Dream Big, Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi

Dream Big, Little Pig! Reviews

• 
  Chrissy

  Continuing my series on strange things you learn from children's books....
  
  When I was a kid, I was OBSESSED with figure skating. I saw a show once, with Nancy Kerrigan and Oksana Biul, when the skaters came to town, and I was hooked. So when I saw that Kristi Yamaguchi had written a children's book, I HAD to give it a chance. Surely there would be some strange things I could learn from this book, right?
  
  So, the main character is a little pig and everyone tells her to dream big. Hence the title, no? (What are the credentials required to write a children's book, by the way? None, I'm guessing?) So, the pig tries to be a singer and a supermodel and a variety of other things, but she's klutzy and seems to really fail at it. In the tradition of filling children's minds with unrealistic fluff, everyone tells her to keep dreaming big and she will surely achieve her dreams. Even if they are outlandish.
  
  Finally, little pig decides she wants to be a figure skater. She decides to actually practice at something, rather than just whining, and all of her dreams come true. She's a famous, spectacular skater and all is right with the world.
  
  Because that's the rule and not the exception, right? Children, take note!
  
  So, in the end, we are to praise this pig for her persistence, says Kristi Y. I mean, nevermind the fact that the pig whined and gave up on fifty bazillion other things before deciding to actually try at something. How is that persistence?
  
  More strange things you learn from children's books, I guess. At least the illustrations were pretty.
• 
  Lindsay Weideman

  Synopsis: I loved this book!! It is about a little pig named Poppy who found out that following her dreams is not an easy task. Her family encouraged her to believe in herself and keep going! She learned not to give up and that she can do anything as long as she believes in herself and has fun doing it. I think it is a wonderful book for students in elementary school because kids at this age are trying all kinds of sports and new adventures. Sometimes when trying new things, they may not come easy for kids. This book is encouraging for students to find things that they love doing. I thought it went along great with my text set of accomplishing dreams/pursuing goals.
  
  Opening: Has anyone ever felt discouraged? Or like you just wanted give up on something? Is there anyone that is brave and wants to share their story of feeling discouraged? (Allow time for students to share)
  
  Who pushed you to keep trying and keep going? Was it your family and friends? A teacher?
  
  We are going to read a book called, Dream Big Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi. By looking at the cover and the title, what do we think our story is going to be about?
  
  Does anyone recognize the name of our author? Her name is Kristi Yamaguchi! She was a famous ice skater who skated in the Olympics and was on Dancing with the Stars.
  
  Opening Moves: For my opening moves, I used personal connections (feeling of discouragement) and brief sharing of personal experiences related to the topic, drawing attention to the writer, and predictions based on the title
  
  (2011, May 01). School Library Journal.
  http://www.booksinprint2.com.leo.lib....#
  
• 
  Becky

  This is the story of Poppy the pig, who ends up in New Pork (yes, Pork) City, chasing her dreams. BIG dreams.
  
  It's probably not fair to Kristi Yamaguchi that I just read When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic, whose book was filled with dozens of fun, wacky and silly ideas for jobs. Poppy set her sights on 1) ballerina, 2) singer and 3) supermodel.
  
  OK. It probably doesn't help that I'm also reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein, who does a brilliant job of showing how the "princess culture" limits our children, especially our daughters. Oh well.
  
  Poppy ends up being a great ice skater (of course) and eventually a pilot and a sky diver. Even though Poppy's dreams seem somewhat limited, ultimately, the book has a positive message, and I can't fault Yamaguchi for that. She has two daughters of her own.
• 
  Kathryn

  3.5 STARS
  
  Cute enough little story about a pig who has many big dreams but lacks the talent (or confidence) to pursue many of them. When she finally falls in love with a sport that she loves, she has the determination to see it through and to learn to look past naysayers. Nothing remarkably fabulous here in the writing style or illustrations, but it's cute and entertaining and has a good message. Yamaguchi thanks her co-writer in her acknowledgement section, which is nice, and it's probably one of the better celebrity authored picture books out there.
• 
  Donalyn

  As celebrity-written children's books go, this one is pretty cute. I liked Poppy and the positive support she received from her friends and family. You can see how Yamaguchi's personal experiences influenced the book.
• 
  Rachael Davis (Picture Book Perfect)

  Poppy wants to be a star. She dreams of being a ballerina but she’s clumsy. Then she dreams of being a singer but she’s always out of tune. Then she sees an ice rink and even though at first she stumbles, this time she doesn’t give up.
  
  Written by Olympic gold medallist Kristi, this book has a clear message: to never give up on your dreams and believe you can accomplish anything. I think it’s important to note, Poppy’s dream is being a star (not a ballerina or singer or supermodel, all things she gives up on fairly quickly) and she does accomplish this through ice-skating. This would be a nice story to read to a child who is lacking in confidence – we can’t be great at everything but if you find something you enjoy then go for it and persevere.
  
  See my full review with pictures
  here.
• 
  Dawn

  
  A great new year's conversation starter!
  
  I asked my class what resolutions are and we had a discussion about goals. I asked them if they had a goal for this year and every single one of them did! After we read the story, we wrote in our journals about our goals. For the picture part, we wrote the phrases that repeated in this book: Dream Big! Follow your dreams! You go, girl!" and then the topic sentence for our paragraph was, "I have a goal".
• 
  Anna

  I’d hoped to use this story written by Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi to teach about the Winter Olympics and Olympic athletes next week, but it missed the mark for that objective. It’s a cute story about a persistent pig’s journey in developing a new talents but it just isn’t what I was looking for.
  
  Story: 3
  Illustrations: 4
  Read-aloud: 3
• 
  Chandra

  3.5 stars. Encourages following your dreams and not giving up. Working hard to get better. The examples were a little common (wanted to be a dancer, singer) but overall I liked the book. I read this as a read-aloud at
  facebook.com/readwithmschandra
• 
  Amber

  4.3
• 
  Andrea

  Just meh
• 
  Courtney Sheppard

  Loved it!
  
  Kiddos loved this book! It’s so adorable! The Pictures are amazing and the storyline is perfect! Definitely would read again and again.
• 
  Kate

  Silly and cute fluffy little read.
• 
  Drivetime.Fm

  Q: Which former olympic figure skater is also an acclaimed author of children’s books?
  
• 
  Kristy

  Great illustrations.
• 
  Joy

  Delightful child’s book about setting goals.
• 
  Christina Rittenberry

  So cute. The illustrations, the story just a great book.
• 
  Cyndy

  A sweet story about finding and following your dreams.
• 
  Bonnie (A Backwards Story)

  Kristi Yamaguchi: Olympic-winning figure skater, Dancing with the Star Mirror Ball trophy winner, and now...children’s book author? Yes, you read that right! Yamaguchi is trying her hand at children’s literature. Her first picture book, Dream Big, Little Pig! is adorable and full of inspirational messages. It’s enchanting and fun with bright, vivid pictures. Look no further than the cover, with the beautiful typography and pig on skates. There’s even glitter! Despite all the pink and purple, this is a book with a message so strong, it will even appeal to boys.
  
  Dream Big, Little Pig! teaches children to believe in themselves and have fun, even when they’re not good at something. I love the way “pig” rhymes with “big” and is used with this inspirational message. The book centers around Poppy, a little pig with big dreams. As a child, who doesn’t remember dreaming to one day become a singer or a dancer or a movie star? Everybody does, even piglets. I love the fact that Poppy’s family and friends are so supportive of her. Every time she gets a new idea, we get this chorus:
  
  “Follow your dreams!” said Poppy’s mother.
  “You go girl!” said Poppy’s grandparents.
  “Dream big, pig!” said Emma. (Poppy’s best friend.)
  
  They encourage Poppy even when other people say her dream “is just not for you...try something else!”
  
  After a while, Poppy starts to think twice about following her dreams, but then she learns that nothing is impossible. This book reminds me of the famous quote from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass:
  
  "Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it half an hour a day. Why, sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"
  
  Children should always believe in themselves, and that’s the message they learn in Dream Big, Little Pig! You don’t have to be perfect at what you do. It’s okay to make mistakes. As long as you have fun and believe in yourself, your dreams will always take flight. Ultimately, Poppy doesn’t give up and she finally finds something she’s good at.
  
  I truly love this story’s message. It showcases what Yamaguchi believes in. Her
  Always Dream Foundation was created to help children reach their goals in life and this book supports even that. Even her children had a part in helping her write her book. One of her daughters came up with Poppy’s name and her youngest daughter shares a name with Poppy’s best friend. There’s a lovely dedication to her girls at the back of the book encouraging them to dream, as well as a beautiful family picture. Yamaguchi also thanks Linda Oatman High, who helped her idea come together. The fun illustrations were created by Tim Bowers. This is a fantastic book well worth picking up despite the fact that it’s currently exclusively in hardcover!
• 
  Jillian

  Back when I was a kid, that’s right y’all, batten down the hatches it’s a middle school reminiscence, the Olympics seemed like a much bigger deal than they feel now that I’m an adult. In the early 90′s the Olympics were huge, from gymnastics, to skating, to track and field, everything was go big or go home. It was the era of Michael Jordan and the Bulls and we were not about to be impressed by anyone in sports that was subpar. It was around this time that a delicate featured young figure skater took the world by storm. Kristi Yamaguchi was the girl every young girl wanted to be. She was a role model for those that not only wanted to be in sports, but who also needed a role model for character. As I’ve aged, I’ve continued to search for strong female role models and I’ve found few who are as graceful under pressure. Thus, when I found out that she was writing a book for her young daughters, I jumped on the chance to take a look at it and review it.
  
  When you have such a public sports figure, you must assume that they will write about what they know. In this case, the expertise is in things that will make little girls smile and increase their self-esteem and figure skating. In these two realms, Ms. Yamaguchi excels. Dream Big, Little Pig is the story of Poppy, a little girl pig with big ambition, but little ability to follow through on her decisions. She attempts many different “careers” in her dream of being a superstar, but it isn’t until she tries figure skating that she finds her niche. During her attempts at various careers, she relies on her supportive family and friends to get her through her disappointments and she ignores those who tell her she can’t do something. In the end, Poppy succeeds, her family and friends cheer and little girls learn that they can do anything if they try hard enough and have a little bit of natural talent.
  
  “Dream Big, Little Pig” is nicely written and a book that is good for ages 4-7. It has adorable illustrations by Tim Bowers that are full of glitter and pink and purple and all things girlie. This is very definitely a girl-power book and the phrase “You go, girl” is used repeatedly. This one isn’t for the little men, but the message is still a good one for any little ones that might need a little self-esteem boost…or who just like an excellent, pretty book.
• 
  Mehsi

  This was an adorable book about a girl pig who is determined to find something to excel at.
  
  As the book continues you will see her do all kinds of things, from dancing to modelling, but sadly well her dreams get shattered left and right and I just felt so sorry for our little MC. Everyone was cheering for her (well, her family was), and I thought she deserved to find her place, to find something she could be famous and awesome at.
  
  When we get to the last part, with the rink, I knew immediately that this was it. This was going to be the thing for our little pig. And no, that is not a spoiler, if you look at the cover you will see the same thing. :D
  
  I just loved Poppy and how determined she was, how she just kept trying, never giving up, never stopping to find something. She will show people that she can do something. Even if it meant falling down, even if it meant rejections. This girl got the power. I just love a strong character who doesn't give up even when life is being harsh.
  
  The ending was brilliant, and I am glad it was added, it really added something to the story, and showed that even though Poppy found something, she will continue finding other things as well.
  
  The art was really cute, and it fits the story perfectly. I love how Poppy is drawn.
  
  All in all, this is one book I would recommend to people.
  
  Review first posted at
  https://twirlingbookprincess.com
• 
  Lenore Webb

  Bedtime can be a hassle around here so we got into the routine of you have 30 minutes to get your wiggles out, go potty, brush teeth and then comfy and cozy its time for a story. The Poo loves for us to read to her. As a reward for working so hard our friend Lynette @ Crazed Mind let us borrow a wonderful story for the Poo to hear at bedtime. Dream Big Little Pig by Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi is such a wonderful story. Poppy the pig has big dreams, just like my angel. In the story Poppy wants to be a famous star and tries many things. Nothing seems to work out for Poppy and the teachers keep telling her this just isn't for you. It is so sweet to hear Poo cheering her on " You can do it if you try!" Poppy dreams of being a figure skater and even though there are those who think pigs can't skate. Poppy achieves her dream just by doing something she loves. Poppy's family and best friend are very supportive of her dreams and it is very inspiring to a little girl who wants to be a football playing ballerina doctor. We have very much enjoyed borrowing this book. It is a great story for boys and girls alike who have big dreams and parents who encourage them and help them to strive for their goals. The pictures are beautiful and the story reaches out to little ones and grown ups alike!