The Adventures of Pongo and Stink

The Adventures of Pongo and Stink by Lisa Nicol. Illustrated by Karen Blair. Penguin Books 2025. Hardcover Junior Fiction 195 pages. RRP $14.99. ISBN 9781761355691.

Reviewed by Debra Williams.

Meet Pongo and Stink, two young pigs who are fed up with living in the pigsty. Pongo feels that the farm dog, (their tormentor Rollo), owned by Farmer Nic, is treated much better than they are, especially when it comes to food, ear scratches, belly rubs and attention. Pongo suggests an outrageous idea to Stink: they should escape and dress up as dogs, to live the lifestyle they could easily become accustomed to.

Escaping from the sty and travelling into town, Pongo sees a costume shop, and she organises two dog disguises: a Border Collie suit for herself and a Corgi suit for her mate Stink (he isn’t so sure about the plan). As they walk back through town, however, everyone makes a great fuss of them, and Pongo is certain they are onto a good thing. After all, who can resist a pig in a dog suit?

Even Farmer Nic doesn’t recognise them as pigs when they show up at the farmhouse, and lavishes love and food on the two piggies, thinking that they are stray puppies, that is, until everything backfires! Along the way, there is a wily fox who tries to scupper their plans. Pongo and Stink eventually discover that to be yourself is the greatest, mud-splattered adventure of all.

Reminiscent of an Aesop’s fable with the clever pigs outsmarting the fox, this is a fun and delightful story of friendship, following your dreams and coming to self-acceptance. (Not to mention the dangers of eating far too much cheese!)

This story will be enjoyed by confident readers aged 7 years and over.