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A mysterious and fearsome creature called the Ignormus is living in the Big Woods. No one has actually gotten a good look at it but, because of the Ignormus, the animals live in terror of going into the Big Woods. Freddy the Pig makes the mistake of borrowing Mr. Bean's gun without permission for protection in the Big Woods and loses it. To make matters worse, someone leaves a bag of stolen oats in the pig pen and everyone, including Mr. Bean, believes that Freddy is the thief. From 1927 to 1958, Walter R. Brooks wrote 26 books starring one of the great characters in American children's literature: Freddy the Pig. The Freddy books, widely beloved as classics and deemed the American equivalent of the Pooh stories, are a remarkable achievement in children's literature.
Author
Walter Rollin Brooks (January 9, 1886 – August 17, 1958) was an American writer best remembered for his short stories and children's books, particularly those about Freddy the Pig and other anthropomorphic animal inhabitants of the "Bean farm" in upstate New York. Born in Rome, New York, Brooks attended college at the University of Rochester and subsequently studied homeopathic medicine in New York City. He dropped out after two years, however, and returned to Rochester, where he married his first wife, Anne Shepard, in 1909. Brooks found employment with an advertising agency in Utica, and then "retired" in 1911, evidently because he came into a considerable inheritance. His retirement was not permanent: in 1917, he went to work for the American Red Cross and later did editorial work for several magazines, including The New Yorker. In 1940, Brooks turned to his own writing for his full-time occupation. Walter married his second wife, Dorothy Collins, following the death of Anne in 1952. The first works Brooks published were poems and short stories. His short story "Ed Takes the Pledge" about a talking horse was the basis for the 1960s television comedy series Mister Ed (credit for creating the characters is given in each episode to "Walter Brooks"). His most enduring works, however, are the 26 books he wrote about Freddy the Pig and his friends. Source
