. . . Pookie is not an only child. She has two big sisters who moved away, leaving her without anyone to pester besides her folks. So, - she became very good at pestering her folks. In self-defense, they decided that Pookie should have a project to keep her busy. But what kind of a project could a city girl have?

. . . The Bigrock County Fair has lots of kids doing 4-H projects. They bake cookies, or cakes, or preserve fruit and vegetables. Some kids show photography. Some sew, or crochet, and some make the most beautiful quilts. Some raise animals like dogs or horses or cows. But what can a city girl do?

. . . Pookie says; "Little pigs are so cute. Can I raise pigs for my project? My older sister, who lives on the farm, could keep them for me, and I could go out there every day to feed them, and train them, and take care of them. Since they raise other pigs, they would not be any problem at all. What do you think?"

. . . As you may recall, the project was designed to prevent Pookie from pestering her parents, and producing porkers was proposed as the perfect plan. And so it was, - a pig project.

. . .The next trip was to the pig auction. At the auction, there were dozens of baby pigs of every kind. There were black pigs and white pigs. Black and white pigs, and red pigs. There were pigs that squealed, and pigs that ran, and pigs that would not.