The Pig and the Dumpling

Ignatius is a pig with a big appetite and very little patience. When someone tosses a fresh dumpling his way, he grabs it in mid-air and swallows. That dumpling is big and it is hot, and very quickly it is stuck--right in Ignatius’s throat! Desperate for relief, the poor pig races through his little community to reach the cooling water of the ocean. And careening on his way to the sea, he has plenty of near misses, and a few collisions, with local village folk. How much trouble can one pig cause? A playful story with a ＂you-can’t-catch-me＂ spirit that celebrates small rural communities, simple living, and silly pigs.

A former teacher and a craftsperson, Bonnie Johnstone is originally from Quebec and now makes her home in Witless Bay, NL, the seaside community in this story. She lives with her husband on a small farm, where they have gardens and two sheep, but no pigs. The Pig and the Dumpling is loosely inspired by an anecdote Bonnie discovered when researching Bygone Days of Witless Bay, an award-winning community history which she compiled with Maureen Walsh, on behalf of the Witless Bay Heritage Committee. It is her first children’s book.

Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, Veselina Tomova graduated from Leipzig’s School of Graphic Art and Book Design before moving to Newfoundland. She has illustrated books in Germany, Bulgaria and Canada, including the children’s books Star’s Island, Maggie & Hero, An Old Man’s Winter Night: Ghostly tales and Spirited Away: Fairy stories of old Newfoundland. She lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in a small house overlooking the harbour.