FREDDY THE PIG
by Walter R. Brooks
Before the popular pig Babe or Wilbur in CHARLOTTE'S WEB was ever thought about, there was Freddy the Pig. Freddy lives at the Bean Farm in upstate New York in a town called Centerboro. Freddy has a barnyard full of friends that are always asking for advice and help, which the big-hearted pig readily gives. The first title in the series -- FREDDY GOES TO FLORIDA (originally titled TO AND AGAIN) -- introduces us to Freddy and his band of feathered friends, as well as a variety of other farm animals. Freddy's friends are always up for adventure and travel to far away places like space, and even the North Pole. Every book teaches us a moral lesson, but not without some great reading fun in the process. There are 26 books in which Freddy tries his hand at just about everything. Freddy's very adaptable at being a detective, a pilot, a newspaper editor, a bank president, a magician, a poet, a politician, an explorer, a mayor, and just generally a great friend to Bean Farm and Centerboro residents.
This series, written by Walter R. Brooks, was originally published by Knopf from 1927 until 1958. They were among the most popular books of their time and sold over 350,000 copies up until Brooks' death in 1958 when the series ended. Until recently, Freddy the Pig books were out of print and unavailable except through a library or used book store. Targeted for the 9 to 12-year-old age group, librarians have struggled for years to find these books and share them with readers. In 1998 Overlook Press began reprinting several of the books each year as copies of the originals. Each book is about 200 pages and feature drawings from illustrator Kurt Wiese.
In 1984 the organization Friends of Freddy was founded to get the Freddy books back in print and encourage people to meet Freddy through reading. In addition, Friends of Freddy publishes a quarterly newsletter, Bean Home Newsletter.
Every two years they hold a convention near Roxbury, N.Y., where Walter R. Brooks lived in his later years. Some people have been fans for over 50 years now and have passed on their Freddy collection to their grandchildren. Freddy has his own website dedicated to him at http://www.freddythepig.org. It is because of Fans of Freddy that this human life-sharing, friendship and teamwork series is back in print.
We hope you'll enjoy pigging out on the Freddy books like we have. Enjoy!
About the Bean Home Newsletter:
The Bean Home Newsletter is published quarterly by the Friends of Freddy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of the writings of Walter R. Brooks and his literary alter ego, Freddy the Pig. More information is available by writing to Friends of Freddy, P. O. Box 912, Greenbelt, MD 20768-0912 USA.
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