The Seriously Extraordinary Diary of Pig; Emer Stamp

This is the third instalment in Emer Stamp’s brilliant Diary of Pig series. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the previous books, you can start with this one and then go back and read the others (which I strongly advise). The gist of it is that Pig writes a diary of his days on the farm with his friends Cow and Duck. And the this time out, Pig and friends are heading further than they have ever been before.

Pig loves living on the farm with the famers - Mr and Mrs Sandal, eating slops and playing games with his friends Cow and Duck. After a game of hide-and-seek goes wrong and results in quite severe damage to the farmhouse, the guilty trio are determined to get back into the ‘good books’.

With a plan to win a trophy and to make their farmers proud, Pig, Cow and Duck head off to the country fair. But victory comes at a price…they win the trophy but they lose Cow. Or to be more precise, Cow gets kidnapped. With the help of glamorous turkey Ki-Ki, some cockney speaking seagulls, innit, and a seal with a water vessel that looks like a giant poo, a rescue mission across the biggest duck pond ever and over to the Other Side is put into motion. But can the animals get the better of evil Ivanna Hertchew and stop Cow from being turned into a new leather handbag…

The Diary of Pig series are superbly silly stories that will have readers laughing-out-loud from start to finish. Brilliant characters, a funny narrative and plenty of fart and poo jokes will have children racing through the pages. Emer Stamp includes messages on friendship, teamwork and loyalty. 

The diary is narrated in Pig’s own unique voice where grammatical mistakes are wide and welcomed. Pig has not mastered the language that farmers speak so instead he uses his own phrasing which results in lots of grammatical errors that will have children howling and teachers and adults tutting under their breath. Doodles and spillages feature throughout as well as a variety of different fonts that are used to identify each character.

Pig says, “I is definitely recommending this book,” and I would most certainly agree.

Recommended for 7+.