The Adventures of a South Pole Pig

Author: Chris Kurtz
Illustrator: Jennifer Black Reinhardt

© Date: 2013
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s books
Pages: 278
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: A few, most page layouts do not have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age: 10-12
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No

Summary from Book: Flora’s a die-hard dreamer. She’s never left the farm, but she knows she was born for adventure. She’s determined to become a sled pig! What could be nobler than racing across the snow, pulling a fast sled, and being part of a team? And what could be crazier?

Could her dream really come true?

Before she learns the answer, Flora must manueuver a harrowing sea voyage to Antarctica, avoid a bacon-loving cook, and endure deadly conditions after she and the crew are shipwrecked. How long can they survive? Who will save them? And what will happen to Flora, whose companions see her as more of a meal than an adventurer?

As the ship’s captain says, you never know where brains and talent will come from. They just may come from this brave pig.

Page Pig Thoughts: If your animal loving child pulls this book off the library shelf, tread carefully. Rat killing and repeated talk of killing pigs for food is not for everyone.

With a pig that wants to be a sled pig, I anticipated a silly, humorous story. I discovered, however, a rather dramatic story. The ending leaves you feeling good, but the ride was as rough as seas that sink a ship. That’s not to say that there aren’t a few silly ideas thrown in occasionally (e.g. after Flora is gifted a coat on Antarctica, her friends are relieved that she won’t become a pigsicle after all). But those moments are few and far between. I did find this a decent read, but being prepared for what type of story I was about to read may have been good. Although, I may not have read it because I was in the mood for a silly story. Maybe a little surprise in my life isn’t all bad.

Family Unit:

On the farm – Flora was the oldest piglet of her litter. She had a mother and seven brothers. Alfred was the runt of the litter.
On the ship/Antarctica – Flora has her friends – Sophia the cat, Oscar the sled dog, and Aleric the cabin boy.

Conflict/Social Issues:

While everyone else seems to know that pigs are raised to be food, Flora does not know that until late in the story. There are many references to pigs being food, and yes, dying for that.
Rats are not looked upon favorably in this book. Rats were eating the crew’s food on the ship.
Dogs and cats don’t really get along, until Sophia the cat and Oscar the sled dog make peace with one another. And I suppose, before that bond really strengthens, the sled dogs allow Sophia into their shelter.
While shipwrecked, the injured captain tells Aleric the cabin boy that he should not go out to get food from a previous expedition’s food station. Aleric leaves anyway, and returns a hero with Flora, Oscar, and Sophia. Now the few people and animals at camp no longer slowly starve.

Positive Items:

Flora’s never ending optimism and belief that she was destined to pull a sled was inspiring.
Flora’s friendly personality leads to her befriending two different cats (one on the farm, one on the ship) and a dog.
Flora develops a beautiful, trusting friendship with Sophia the cat and Oscar the sled dog.
Flora, Sophia, Oscar, and Aleric the boy develop a team that thrives on the strengths of each one. Their team successfully pulls a rescue sled full of food back to camp.

Items of Interest:

Chapter 4 has a cat pouncing on a rat, killing the rat, and dragging off the dead rat’s body. There is also an illustration of the cat dragging off the dead rat. Chapter 5 has piglets pretend playing that they are killing a rat; they are in a circle and take turns pouncing on a crunchy paper bag.
Chapter 8 has Flora’s mother separated into a smaller pen away from her piglets and tied up. While Flora is busy talking with a cat, there is a loud bang. The noise turns out to be from a nearby horse kicking a stall door. Chapter 9 has 3 men enter the piglet’s pen to collect a piglet. Flora’s mother calls out to the piglets from her nearby pen; she directs the piglets to run away and avoid being captured. Flora eventually decides to be captured so she can go on an adventure. Then she is put into a pen on a truck and she wonders if she will see her mother and brothers again. She thinks of everyone that she did not say goodbye to.
Flora is put into the hold of the ship, where they put things that they want to forget about until they are needed. She is chained to a box and left in the dark at the bottom of the boat.
When food is left for her (fattening her up), a sea of rats comes out of the darkness and eats all of her food, night after night. Flora tries to defend her food once, but is not successful.
A cat, Sophia, is put into the hold of the ship to take care of the rats. Sophia cannot take care of the rats by herself. Flora and Sophia team up. Flora kicks the rats and Sophia gives them the death bite. Since rats are killed, Sophia earns food. The rest of the rats get smarter, slowing the rat killing and depriving Sophia of food.
A boy, Aleric, gets thrown into the hold to kill the rats. He is told that he cannot eat until he kills rats. He witnesses Flora and Sophia’s teamwork. He unties Flora. Then Aleric hits a stick against the boat, creating a sea of rats moving down the ship, Flora kicks the rats, and Sophia gives them the death bite. Aleric earns a meal, Sophia earns a meal, and Flora feels like eating.
The ship hits an iceberg. Icy, Antarctic water floods the hold of the ship. Flora manages to swim to the staircase while dragging seemingly injured ship Captain up with her. She thinks that her friend, Sophia the cat, drowned in the water. Flora gets loaded into a lifeboat. She watches the ship sink and a rat trying to swim away drown. She learns that most of the sled dogs go down with the ship. She is overjoyed when she later learns that Sophia the cat was hiding under Aleric the boy’s shirt. The remaining crew is short on food but manage to set up shelters.
Aleric gives Flora a coat, so now she stays warmer on her walks around the Antarctic shipwreck camp. The few times that she has come across the cook on her journey, he makes comments about her being his little pork chop or his bacon. She happens to walk by him while he is sharpening his knives. He sets down the knives and sticks his hands up her coat to feel her ribs. He says that she isn’t as fat, but she should come by at the same time tomorrow.
Sophia the cat and Oscar the lead sled dog take Flora out of camp in the middle of the night to “find the right spot.” Once a spot is chosen, Oscar starts digging a hole. Flora does not understand what is going on. Sophia and Oscar tell Flora that this is where she needs to hide. Flora is confused why she should hide when a sled needs pulling, and she wants to pull. Reluctantly, Sophia and Oscar tell Flora that she was brought on the trip to be food, not to pull a sled. Flora spends her time in the hole depressed, low on hope of anything good, and upset with life. Sophia and Oscar come back for Flora after two days. Oscar was left behind at camp because he was still deemed not healthy enough after his frozen water swim to safety from the sinking ship. The sled to search for help and food had left with the cook, so Flora could safely go back to camp.
Aleric the boy was left at the camp with the broken rib captain and sailor with a broken leg. Food is in short supply at the camp. Aleric makes a sled and leaves with Oscar (against the captain’s orders) to go find a food supply station that was set up on a previous expedition. After learning that they left, Flora and Sophia set out to find them and help. They get lost in the snow. They are overjoyed when Oscar finds them on the sled’s return journey.
Oscar was overworked trying to pull the sled by himself when he was not in great health. Flora manages to get her dream of pulling a sled. Oscar leaves the night’s sleep spot to go off on his own forever. Oscar is upset that he can no longer do the job that he was born for and a pig can out pull him. Flora talks him into coming back because he is an important part of their team, no one else can find the way back to the camp as well as he can.
The captain and sailor are overjoyed to see the sled return with everyone and food. The humans and animals can eat now, no more days without food.
The captain, sailor, and Oscar heal up enough that everyone leaves camp with the sled to go find the rescue sled crew. Flora is thrilled to be hooked up to pull the sled next to Oscar. The rescue crew meets the camp crew. Flora then gets to pull a sled with the other sled dogs. I found this bit slightly confusing because the first time Flora sees sled dogs training on the farm, she can’t keep up with their fast pace. But there was no mention of speed issues now, so I wasn’t sure if she got stronger/faster or if the sled dogs were respectful of her and slowed down.
The shipwrecked crew then gets rescued by a ship. Flora thought that she would be left in the hold again and was trying to get one last glance at the sky. So she was pleasantly surprised to have a special kennel on the bow of the ship for her new adventure.