Pot Bellies and other Miniature Pigs

Rating:  

Pot Bellies and other Miniature Pigs, by Pat Storer.  Barron’s Educational Series (1992), 64 pages.

This book was a huge disappointment. I was looking for some basic information on pot bellies—what it’s like to live with them, how to choose one, and how to care for one, in order to determine whether or not a pig would fit into my life. Unfortunately the book told me next to nothing about any of this. It reads as though the author was just trying to fill up the pages with no regard for the usefulness of the information. There is a section on pig illnesses, for example, that lists just about every possible pig infection, rash, hoof problem, disease, etc., but without telling the reader how to handle the problem, what the symptoms are, or whether or not a vet should be called. I also learned nothing about how to choose a pig, about different pig personalities, or about general pig behavior.

The photos in the book are cute (because how can a pig not be cute?) but the clothing the people are wearing appears to be from the 1970s, which further confirms my suspicion that the book is just a quick throwing together of old information from other pig books, rather than a well-thought-out, well-written, up-to-date book on pot bellies. If you’re looking for information on pot bellies, there have to be better books out there. Don’t waste your money on this one.

This review first appeared in 2005
By Cindy Blackett