Brooks, Walter R[ollin. 1186 - 1958] - FREDDY And The POPINJAY

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945. 1st edition. Red cloth binding with black stamping. Pale green pictorial eps printed in black ink. Blue topstain. Orange & blue color pictorial dust jacket. [10], 244, [2] pp. Line drawings by Kurt Weise. 8vo. VG+ (square & tight/poi to ffep)/VG (some edge wear, with small chip to bottom edge of front panel). Freddy the Pig is the central figure in a series of 26 children's books written between 1927 and 1958 by American author Walter R. Brooks and illustrated by Kurt Wiese, consisting of 25 novels and one poetry collection. The books focus on the adventures of a group of animals living on a farm in rural upstate New York. Freddy is introduced as "the smallest and cleverest" of the pigs on the Bean farm. He is initially just one of the ensemble, but he becomes the central character shortly into the series. Freddy's interests drive the books as he becomes a detective, politician, newspaper editor, magician, pilot, and other vocations or avocations. A recurring villain is the slimy but dignified Simon, who leads a gang of criminal rats. Human characters include Mr. and Mrs. Bean (who own the farm), the population of local Centerboro, and human villains. Much of the humor in the books is derived from the self-referential way in which the author acknowledges the unreality of talking animals, unlike other children's works in which they are accepted as normal. As the series progresses, the Bean Farm animals attain national fame for their ability to talk and read, and the humans whom they encounter are taken aback at first (though only momentarily) to find themselves conversing with animals. The animals and humans do not age, although the stories reflect the social conditions at the time of writing; for example, the books published during World War II feature scrap drives and victory gardens.