell, 1979. o.p.

  • Make a sequence of pictures to illustrate your favorite version of "The Old Woman and the Pig."
      • 1. Fold a piece of 8x11 1/2 inch paper into eighths.
      2. In each square draw a picture in the sequence.
      3. Number the pictures and cut them apart.
      4. Paste the pictures onto a half sheet of writing paper.
      5. Write the your version of the text for each picture.
      6. Create a cover and title page. "The Old Woman and the Pig" Retold and Illustrated by ___(your name)_____.

  • A cumulative verse is one that builds and repeats each action so that the events build on one another. Reading aloud a cumulative tale invites audience participation. Here are some other tales that have a cumulative pattern.
    • Lobel, Arnold. The Rose in My Garden. Illustrated by Anita Lobel. Greenwillow, 1984; Mulberry, 1993 (paperback).
    • Emberley, Barbara. Drummer Hoff. Illustrated by Ed Emberley. Prentice-Hall, 1967; Simon & Schuster, 1987; Aladdin, 1972 (paperback).
    • Heilbroner, Joan. This Is the House Where Jack Lives. Illustrated by Aliki. Harper, 1962.
    • "The House That Jack Built." In The Three Bears and 15 Other Stories by Anne Rockwell. Crowell, 1975; Harper Trophy, 1984 (paperback).
    • Robart, Rose. The Cake That Mack Ate. Illustrated by Maryann Kovalski. Little, Brown, 1991.
    • Wood, Audrey. The Napping House Illustrated by Don Wood. Harcourt, 1984.
    • Other cumulative tales and an explanation of the form may be located on Carole Slattery's Cap O'Rushes site, see the page on cumulative tales.

  • Celebrate National Pig Day on March 1st or just "Pig" out on books by reading Aylesworth's Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy, then read dozens of other books featuring pigs in all sorts of situations.
Aylesworth, Jim. Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy. Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Scholastic Press, 1999. 32 pages. ISBN: 0590899872.
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©2000 Jim Aylesworth -- All Rights Reserved.
Text for Classroom Connections section © 2000 Sharron McElmeel @ McBookwords.
Portions of this text may have been published in earlier publications and are reprinted here with permission.