Iggy Pig's shopping day - Vivian French

Iggy Pig and Mother Pig are off to market - they need more supplies of bread and fruit. They miss out on a lift in the pony and cart, and by the time they arrive in town, Mother Pig is exhausted. Would Iggy be very kind and do the shopping while she has a rest? Of course he will! But hot on the heels of Iggy is a big grey animal with a hungry smile. Licking his lips, the wolf is certain that he's going to get a good dinner tonight. After all, Iggy is quite alone, none of his farmyard friends are anywhere in sight. But clever Iggy Pig knows what he's up to, and all the wolf will be getting to eat is a stall full of of apples and some hot crusty bread!

Vivian is a writer of both books and plays; she has written more than 250 children's books, including the very successful Tiara Club series, and is consistently one of the top 30 most borrowed authors from UK libraries. She has had plays performed both in London and throughout Scotland; her audiences include young adults as well as children. She has won many awards for her books, and is regularly invited to festivals including Cheltenham and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. (2012 Guest selector for the children's programme.) Vivian teaches part time at Edinburgh College of Art, and is one of the two founding members of the PictureHooks programme supporting Scottish illustrators. She is married with four grown up daughters and three grandchildren, and lives in Edinburgh. She'd like a cat, but lives up 66 steps and has no garden ... maybe one day. Her favourite book is an empty notebook.

Since 1990, Vivian French has published more than 100 books for children of all ages. She has been a reviewer and has worked in the theatre - she is also well-known as a playwright. Among her most popular books are the Tiara Club titles for Hachette. Married with four grown-up daughters, she now lives in Edinburgh.

Visit her website at www.vivianfrench.com.

'These delightful tales about a young pig and his farmyard friends contain ample repetition within robustly patterned texts which, along with matching illustrations, prove very accessible to novice readers. Additionally, the allusion to what big grey animals tend to do to little pigs makes for compulsive stories which, in Margaret Meek's words, 'mean more than they say'. This is the way to learn to read - more please.
The School Librarian, July 1999