Year of the Pig 2019: Fairy tales, nursery rhymes and games that star cute anthropomorphic pigs
Our adorable piggy friends has always been favourites in children’s tales and games
The Three Little Pigs all built their houses out of different materials.According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2019 is the Year of the Pig. Though our porcine friends are only the zodiac star once every 12 years, pigs have always been popular in children’s tales and games. Whether it’s because they’re adorable or because of their energetic and generous nature, pigs seem to take the starring role in most stories they appear in. Here are some of the most well-known.
Piggy in the middle
Long before computers, smartphones and even television, kids played “piggy in the middle”. This needs three players and a ball. The “piggy” stands between the two players and tries to catch the ball as the outer players throw it back and forth. If the piggy catches the ball, then the person who threw it will swap places with the “piggy”.
“Piggy in the middle” is also used as an expression to describe someone who’s caught between two fighting friends, both of whom expect the “piggy” to be on their side.
This Little Piggy
One nursery rhyme almost all English-speaking parents play with their babies is This Little Piggy, with each of the toes on the baby’s foot representing one of the little piggies.
The words are:
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home!
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The Three Little Pigs
In the famous fairy tale, three little pigs decide to leave home and build their own houses. They are stalked by the Big Bad Wolf - presumably before he goes after Little Red Riding Hood - who puts the pigs’ houses to the test.
The first little pig builds his house out of straw. The second little pig builds his house out of sticks. The third little pig builds his house out of bricks.
The Big Bad Wolf goes to the first little pig’s house and says the famous words:
“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in!”
But the pig is no fool and says, “Oh no! Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. I won’t let you in.”
The Big Bad Wolf says, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”
The straw house is no match for the Big Bad Wolf and so the first little pig scurries out of the fallen home, and, with the wolf snapping at his heels, just makes it to his brother’s house.
The Big Bad Wolf goes to the second little pig’s house and says:
“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in!”
But the second pig is no fool and says, “Oh no! Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. I won’t let you in.”
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The Big Bad Wolf says, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”
And he huffs and he puffs and he blows the house in. So the first and the second little pigs scurry out of the fallen sticks, with the wolf snapping at their heels, just make it in time to their older brother’s house.
The Big Bad Wolf goes to the third little pig’s house and says:
“Little pig! Little pig! Let me come in!”
But the third pig is no fool and says, “Oh no! Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. I won’t let you in.”
The Big Bad Wolf says, “Then I’ll huff and I'll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”
And the third little piggy laughs and says, “Sure, go ahead.”
The big bad wolf huffs and puffs, and puffs and huffs, but cannot blow down the house of bricks. So he climbs on to the roof of the piggies’ home, looking for a way in.
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The piggies listen to him walking about on the roof and then they fill a big pot with water and put it on the fire.
Soon enough, the Big Bad Wolf finds the chimney, and thinks that would be his way in to the piggies brick home. He isn’t very bright.
So the Big Bad Wolf tries to climb down the chimney. He slips right into the pot of boiling water. The little pigs quickly put the lid on to the pot and the wolf is cooked into tender wolf stew.