# This Little Piggy

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 31 Mar 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70873075/at483_thislittlepiggy_mixdown.mp3

Bonnie really wants a pet of her own, but ends up with a pig, quite by accident. Written especially for this podcast by Simon. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice. We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Yes, Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
[0:18] Speaker 1: where you suggest the animal for us to write a
[0:20] Speaker 1: story about. My name's Josephine and I've got a brand
[0:24] Speaker 1: new animal story here just for you. If you'd like
[0:29] Speaker 1: to suggest an animal to be featured in a story,
[0:31] Speaker 1: you can email me at podcast at Animaltales dot uk
[0:36] Speaker 1: with your idea. If you can try to catch our
[0:39] Speaker 1: eye with suggestions about animals that we've never written about before.
[0:44] Speaker 1: Bonnie is from Southampton, England, and she would like a
[0:47] Speaker 1: story about a pig. You can learn more about these
[0:51] Speaker 1: creatures in the animal facts after the story. Now, settle back, relax,
[0:57] Speaker 1: and I'll begin this little piggy. Bonnie really really really
[1:06] Speaker 1: wanted a pet. She begged, she pleaded. She made a
[1:12] Speaker 1: list of everyone she knew who had pets. She didn't
[1:15] Speaker 1: even mind what sort of animal it was. A dog,
[1:19] Speaker 1: a cat, a hamster, a goldfish. But whenever she asked,
[1:24] Speaker 1: her parents would always say, no, we don't have the
[1:28] Speaker 1: space for a pet, explained her mum. And I don't
[1:32] Speaker 1: want to end up doing all the work if you
[1:34] Speaker 1: end up finding it too much. Having a pet is
[1:38] Speaker 1: a big responsibility, continued her dad. You have to feed
[1:43] Speaker 1: them and keep them clean and play with them every day.
[1:48] Speaker 1: But that's only three things Bonnie whind I can do that.
[1:54] Speaker 1: We're sorry, Bonnie, her mum replied, but it's a no crestfallen.
[2:01] Speaker 1: All Bonnie could do was accept it. What they were
[2:05] Speaker 1: saying did make sense. They really didn't have a lot
[2:08] Speaker 1: of room in their house, especially with all the toys
[2:11] Speaker 1: belonging to Bonnie and her younger brother, but she still
[2:15] Speaker 1: couldn't help feeling sad. To cheer herself up, Bonnie went
[2:20] Speaker 1: outside to kick around her football. She'd not been doing
[2:24] Speaker 1: this long when she heard noises coming from her playhouse.
[2:28] Speaker 1: There was a good chance this was the neighbor's cat,
[2:32] Speaker 1: an animal Bonnie was always happy to see, but that's
[2:35] Speaker 1: not what she found inside. Snuffling around the floor was
[2:40] Speaker 1: a tiny piglet. He was small, with a little snout
[2:45] Speaker 1: and a curly tail, and he was rummaging about, grunting
[2:49] Speaker 1: to himself. Bonnie was astonished. She'd seen piglets before on
[2:55] Speaker 1: a farm trip, but never on's this tiny. He was
[2:59] Speaker 1: even smaller than the neighbor's cat. Bonnie closed the door
[3:03] Speaker 1: behind her to prevent the piglet from running out. He
[3:08] Speaker 1: really was a cute one black with a pink band
[3:11] Speaker 1: across his shoulders and front legs. Bonnie giggled as he
[3:16] Speaker 1: trotted up, rubbing himself against her legs. Oh you're so cute,
[3:22] Speaker 1: Bonnie said, scratching the piglet behind the ears. You must
[3:27] Speaker 1: have come from the farm down the road, she decided.
[3:31] Speaker 1: Although that was a long way for such a little
[3:33] Speaker 1: piglet to travel, She wondered if they were missing him.
[3:38] Speaker 1: Perhaps I should tell Mum and Dad about this, she wondered,
[3:43] Speaker 1: Just as the little pig grunted and flopped down by
[3:46] Speaker 1: her feet, Snuggling close, he closed his eyes and appeared
[3:51] Speaker 1: to snore. In that exact moment, Bonnie did something she
[3:57] Speaker 1: should not have done. She decided to keep the pig.
[4:01] Speaker 1: And what's more, she wasn't going to tell anyone. The
[4:05] Speaker 1: piglet would be her little secret, her secret pet pig.
[4:12] Speaker 1: Bonnie named him Otis. He was surprisingly friendly and particularly
[4:18] Speaker 1: keen on belly rubs. But best of all, being so small,
[4:22] Speaker 1: meant Otis was easy to keep hidden. Bonnie chose to
[4:27] Speaker 1: hide the piglet in her bedroom. It was warmer than
[4:30] Speaker 1: the garden, and she had blankets for snuggling down. In.
[4:35] Speaker 1: She taught Otis to hide under her bed, and she
[4:38] Speaker 1: made sure to keep her bedroom door shut when at school.
[4:42] Speaker 1: That way nobody in her family should find out. For
[4:47] Speaker 1: dinner one evening, they had burghers and chips, and Bonnie
[4:51] Speaker 1: carefully sneaked some chips up to her room. Afterwards, when
[4:54] Speaker 1: nobody was looking, Otis gobbled them greedily with happy grunts.
[5:01] Speaker 1: You're getting rounder, Otis, Bonnie noticed, You're growing quickly. The
[5:07] Speaker 1: little piglet was lying on her bed now the size
[5:11] Speaker 1: of a small dog. I wonder how big you're going
[5:15] Speaker 1: to get. It can't be much bigger, surely, she thought.
[5:20] Speaker 1: She couldn't imagine Otis bigger than a labrador. That way,
[5:25] Speaker 1: he would still be able to curl up at the
[5:27] Speaker 1: end of her bed or under the table. The approach
[5:31] Speaker 1: of footsteps sent Bonnie into a panic. Hide. She hissed
[5:36] Speaker 1: to Otis, piling cuddly toys on top of him. It
[5:41] Speaker 1: was Bonnie's brother, Lucas, who opened her bedroom door. We're
[5:45] Speaker 1: going to watch a film, he said, before frowning and
[5:49] Speaker 1: sniffing the air. It smells funny in here, does it,
[5:55] Speaker 1: asked Bonnie innocently, as she cracked open the window. Maybe
[6:00] Speaker 1: it's because I was playing outside. Her brother just shrugged
[6:05] Speaker 1: and was about to leave when something caught his eye.
[6:08] Speaker 1: What's that, he asked, Just my toys, Bonnie replied. I
[6:15] Speaker 1: think one of them just blinked at me, said Lucas.
[6:20] Speaker 1: Bonnie pulled her brother into the room and pushed the
[6:23] Speaker 1: door closed. The sudden movement made Otis wriggle from his
[6:27] Speaker 1: hiding place, which in turn made Lucas stumble backwards. I've
[6:33] Speaker 1: got a pet pig, Bonnie said, but you have to
[6:37] Speaker 1: promise to keep him a secret, or mum and dad
[6:40] Speaker 1: won't let me keep him. Lucas looked between her and Otis.
[6:46] Speaker 1: He too wanted a pet, so this was awfully tempting, right,
[6:52] Speaker 1: Lucas said, But I want to help look after him.
[6:56] Speaker 1: They shook hands, the deal made, the secret had been shared.
[7:02] Speaker 1: A week later, Bonnie was temporarily home alone. Her dad
[7:08] Speaker 1: was at work, and her mum and Lucas had popped
[7:10] Speaker 1: to the shop for milk. This gave Bonnie the opportunity
[7:14] Speaker 1: to let Otis out to stretch his legs. As the
[7:18] Speaker 1: piglet ran around the living room, Bonnie couldn't help but
[7:21] Speaker 1: notice that he'd grown even bigger. He was almost twice
[7:25] Speaker 1: the size he'd been when she'd first found him. Now
[7:29] Speaker 1: he struggled to fit under the bed. They were having
[7:32] Speaker 1: fun charging around the room, which explained why Bonnie failed
[7:37] Speaker 1: to notice her dad get home until he was almost
[7:40] Speaker 1: at the front door. Oh no, Bonnie gasped, he's home early. Desperately,
[7:48] Speaker 1: she tried to get Otis back to her room, but
[7:51] Speaker 1: there just wasn't time. Instead, she scooped him up onto
[7:55] Speaker 1: the sofa and piled on the cushions. Bonnie's dad walked
[8:00] Speaker 1: in to see his daughter sat atop a cushioned mountain. Hey, dad,
[8:05] Speaker 1: she said, with an awkward grin. At that precise moment,
[8:10] Speaker 1: her dad was more concerned with making himself a hot
[8:13] Speaker 1: cup of tea. But something about Bonnie's cushion pile wasn't
[8:17] Speaker 1: quite right Bonnie, he said, why does that cushion have
[8:22] Speaker 1: a curly tail? It was at that moment that the
[8:26] Speaker 1: cushion oinked. Oh please let me keep him, she begged
[8:32] Speaker 1: as she revealed the hidden pet. He's my best friend.
[8:36] Speaker 1: He's ever so well behaved. Bonnie's dad was astounded. The
[8:42] Speaker 1: grown up part of him didn't want a pig in
[8:45] Speaker 1: the house, but his inner child had always liked pigs.
[8:50] Speaker 1: He can stay for a while, he said, but don't
[8:54] Speaker 1: tell your mother, and please get him off the sofa.
[8:58] Speaker 1: Grinning broadly, Bonnie ushered Otis back to her bedroom. Her
[9:03] Speaker 1: secret was still safe. Otis, though, just kept on getting bigger.
[9:10] Speaker 1: He could no longer fit under the bed or in
[9:13] Speaker 1: her toy chest. She was running out of places to
[9:17] Speaker 1: hide him, and as he grew, so did his hunger.
[9:21] Speaker 1: Bonnie had to start sneaking snacks from the cupboard. Her
[9:25] Speaker 1: dad would slip her extra vegetables he'd bought, and Lycas
[9:30] Speaker 1: would pretend to drop food on the floor at meal times,
[9:33] Speaker 1: just so that she could feed them to Otis later.
[9:37] Speaker 1: It soon reached the point where the pig could no
[9:40] Speaker 1: longer stay in Bonnie's bedroom. He was the size of
[9:43] Speaker 1: a labrador, just as Bonnie had hoped, but Bonnie was
[9:47] Speaker 1: now convinced he was going to grow even more. Early
[9:52] Speaker 1: one morning, while every one was asleep, Bonnie sneaked Otis
[9:56] Speaker 1: down the stairs and into the garden, back to the
[9:59] Speaker 1: place it could just about hold him. But she realized
[10:05] Speaker 1: she could see into the kitchen from the playhouse window,
[10:09] Speaker 1: which meant that any one in the kitchen would be
[10:11] Speaker 1: able to see in here. She was going to need
[10:15] Speaker 1: a disguise this time. When she went outside, clutching an
[10:20] Speaker 1: armful of dressing up clothes, her mum saw her leaving
[10:24] Speaker 1: and decided to follow. Bonnie was just squeezing into the
[10:28] Speaker 1: playhouse when her mum asked, what are you doing up
[10:32] Speaker 1: so early in the morning. Bonnie squeaked with surprise as
[10:36] Speaker 1: she pulled a sun hat over Otis's ears. Have you
[10:41] Speaker 1: got some one in there with you, her mum asked, squinting,
[10:45] Speaker 1: it's some Freyer from school. Bonnie answered quickly. She wanted
[10:50] Speaker 1: to play, I see, replied her mum suspiciously. And does
[10:57] Speaker 1: Freyer want some breakfast? I think we're going to eat
[11:00] Speaker 1: in here, Bonnie said as she slipped out, pulling the
[11:05] Speaker 1: playhouse door closed. I'll get us some food. Amused but curious,
[11:12] Speaker 1: Bonnie's mum watched as Bonnie arranged two bowls of cereal yogurt, fruit,
[11:17] Speaker 1: and toast, then returned to the garden. That girl's got
[11:22] Speaker 1: an appetite, said Bonnie's dad, as Lucas tried not to giggle.
[11:28] Speaker 1: Bonnie's new friend, Freyer, seemed to visit an awful lot
[11:31] Speaker 1: over the coming days, although only to the playhouse, and
[11:36] Speaker 1: the pair of them sure did enjoy their food. Bonnie
[11:40] Speaker 1: even thought she'd got away with it until when arriving
[11:44] Speaker 1: home from school one day, she found her mum knelt
[11:47] Speaker 1: in the playhouse doorway her back to the garden. Mum
[11:52] Speaker 1: asked Bonnie nervously. So surprised was her mum that she
[11:58] Speaker 1: managed to bang her head on the low roof. I
[12:01] Speaker 1: was just I mean, I was, she stammered, before finally
[12:06] Speaker 1: confessing I was just petting the pig. Pig, asked Bonnie,
[12:13] Speaker 1: as innocently as she could manage. What pig? Oh? Please,
[12:19] Speaker 1: said her mum. I've only not mentioned it because I
[12:22] Speaker 1: knew your dad wouldn't be happy about it, Ah, winced Bonnie.
[12:28] Speaker 1: Dad knows, and so does Lucas. Her mum came to
[12:33] Speaker 1: a decision time for a family meeting, she said, and
[12:39] Speaker 1: so the secret was out. Bonnie's mum, it turned out,
[12:44] Speaker 1: had known about Otis even before Lucas she'd heard him
[12:49] Speaker 1: winking while the children were at school, But she thought
[12:52] Speaker 1: Bonnie's dad would want to get rid of the pig,
[12:55] Speaker 1: so she'd stayed quiet, doing her part to clean up
[12:59] Speaker 1: after Otis and slipping him extra food. Both parents had
[13:04] Speaker 1: thought that the other didn't want a pet, which was
[13:07] Speaker 1: why they kept saying no, when in fact, individually they
[13:11] Speaker 1: thought the opposite. So if we all know about him
[13:16] Speaker 1: and want him, does that mean he can stay, Bonnie
[13:20] Speaker 1: asked hopefully. Oh, Bonnie, we can't keep him, her dad
[13:26] Speaker 1: said sadly. Otis is a saddleback pig. They're one of
[13:31] Speaker 1: the biggest. He's going to be double his current size
[13:35] Speaker 1: by the time he finishes growing. Oh, said Bonnie as
[13:40] Speaker 1: she realized what this meant. He won't fit in my playhouse,
[13:45] Speaker 1: will he. No, Dear, he won't, her mum said gently.
[13:51] Speaker 1: But we've got an idea. This involved talking to the
[13:55] Speaker 1: farm down the road. At least then Otis would have
[13:59] Speaker 1: all the space he'd need and proper pig food too.
[14:04] Speaker 1: The farmer came around later that afternoon. He was more
[14:08] Speaker 1: than a little surprised at seeing such a large pig
[14:11] Speaker 1: in their house. You can visit him whenever you want,
[14:15] Speaker 1: said the farmer kindly. Bonnie sniffled and gave Otis a
[14:21] Speaker 1: big hug. I'm going to miss him, she said, we
[14:26] Speaker 1: all will. Her mum added. Otis was driven away, with
[14:31] Speaker 1: Bonnie waving until the farmer's truck was no longer in sight.
[14:36] Speaker 1: I can't believe you hid a pig that size for
[14:39] Speaker 1: that long, her mum said, and kept it fed and clean.
[14:44] Speaker 1: Her dad added, I just really really wanted a pet,
[14:50] Speaker 1: said Bonnie, as she wiped away a tear. About that,
[14:55] Speaker 1: said her mum. We've been talking. Maybe keeping a pig
[15:00] Speaker 1: in your room wasn't the best idea, but you did
[15:03] Speaker 1: do a great job, so we were thinking. Her dad continued,
[15:09] Speaker 1: maybe it's time we'd let you have a pet. Bonnie's
[15:13] Speaker 1: eyes brightened. Just not one as big as Otis, her
[15:17] Speaker 1: dad added quickly. So that weekend, Bonnie visited the farm
[15:24] Speaker 1: to see Otis and went home with her very own rabbit.
[15:29] Speaker 1: She was cute and fluffy and bouncy, and Bonnie knew
[15:34] Speaker 1: just how to look after her, all thanks to her
[15:38] Speaker 1: wonderful secret pig animal fact. The pig in our story
[15:48] Speaker 1: is a British saddleback. It gets its name from the
[15:51] Speaker 1: saddle shaped marking on its long back. A male pig
[15:56] Speaker 1: is called a bore, and a female is a sow.
[16:00] Speaker 1: British saddle back sows give birth to a round ten piglets,
[16:04] Speaker 1: known as a litter. Saddle Backs were once popular because
[16:08] Speaker 1: they were good at foraging for food and could withstand
[16:11] Speaker 1: the British weather. They are not the breed of pig
[16:15] Speaker 1: used on large modern farms, which means that they are
[16:18] Speaker 1: at risk of disappearing. There are just a few hundred
[16:21] Speaker 1: British saddlebacks left. Thank you for your suggestion, Bonny. We
[16:27] Speaker 1: hope that you all enjoyed the story. Wherever you're listening
[16:30] Speaker 1: in the world, don't forget to look at our animal
[16:33] Speaker 1: Tales books over on Amazon Great bedtime reading, especially if
[16:38] Speaker 1: you've discovered the joy of reading for yourself. Make sure
[16:42] Speaker 1: you join us next time for another great animal tail.
[16:46] Speaker 1: Good Bye,

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