I was filled with excitement when Janet Lau asked me to give her feedback on her book, “The Little Grey Pig,” because I knew it would not disappoint because it was something created out of passion and love. So I decided to break it down into a blog. First I must remind you that reading any book is a personal experience of how you relate to the characters and the following is mostly that.
Next, let's briefly dive into the story itself. The book is about Little Grey Pig who was given money by her mother to make a couple purchases in the store, but she saw items like airplanes and dresses she really loves. She was saddened that she didn’t have enough money to purchase them. Moreover, she was struggling to communicate with her mother what she wanted in spite of Mother Pig reaching out to her in hopes that the Little Pig would tell her what was bothering her. The Little Grey Pig decided to find scrap materials around her home to make airplanes and dresses but the attempts failed. She encountered Owletta on her way home and opened up to her about her attempts in making dresses. With excitement, Owletta asked Little Grey Pig to make her a dress for her party. When Little Grey Pig and Mother Pig arrived, it was the grand reveal in which was Little Grey Pig’s biggest disappointment when the dress fell apart. Little Grey Pig was super sad but Mother Pig and Oweletta consoled her and encouraged her to continue trying. The Little Grey Pig ended up with her own dress shop full of dresses she made with compliments from shoppers.
As a photographer, I am very selective about colours, illustrations and overall layout of the book. “The Little Grey Pig” is filled with colourful and adorable illustrations, which really grabs my daughter’s attention. As I was reading the book to her, she would stop me to ask questions about each little detail she saw on it. She would ask “why is she sad?” and “why is she crying?” The illustrations not only captured my child’s attention but also had a great portrayal of Little Grey Pig’s emotions and feelings.
As a mother and entrepreneur, I find that there are many layers with great teaching moments for the young children. Although Little Grey Pig was unable to express her desires to her mother, she made attempts to recreate things she loved with the little she had and her imagination. Through the process, she discovered her passion for dressmaking. The discovery of a passion is the seed to all business ventures. The book shows great failures as part of any success stories. The difference of the outcome is whether you would keep trying or you would give up.
Having the courage to declare what you want can be scary, because of the fear of judgment and unmet expectations. Little Grey Pig chose to open up to Owletta and it is very common. We usually tell our friends our dreams and desires before our family. Little Grey Pig discovered her passion and Owletta saw her talent. I find that Owletta played a key role in Little Grey Pig’s journey by providing her with an opportunity or what we call - “a break.”
The key to success is to have a lot of passion in what you do, a little bit of luck and perseverance, but most important of all, you need a few good cheerleaders who can also mentor you. Though Little Grey Pig failed in a big way, Owletta and Mother Pig continued to encourage her, “mentor” her and nurtured her talent. I presumed that with Mother Pig learning about what Little Grey Pig went through, she not only had the courage to continue with her creative work, she had gotten the resources for her projects and made it a success story.
In the future, I hope to see more about what the Little Grey Pig had gone through in the process of starting her little business. Her journey is fascinating to me as an entrepreneur because I would imagine similar challenges in her own context. I just love this book for me as much as it is for my daughter.
Here's where you can grab yourself a copy:
Amazon.ca (paperback) https://tinyurl.com/2p9fucfj
Amazon.ca (hardcover) https://tinyurl.com/yckzaasn
Amazon.com (paperback) https://tinyurl.com/47zbjd6p
Amazon.com (hardcover) https://tinyurl.com/5dfs22a6
Learn more about the author Janet H. Lau on Instagram and Twitter: @littlehandsriri
Learn more about the author Janet H. Lau on Facebook or Goodreads: Janet H. Lau
Follow The Little Grey Pig on TikTok: @TheLittleGreyPig
0 Comments