Piggins the pig is the butler for the Reynards, a very rich couple who are foxes.

Hosting a party, The Reynards greet guests as they arrive, each couple decked out in their finest.

The couples are depicted in humorous fashion.

Before the event, the Mrs. cannot find her lovely expensive necklace. Intimating that perhaps Piggins stole it, when it is discovered, nary a word about their implied accusation.

When the dinner begins, the lights go out and when turned back again, it is discovered that Mrs. Reynards diamond lavalier is missing.

Once again, Piggins is mentioned as a possible suspect.
Saving the day, Piggins discovers it was Mr. & Mrs. Rat who took the babble.

While not one of Yolen's best, it is a delightful tale with an underlying theme of how rich perceive those they deem beneath them. ( )

I have to admit, I found this one to be rather dissapointing primarily because it seemed like such a traditional who dunnit mystery story. Piggins played the astute butler in a story where on more than one occasion it was suggested that the butler did it. He not only played the traditional classy servant which seemed strangely Victorian, but he didn't stand up for himself against the fact that one of his two employers didn't even trust him. There are a few minor literary devices spinkled very lightly over the whole piece, but this doesn't compare with most of Jane's other work. ( )

This is the first of the three Piggins books, and it's the best of the lot. Mrs. Reynard's diamond necklace goes missing! Who's to blame? Piggins snuffs it out, of course. He's so cute and portly! And he's brilliant. You'd think he could get a better job than butler, ha ha. ( )

This is a fictional story with colored pencil and watercolored illustrations. The content of this story is about a family that is having a dinner party, when suddenly the lights goes out. Mrs. Reynard's diamond necklace goes missing and the butler finds the thief, Lord and Lady Ratsby. The reading level of this book is from second to fourth grade. Some curricular connectinos could be mysteries, detectives, pigs, dinner parties, and fantasy.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynard, wealthy foxes, are having a party to sell their unlucky diamond lavaliere. During the party the diamond is stolen and only Piggins, the family’s butler, can solve the mystery.

Piggins by Jane Yolen is set in the time of famous detective mysteries and uses vocabulary common in that time. At times it pokes fun at the stereotypes of such novels (the butler is jokingly accused of having done the crime twice, but solves the case when the dog detective cannot). At other times the story embraces stereotypes (the rats committed the crime). The story is intelligently written and contains a vague reference to Beatrix Potter’s story The Tale of Peter Rabbit when one of the four rabbit characters, Pierre Lapin, mentions having had fun in a garden. The illustrations properly represent the time period in which the story is set in terms of furniture and dress. Several of the illustrations show all of the rooms in the entire house within a single illustration, acting almost like alibis for the characters. Published by Harcourt Brace & Company in 1987, Piggins is unusual in that the animal characters are anthropomorphized to the point were they where clothes. This may not be enjoyable to all readers.