Perfect is Perfect

I found Perfect the Pig by Susan Jeschke on a visit to the Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library last week. I read it in the aisle, and was dangerously close to making a spectacle of myself. I was nearly moved to tears! I am a VERY critical reader, so any book that can stir that level of emotion in me screams to be shared with my students.

Leah:  He lived with his mommy and his mommy didn't even know he was there. Perfect wished for wings, and one day one pig fell in the road and Perfect pushed him on his paws, and then the pig turned her into wings. And then his brothers and sisters said, "Go away with the birds!" And then the birds said, "Go away with another family!" And then a little girl spotted her and then she picked up her and then she took very good care of her. And she named her Perfect the Pig, and then she feeded her and then she drawed a lot of pictures of her. And then one day Perfect flew up to the ceiling. And Perfect didn't like waiting in line and he didn't like walking on the pavement so she carried him. And then Perfect got lost. And then a mean man, he ran home with the pig. And then he feeded him garbage. And then he trained him to fly. Then he tied him to a pipe. And then he bought a cute little costume for Perfect the Pig and he took him for a show and all the people clapped their hands. And then when the man got back he got a cage. Perfect was crying. Then the little girl looked for him, and then she saw Perfect's picture and she got a ticket and she went in there and it was Perfect! And then the judge said, "Let the pig choose." And the pig choosed the little girl and they lived happily ever after.

Hayden: I like when he had a dream he was having wings. When he got wings, these pigs said, "Get out! You can sleep where the birds are!" But the birds didn't let the flying pig in the nest.

Annalee: I like when she was looking in the sky for the flying pig. She was worried.

Bella:  Perfect's wings hurt. He couldn't fly. He's a bad guy. He put Perfect on the leash and he yells at him. Then Perfect saw the girl. He could fly again!

Brooke N.: They were getting milk from the mother so they could get strong, then the little pig went out and he got wings. And then the pig said, "Get out!" And then the birds said, "Get out of this house!" And then the lady found her when she was lost, and then she got a bath and then she went to sleep. And then she got food and she went away. She got out and then a bad guy got her away and she didn't like garbage. And then she went in the show. She was crying because she didn't know what to do. And she was in a movie, and then she saw her family. And she choosed her. And then it was a happy ending.

John: I liked when the pig could fly and flew all around and it could fly really high. And I liked when it went lower and lower and lower then higher and higher and higher.

Kaitlyn: This part was scary. That guy had a scary voice when he waked the pig up. I thinked he was going to eat him. He trapped him in a cage and he gave him garbage. He tied him around a pipe and then he dressed him up and the pig looks kind of sad. The mean guy's happy because he's evil. When she [Olive] was looking for him [Perfect], she loved him, and he loved her. Perfect was sad at the mean guy's house.

Christel: This page [where the pigs banish Perfect from the pen and the birds refuse to let him stay with them] was really mean. I didn't like this bird. It looked like a crow and it was really mean. They didn't like Perfect because they didn't want him. He was trying to get a family. That's so cool. I wish I could draw like that. Look at this grass. That's pretty grass! I like this part where the pig's flying. And I like the big submarine. You should tell the library.

Emelyn: I don't really like it when he tied him to the pipe. I thought he was going to be there forever. I thought he was going to be with the mean man forever. Perfect was sad. The man put him in a cage because he wants him to stay there. I thought he was going to be there forever.

Mack:  I want to talk about the one where he was in the cage. I thought he was going to be trapped forever. He felt like he was going to be trapped in there forever and he was crying. That made me worried.

Brady L.: He hooked  him up because he had wings.

Eva:  He [the mean man] looks like he has goblin teeth. Goblins only have two teeth. I don't like that guy. I like that cute, little pig. You know which one makes me feel happy? [Flips to illustration in which Perfect and Olive are reunited.] That one because the pig sees the lady and the lady sees the pig and then she gets to bring him home.

Katherine:  I like this page because the woman's being nice to him. She's giving him a bath in this one. Perfect is happy because he's smiling.

Arthur: My favorite page is this because the bird said, "You can't live in this!" [Closes book and points to cover illustration.] I like this because it has a bed. I just love beds.