View source for Freddy and the Pig by Charlie Higson and Mark Chambers

{{infobox2
|title=Freddy and the Pig
|author=Charlie Higson and Mark Chambers
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|genre=For Sharing
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=9781781123737
|pages=32
|publisher=Barrington Stoke
|date=June 2014
|aznuk=178112373X
|aznus=178112373X
|cover=178112373X
|website=http://www.charliehigson.co.uk/
|video=
|summary=Engaging and funny, this is a cautionary tale that's enjoyable for young and old!
}}
When Freddy send a pig to school in his place, wearing his school uniform and not looking entirely dissimilar to him, he thinks he's hit upon the perfect plan!  The pig can work all day in school whilst he stays at home and plays his console game and eats and eats, and no one will ever know!  

In spite of a few teething troubles for the pig this is, actually, what comes to pass.  The pig does well in school.  Better than Freddy, in fact!  He happily raises his trotter to answer questions and starts to become very helpful around the house.  You can probably guess that Freddy, on the other hand, begins to regresses to a rather rotund, grunting creature and, in the end, his mum sells him to a farm!  There are morals galore in this story for parents with a penchant for that kind of thing.  Personally, I just found it very funny.  It's funny to see the pig settling in at school and becoming more human, and interesting to watch Freddy's demise.

As it stands, this is already a good book, but it's also a rather special book since it's been published by the clever Red Squirrel folk at Barrington Stoke who are trying to publish books that are dyslexia-friendly in order to help parents and carers who have dyslexia or reading problems to still be able to read and share books with their young children.  The font is special and dyslexia-friendly whilst the paper is gently tinted and free of background details so that it reduces glare and makes it easier on the eye for reading.  They also use an increased character spacing, as well as clear syntax to help readers understand more easily.  The layout is a standard left to right, top to bottom too which, I have to say, I really like for as much as some of these fancy fonts and unusually placed texts can look appealing initially it can make stories harder to read when you have to spin the book around in order to read a whole page!  I think anything that aids readers who need a little more help can only be a good thing, so heartily approve of this.

The illustrations throughout support the story perfectly, and are very funny just by themselves.  I love the dear pig.  I confess when I saw the page of him happily hoovering the house I wondered about the possibilities of swapping my two kids for a couple of useful pigs!  It's funny to see Freddy lying prone on the floor as he gets fatter and fatter.  We found plenty to chuckle over, and it's certainly a story that you can come back to multiple times without resenting its presence on the bookshelf and 'accidentally' losing it down the back of the cupboard...

Recommended for not just dyslexic readers but for anyone who enjoys a funny story!

You might also enjoy [[Itch Scritch Scratch by Eleanor Updale and Sarah Horne]].

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[[Category:Dyslexia Friendly]]
[[Category:Charlie Higson]]
[[Category:Mark Chambers]]