Bed Hogs

Title: Bed Hogs 
Author: Kelly DiPucchio 
Illustrator: Howard Fine  
Publication Date: 2004   
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book   
Summary: One little pig shares a bed with his family until he kicks them out of bed one by one and finds the bed of straw all to himself.  In the end, he decides he doesn't like having the bed all to himself! 
What I Think: This book is a super cute rendition of "There Were Five In the Bed" except with a funny, pig characters.  The illustrations are great but the description of the characters are simple but clear.  The author uses rhyme so it flows nicely.  The author also incorporates alliteration.  Peanut and I had fun reading this book together and laughing at the characters.  We had just seen pigs at the county fair so he easily made a connection with the pigs in the story.  I would definitely brainstorm farm and pig words before reading this book and then add words from the book to develop students' vocabulary.  In a classroom, this could incorporate math because of the counting down while also be a model of rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration from a writing perspective.  This could even be used to incorporate into a health lesson about getting a good night's sleep!  
Read Together: Pre-K - 4  
Read Alone: 3 - 4 
Read With: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed Big Book by Eileen Christelow, Five Little Ducks (Raffi Songs to Read) by Raffi, or other versions

Snatch of Text: 

"Each night the hogs pack into bed-

they squeeze and groan and grunt.

But underneath the ton of them

squeals loudmouth Little Runt.

'I'm squished!

I'm squashed!

I'm buried in this heap!

You're hoggin' up my space in bed.

I'll never get to sleep!'"

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Predicting, Vocabulary Development 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Rhyme, Rhythm, Alliteration, Characterization
Writing Prompts: Create your own counting down book - change the characters or change the setting.   
Topics Covered: Math, Counting, Farm, Farm Animals, Sleeping 
Translated to Spanish: No