The Adventures of Nanny Piggins (Nanny Piggins, 1) - Hardcover

Spratt, R. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316068195 ISBN 13: 9780316068192

Verlag: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Three children and their hilariously subversive nanny pig embark on zany adventures in this award-winning middle grade debut illustrated by Caldecott winnter Dan Santat.

The three Green children are cared for by a nanny pig. Yes, a pig--a fabulously sassy and impeccably dressed pig, as a matter of fact! With her insatiable urge to eat chocolate (and feed chocolate to everyone she loves), her high-flying spirit, and her unending sense of fun, Nanny Piggins takes Derrick, Samantha, and Michael on a year of surprises, yummy treats, and adventures they'll never forget.

It's no surprise that Booklist proclaimed, "Mary Poppins, move over--or get shoved out of the way." Nanny Piggins is a refreshing and dynamic addition to favorite classic nannies: Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and, of course, Mary Poppins.

Read more books in the series: Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan and Nanny Piggins and the Runaway Lion.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

R.A. Spratt is an award-winning comedy writer with fifteen years of experience in the television industry. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two daughters. You can visit her at www.raspratt.com.

Dan Santat is the author/illustrator of Sidekicks and the winner of the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators for Oh No!(Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World) by Mac Barnett. He is also the illustrator of Crankenstein and the author and illustrator of Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend, coming Spring 2014. He lives in Los Angeles, California. You can visit him at www.dansantat.com.

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The Adventures of Nanny Piggins

By Spratt, R. A.

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Copyright © 2010 Spratt, R. A.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780316068192

CHAPTER ONE

Nanny Piggins and Her Dramatic Entrance

Mr. Green desperately needed to find a new nanny for his children. In the four weeks since their last nanny left, he found himself actually having to talk to them, provide them with meals, and pay attention to them himself. And all this just had to stop. He had a job at a law firm helping rich people avoid paying their taxes. He could not be expected to look after his children as well.

The reason Mrs. Green did not look after the children was because she was not there. Mr. Green said she had died in a boating accident. But the children were not entirely sure this was true. Yes, there had been a funeral. Yes, there had been an obituary in the paper. But people on television programs died all the time and that never stopped them from coming back in the next season. So they had not totally given up hope that their mother had just got fed up with their father, which was a sentiment they could fully understand.

There were three Green children. The eldest, Derrick, was a conscientious boy of eleven. Being older he was the natural leader. The only problem was he was never entirely sure where he was meant to be leading the others to, so he just kept a blank look on his face and hoped nobody noticed. He was always suntanned or muddy. Either way, he always looked brown. And he always had long messy hair but never went to the barber because the only time his father ever spoke to him was to snap, “Go and get your hair cut! You look like a scruffbag!”

The second child, Samantha, was a girl. And, as such, she had even fewer conversations with her father than Derrick. She was a nice nine-year-old and pretty enough, but not so much so as to cause a fuss. Her chief characteristic was that she worried all the time. To be fair, she did have a lot to worry about. Girls whose mothers have drowned in boating accidents would be foolish not to worry.

The third child, Michael, was only seven but, in many ways, he was the most confident. He could not remember his mother at all. So he was not saddened or worried about her loss. Derrick and Samantha bore the brunt of having to deal with Mr. Green. So Michael was able to get on with his life unhindered. As a result he was a little on the tubby side, because Michael’s favorite hobby was stealing food from the kitchen, then sitting and eating it under a bush in the garden. Not that he was greedy, you understand. Because the fact is, most little boys would have this hobby, if only their mothers would let them.

On the whole they were three well-mannered, largely self-sufficient children. And they would have been a doddle for anyone to take care of. Mr. Green should have found a nanny in half a second flat. But there was a problem. Not only did Mr. Green believe that rich people should not pay taxes. He also believed that he, personally, should not have to pay for anything. He begrudged giving money to a nanny. In his opinion child care should be entirely government provided. Paid for out of the taxes his clients never paid.

But even more than that, Mr. Green deeply resented the idea that he had to pay to advertise for a nanny. There was so much unemployment in the world that, in his opinion, nannies should be beating down his door. So despite the fact that he desperately wanted a nanny, he did not have one because he was too cheap to put an advertisement in a newspaper. All Mr. Green had done was paint a sign himself with the words NANNY WANTED: ENQUIRE WITHIN, attach it to a stake, and bang it into the front lawn. So far the sign had sat there for three weeks without a single knock at the door.

And now the pressure was really on. One of the neighbors, having watched Michael sitting under a bush eating frozen pizza (that was still frozen), had reported this to the government. And a social worker had arrived to inspect all three children. She then made an appointment to see Mr. Green (because he was, of course, at work when she visited) and threatened him. She told him that if he continued to leave his children unattended for ten or twelve hours at a time, they would be taken away and put into government care.

Now Mr. Green would have liked nothing more than to be relieved of responsibility for his children. If that happened, then he would not have to go home at all. He could spend all his time at the office, happily reading tax laws. But Mr. Green knew that if his children were taken away from him it would look very bad indeed. (People did not think much of him already, what with him being a tax lawyer, and him not paying attention when his wife fell off the boat.) It would damage him professionally if the story got in the papers.

So it is at this point that our story begins.

Mr. Green was so desperate to hire a nanny, he was actually considering paying to advertise, when this painful thought was interrupted by a loud knock at the front door.

It was a dark and stormy night. Rain was pouring down. As Mr. Green opened the door he could not clearly see the person in front of him, silhouetted by the streetlight. But he could tell from the shape that the person was wearing a dress. So he assumed it was a woman. And he assumed she must have come about the position of nanny. Mr. Green was flooded with relief. “Come in, come in,” he said.

As the new nanny stepped into the house, the light hit her, and Mr. Green could see her clearly for the first time. She wore a simple blue dress with a drop waist and a jaunty little jacket. And she was only four feet tall. But Mr. Green soon forgot about her lack of height when he saw that she had a much more shocking feature. The woman was not a woman. She was a pig. A common, pink farm pig. The type bacon came from.

“Good evening, I am Nanny Piggins,” said Nanny Piggins the pig.

“Huh?” said Mr. Green.

“I have come to apply for the position of nanny,” she explained.

“Well…” spluttered Mr. Green, buying time as his mind raced, and he tried to figure out what to do. “Well, um, that’s very good. But, um… I wonder if you’re quite suitable, you see.”

“I can start immediately,” said Nanny Piggins.

“Oh,” said Mr. Green. He could not deny that this would be convenient.

“I have no criminal record,” said Nanny Piggins.

“That is good,” said Mr. Green. He could not deny that this would please the social worker.

“But I expect to be paid properly,” stated Nanny Piggins.

“Now, that might be a difficulty,” interrupted Mr. Green. Here he saw he had the perfect excuse for not hiring the pig.

“I charge ten cents an hour,” Nanny Piggins declared boldly.

“You’re hired!” exclaimed Mr. Green without even thinking. He knew a bargain when he heard one. “I’ll be frank, Nanny Piggins, I would prefer not to have a pig take care of my children. But I am prepared to offer you the job until a suitable human nanny presents herself.”

“Very well,” said Nanny Piggins. “I think you will find human nannies are terribly overrated. They are, in my experience, very greedy and not terribly clean. But I shall agree to your terms, because it is wet outside and I do not have an umbrella.”

So Mr. Green and...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0316068195
• ISBN 13: 9780316068192
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Zeichner: Santat Dan
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Terminal Video; n.pederzini@terminaldistribuzione.com; ; Via Bruno Buozzi, 24/26,; Granarolo dell'Emilia BO,; Italien