Tots to Teens & in beTween - Far Far Away! by John Segal

Title: Far Far Away!

Author & Illustrator: John Segal

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publication Date: May 14, 2009

Format: Hardback, 32 pages

Genre: Children's book, Picture book

Other Books in the Series:

Pirates Don't Take Baths

How I Got It: the library

Goodreads Summary:
That's it.
I'm leaving. Tonight. Forever.

What child hasn't wanted to pack up his worldly belongings and run away to teach his parents a lesson? That's just what this pig plans to do! But when he, and his helpful mother, consider what those worldly belongings involve - tent, sleeping bag, clothes, pets, toys - he realizes everything he needs is right where he is. And, more importantly, so is everyone he needs.

John Segal gives this universal story a warm and funny treatment full of hilarious details and a pig you won't soon forget.

Far Far Away! is a fun story about an angry child that decides to runaway.  Instead of being snotty like the bunny in The Runaway Bunny, Segal's piglet is never mean and his anger is gently soothed by his clever mother.

The story starts on the title page where we can see the piglet and his mother grocery shopping.  In the following pages we can see him dropping things out of the shopping cart and finally getting in trouble with his mother.  The piglet responds like a lot of angry children:

Image courtesy of John Segal Design

That's it.  I'm leaving.  Tonight.  Forever.  You can't stop me.

The conversation continues down the street and all the way home.  When his mother asks exactly where he's going, the piglet replies, "Away.  Far far away from here!"  As the mother begins to make a cake she continues to question him and he imagines his escape.

Image courtesy of John Segal Design

How will you get there?

On my BIKE.

At night?  You'll need a light

Okay.

And your helmet.

Fine.

Image courtesy of John Segal Design

When the piglet's mother learns that he plans to sleep on the ground, she asks him what will happen if it rains.  He boldly states that he'll just get wet.  Well, being the loving mother that she is, she suggests that he bring a tent, sleeping bag, warm coat, and his blanky.  The piglet decides he would also like to bring his pet dog, cat, bird, two fish and some assorted toys.  His mother completely agrees with him and he imagines his overloaded bicycle.  When she suggests a that a piece of cake would also be nice to take along, her son is confused.

CAKE?

There's cake?

He's told he'll need to wait for the cake to finish but then he'll be free to go.  By this point the piglet's anger has run its course and he states that he's not leaving as he as everything he needs right there.

Image courtesy of John Segal Design

I love that the piglet gets a chance to cool down as he thinks of all the things he has to take with him.  His mother is very calm and supportive the whole time - he doesn't even notice her knowing little smile.  Segal uses a very clean water color style for his expressive illustrations.  The alternating font type for the mother and piglet was brilliant.  The mother has a sweet italicized font for her soothing words and the piglet has a bold font of varying size.  I can just hear him being all angry, determined, and matter of fact.  (Is it strange that in my head the piglet sounds a lot like my little sister did when she was three?)

Verdict:

This is a story that everyone can relate to.  I think kids will enjoy the grumpy piglet and parents the way the he sounds like a real kid.  The story is great and the text is simple enough that younger readers can read Far Far Away to their family.  This is a fun one to pick up from the store or library.