Piggy the Kitty: A Book Review

I have a funny story. Honey Graham and I stumbled across this fun YouTube Channel 5 or 6 years ago. It’s Matt3756 and he has videos of claw machines and arcade games and more. The kids and Honey Graham and I love watching his videos

So why am I writing about a book called Piggy?. 

Sometimes, on his videos, Matt talks about his cats, Piggy and Goober. Sometimes, the cats even join him on camera. I found Piggy’s Facebook Page which is updated by Matt’s Mom, Karen Malena. Karen and I got to talking over Facebook messenger, and she offered to send me a copy of her book, Piggy, which is based on the real story of Piggy’s life! Piggy even “autographed” it for me! 

So, onward to the book: 

The book is written in five parts: Goober’s Tail; Piggy, Melvin, and The Claw; Bolivar; The Big Move; and A Christmas Vision. 

Goober the cat is telling her adopted kitten, Peanut, a bedtime story about Piggy and her adventures. As Mama cat says, “It’s the tale of an unlikely friendship, great bravery, heroes, and villains. This is the story of the great mouse rescue.” 

Goober introduces us (and Peanut) to the “villain” of the story, Bolivar, an angry tom cat, and one of the heroes of the story, Melvin the mouse. 

But first, we need to learn more about Piggy the cat! We learn about the pretty kitty who lives with her human, Matt. Piggy meets a mouse as he was trying to steal Piggy’s human’s food (how dare he!?). 

I have to interrupt myself for a moment to warn y’all. There are a few sections in the book that made me cry. I don’t want to give too much away, but this is your heads up. There are many more sections that made us laugh, though, so don’t think it’s a sad book! 

One of our favorite parts was a scene where Melvin the mouse has to operate the human’s claw machine! We had a good giggle over this trying to imagine a mouse using a claw machine to rescue a cat! Of course, this was a bonding experience and Melvin and Piggy became fast friends afterward. Why would a cat befriend a mouse? Well, if you met a mouse with food stealing skills such as Melvin has and if you were a feline with an obsession with food, wouldn’t you befriend someone who could help you access the tasty snacks that your human leaves out and about? 

In the next section of the book, we are brought back to Bolivar, the crabby tabby, as well as a few other neighborhood animals including Sargent Rolf, the old German Shepherd. Sargent and Bolivar have an ongoing feud. 

Then, uh oh! Melvin the Mouse has been spotted by Matt and his uncle inside the house, but Piggy saves the day and her friend. Whew!

Next, we learn that Matt is planning on moving to a new place and Melvin and Piggy are worried about what this means for their friendship. They being to formulate a plan… 

… and a few adventures later, moving day arrives! Will Melvin and Piggy be forced apart, or will the two pals find a way to stay together? 

Finally, the last section of the book takes place around Christmas time, after the move. There is another really sad part followed by another hilarious part. Don’t miss it! Finally, we are kept in suspense as we wonder what the special gift is for Piggy from his human, Matt, and believe me, it’s a good one! 

This book is adorable. My husband read it out loud over several nights to our boys (5 1/2  and almost 3). After the first night, my oldest was so excited about the story, he wrote about it for his writing practice homework. He drew a picture of Piggy, Matt, and Melvin and wrote, “Piggy is hungry. Matt gives Piggy a granola bar. A mouse lives in a hole in the wall. Piggy chased the mouse.”

I wouldn’t say this is a book just for kids though. I really enjoyed it as well. It was a feel good book with a lot of vivid imagery thanks to Karen’s fun, imaginative, and exciting style of writing. I could practically see Piggy and Melvin on their adventures. 

Of course, the moral of the story is about friendship, even unlikely ones, and how it doesn’t take violence or meanness to solve problems. All of us would love to see a sequel continuing the adventures of these animals and their human.

You can find Piggy on Amazon HERE. You can also find it at Tuxedo and Beans publishing.

If you are interested in Piggy’s true story, check out Rescued, Volume 2, The Healing Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyes. Piggy’s story is included in this collection!! I have put it on my wishlist. 

If you’d like to see more works by Karen Malena, check out her website, KarenMalena.com. She also has a Facebook Page and a blog.

And if you love videos of Claw Machines, Arcade Games, and more, check out Piggy's human's (Matt's) YouTube Channel!

What’s the name of your best friend and how long have you been BFFs?