The Adventures of Higgledy Piggledy • BOOK 1
Text Copyright © 2025 David J. Tomlinson
All rights reserved.
Art Copyright © 2025 Loyola Press
All rights reserved.
Cover and interior illustrations: Janna Mattia
Additional illustrations by Julia Huby
ISBN: 978-0-8294-5796-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2024951077
Published in Chicago, IL
Printed in China
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 3 4 DC 10
To the beautiful Julia, an artist in so many ways; my rainbow and the pot of gold.
This is not so much an introduction as it is an introduction to an introduction.
I asked Higgledy Piggledy, my creatively carefree friend, to write a proper introduction to his adventures. But true to his Higgledy Piggledy nature, he started in the middle, meandered for a while, then came to an unplanned finish at what should have been the beginning. And so I asked Higgledy’s best friend, Harem Scarem, the speedyspontaneous hare, to have a go at writing one and he, in his usual haste, skipped the beginning and
middle altogether and shot straight to the end, which left me with nothing more than a conclusion.
Snowy, Higgledy’s other best friend (it’s possible to have more than one BF, you know), whom I asked next, actually did start at the beginning but then went no further, preferring in her customary chilledout way to count clouds instead.
Finally, I stepped in, determined to start at the beginning (as one should when starting something), and fully intending to proceed all the way through a middle to a most definite end (without deviating, skipping, or coming to a cloud-counting standstill)
BUT Mayor Crackling confiscated my pen.
He declared that there was only one person qualified to write an introduction to the stories about the town of Oinkers, and that was the Mayor of Oinkers. Meaning . . . HIM! Adopting a superior sneer, Mayor Crackling took my pen and wrote in a slow, ceremonious swirl: Hitherto and Whereof and
Ipso facto. “That’s just to make it all sound nice and legal,” he said, though none of which, no matter how legal, sounded like a beginning, middle, or an end.
And there you have it. Or, rather, you don’t.
I’m afraid you’ll have to start the books without an introduction to the hilarious adventures of Higgledy Piggledy, the inventive, clever-thinking, fun-loving pig who is always one hoof ahead of the stuffy, huffy-puffy, fun-squashing Mayor Crackling.
David J. Tomlinson
Higgledy Piggledy, the colorful, caring pig, was playing hide-and-seek with his two best friends: Harem Scarem, the happy-hearted, fleet-footed hare, and Snowy, the laid-back, jet-black sheep.
Higgledy was hiding under the mud of his fishpond, with his snout sticking up so he could breathe. It’s useful to have a sticky-out snout when you are hiding under a layer of mud. That was Higgledy Piggledy for you—always counting his blessings. He was grateful for the things he had, instead of worrying about the things he did not have.
Snowy was hiding in the shade of the red oak tree. Only the whites of her eyes were visible as she blinked. Snowy liked being a black sheep. If she had been a purple-spotted sheep, she would have liked that too. Snowy liked being exactly who she was, no matter how everyone else saw her.
Harem Scarem ran around the overgrown yard looking for his friends. He looked in sensible places like the greenhouse, and he looked in silly places like the watering can. He looked in the silly places because his feet moved faster than his brain. Harem’s feet made ALL his decisions for him. He ran first and thought later.
Just then, Mayor Crackling appeared at the gate of Higgledy’s yard. He wore a bowler hat and a somber, black three-piece suit that was much too small for him. The mayor’s clothes were always much too small for him, because while his stomach was in the habit of growing bigger, his clothes were
in the habit of remaining the same size. Mayor
Crackling was the greediest pig in the town of Oinkers, which was saying something because all the pigs in the town of Oinkers were greedy, and not just for food. They were also greedy for money. And once they had it, they held on to it, reluctant to spend any of their pennies on helping
others. Higgledy Piggeldy was different. When Higgledy had money, he spent all his pennies on helping others.
“Higgledy Piggledy, where are you?” Mayor Crackling yelled in his bossy voice. As mayor, he felt it was his duty to be as bossy as possible. He tapped impatiently on the yard gate with an umbrella. Mayor Crackling carried an umbrella every day of the year because he didn’t trust the sun. In his opinion, “A lovely day is just a very bad day in d isguise!”
Mayor Crackling heard a snorting sound from the bottom of the fishpond and then a gurgled “Hellooooo.” He saw something strange poking up through the mud. Was that a frog trying to talk to him? And not just any frog, but a pink frog?
Mayor Crackling was startled. He’d never seen a pink frog before, especially one with such big nostrils. Then suddenly the big nostrils rose into the air, splashing mud in all directions. The pink frog was really the end of Higgledy Piggledy’s snout.
Before Mayor Crackling could stop him, Higgledy shook the mayor’s hoof. Mud from Higgledy’s Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt dripped all over the mayor. Higgledy wore Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirts all the time. He said they made him feel sunny on a cloudy day. This was another difference between the mayor and Higgledy.
Mayor Crackling always imagined the worst, while Higgledy always hoped for the best.
“Hello, Mayor Crackling,” Higgledy said, still shaking the mayor’s hoof, covering it with soggy weeds from the fishpond.
The mayor looked down at his icky-sticky hoof and puffed up his chest with an angry, deep breath, which caused one of his suit buttons to burst free and WHIZZ past the end of Harem’s nose.
“Missed me!” Harem said, thinking he was the target. “But nice try.” Harem liked to give encouragement wherever he could.
“Ugh!” Mayor Crackling exclaimed as he watched the slimy fishpond goo squish down his hoof and splash onto his newly shined shoes.
“Don’t worry, I can wash that mud right off,” Harem Scarem said. He turned on the hose and pointed it at the mayor’s hoof. Water gushed
everywhere, which cleaned the mayor’s hoof but left him soaking from head to shiny shoes. The spray of water caused his bowler hat to fly straight up in the air and land cockeyed on his head. His somber, black three-piece suit shrank even more, putting more strain on the buttons.
“You wackadoodle hare!” Mayor Crackling shouted. Water spurted out of his right ear like a fountain. “Turn that hose off!” The mayor huffed and puffed with rage as another button burst from his suit, once again whizzing past Harem’s nose.
“You’re getting closer,” Harem said, with even more encouragement than last time.
“Relax,” Snowy said to the mayor. “You can use my woolly coat to dry yourself.”
Snowy rubbed her fleece against Mayor Crackling like a towel. When she finished, the mayor was covered in black, curly wool. He looked like a big, hairy armpit.
“Get off me, you fluffy fool!” Mayor Crackling shouted. “You three are always causing trouble.”
“Thank you very much,” Harem said, not thinking fast enough to realize that the mayor was not paying them a compliment.
“Listen, Higgledy,” Mayor Crackling said as he picked the black wool off his face. “I’ve come to warn you that the town council has passed a new law. Hereby, forthwith, henceforward, and notwithstanding . . .” The mayor loved to use grand, legal terms whenever he could, even though sometimes he confused himself. He cleared his throat and tried again in plainer language. “From now on all the houses in the town of Oinkers are to look nice.”
Higgledy’s cottage stood on a hill overlooking Oinkers. Unlike the other homes in Oinkers, which were square and made from neat, gray bricks, Higgledy’s cottage was all wonky and made from rough, brown stones.
“Your cottage is an eyesore,” Mayor Crackling scolded, shaking his hoof at Higgledy. “I’m ordering you to fix it up.”
“But I like it the way it is,” Higgledy said.
“Well, the town council does NOT,” the mayor yelled. “I have warned you time and time again. This is your last chance. As head of the council, I am now ordering you to fix it, or I will send in the bulldozers and knock it down!”