A Day No Pigs Would Die

A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck is the story of a Shaker boy's coming of age. Part fiction, part memoir, the book centers on Robert, his pet pig, and Robert's father, a butcher. Robert is wise and tender-hearted and this book tells of both the joys and the sorrows that he passes through as he grows into a man.

Final word: A+. I loved this book. Loved it. I loved young Robert's astute observations on life, and I loved his father's wisdom in teaching him hard things about life. In many ways, Robert's father reminds me of my own: a wise, quiet man who does what he needs to do. One caution: even though I borrowed this from my mother's elementary school library, I wouldn't recommend this for elementary-aged children. Some parts, such as the in-depth description of breeding pigs, are just too intense for a really young audience.