Stinky Ol' Pig is a story about Percy, a curious little piglet who overhears a private conversation between some of the other farm animals.
One farm animal, Mr. Lamb, has some unpleasant things to say about pigs and how dirty pigs are. Percy decides he doesn't want to be a stinky old pig, so he finds some sweet-smelling honeysuckle to wallow in.
Mom takes Percy aside and explains that all animals are different and pigs are made to wallow in the mud and cool off.
So, where'd this idea come from? I'm not 100% sure why I chose pigs. I wanted to write a different type of animal story for children, so when pigs came to mind I came up with a pig who wants to smell nice.
Now, working off that, I had to decide why he didn't want to stink, and how he and Mama Pig would deal with the issue. I think writing it this way teaches children a few concepts:
- You shouldn't care what others say about you.
- Everyone should be free to be themselves.
- Compromise can be beneficial.
- Not all beings are made to be the same, and that's ok.
- Acceptance for those who are different than you.
