Pig in a Wig

by ReadRead · 5 min read

Here is a red wig. It is big! No, no, no! A silly first book a child can read all by themself: short sounds-out words, one pattern, and a pig who ends up with the best wig of all: mud.

5pop-up spreads

33things to tap

2new words

Words in this book

pigwigblueherejumplittlelooksaid

Peek inside

Part of Family Shelf

Website price: $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, 7 days free. Every book, for every child.

About Family ShelfYou can also subscribe on iPhone or iPad. Confirm the App Store price shown in the app; it may vary by region.

Inside the book

Here is Pig. Pig can go to see Cat, but first: “I can get a wig!” Here is a red wig. It is big! No, no, no! Here is a yellow wig. It is little! A blue wig is funny, but Pig wants a big one. Here is a big, big wig. Up, up, up! Oh no, Pig can not see. Bop! Pig is in the mud, and now Pig has a mud wig. Cat sees it and jumps in too: two mud wigs!

At sunset Pig and Cat stand in the mud, both wearing mud wigs.

Here is a red wig. It is big! It flops over Pig’s eyes.

The new words in this book

pig

A farm animal with pink skin, a round snout and a curly tail. It comes up 7 times, and little pink Pig is on the page every time: walking out of its house, falling into the mud, and wearing its mud wig.

wig

Pretend hair you can put on your head. It comes up 7 times, and a wig is on the page every time: each one flies off the hat-stand onto Pig’s head, red, yellow, blue, big, big, and at last a wig made of mud.

This is a Level 2 decodable reader: every word is either a short-vowel word a child can sound out (pig, wig, red, big, mud, get, bop, yes) or one of the very first sight words (here, look, see, little, funny, yellow, blue, said). 99% of the words are at that level, so a child who is just starting to read can read the whole book alone. The two new words, pig and wig, rhyme and differ only in the first letter, so the child has to really look at the start of the word, and the title makes the joke: a pig in a wig.

Questions to ask while you read

Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.

1Who comes out of the little house? Who is Pig going to see?
2Which wig is too big? Which is too little? Which one would you pick?
3Say it with me: up, up, up! Can Pig see? Where did Pig go?
4Tap a wig for Pig. Which wig does Pig like best?
5What does Cat do? How many mud wigs are there?

How hard is this book?

Reading level · Pre-K–KShort vowels

Every short vowel (bed, sun) and the first sight words. A decodable book: 9 words in 10 can be sounded out at this phonics step.

100words in all

38different words

4.2words per sentence

7longest sentence

More books at this level

Words a child can sound out, by phonics step

Step 1 · short a, i, o63%

Step 2 · all short vowels99%

Step 3 · blends100%

Step 4 · magic e, ee/ai100%

Step 5 · ar/or, oo/ou100%

Step 6 · longer words100%

Grammar in this book

Dialogue × 4“Look at me!
Commands × 2Look! Mud!
Not / no × 3No, no, no!

All 36 words, most used first

is₁₀ · a₇ · no₇ · can₆ · wig₆ · here₅ · mud₅ · big₄ · it₄ · see₃ · up₃ · get₂ · i₂ · in₂ · look₂ · the₂ · at · blue · bop · fun · funny · go · has · jump · little · me · not · oh · one · red · said · to · two · wigs · yellow · yes

Names don’t count: the picture shows who it is.

Tips for parents

First time: use Read to me and enjoy the jokes together. Then switch to I can read and let your child read it to you.
Point to the first letter of pig and wig. Say the words slowly, p-i-g, w-i-g, and let your child hear that they rhyme.
Let your child read “Here is a … wig.” and say the colour from the picture.
On the mud page, tap every wig together and say “No, no, no!” with Pig.

Start reading