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A simple country pig, named Joe, decides he is going to become a fancy musician after seeing an infomercial of a banjo playing dog. He makes his banjo out of junkyard finds and takes his show on the road (ok, his small town!) The problem is he can’t find an animal audience suited for his twingin’ and twangin’!
Hopeless and dejected, he enters a back-alley door. He stumbles across a new path… a heavier path where he finds a community of listeners who think his music is totally metal!After seeing a fancy dog playing fancy banjo music on TV, Joe Pig figures he can build his own banjo out of parts he finds in his junkyard. He works morning, noon and night to create this
unique instrument… that will hopefully lead Joe to his new gig as a small-town musician with big dreams!
Joe falls into a series of hilarious mishaps with less than stellar reactions before he finds success & acceptance in the most unlikely,
heavy, place. Sometimes, our talents & dreams lead us to the community we have always waited for.
The Story of a Pig Named Joe and His Quest to Be Fancy is an homage to all varieties of music enthusiasts, from groupies to musicians. The story is filled with bluegrass, country, classical and particularly heavy metal vibes. This is a solid picture book for any Young Reader
or adult with daydreams of being in a local jam-band or even making it all the way to the big stages as the lead of a rock group!
About the author
Bryan “Breadwig” Ballinger is a muralist, toy designer, and children’s book author and illustrator. He graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration & has a master’s degree in Writing for Children from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.
He was lead illustrator for the first version of the award-winning Encarta CD-ROM encyclopedia as well as the Explorapedia children’s encyclopedia series. For five years, Bryan was the 3D Design Lead at Big Idea Productions, the producers of the
VeggieTales children’s videos. He was a professor of Digital Media Arts at Huntington University in Indiana for 16 years.
Bryan is the author and illustrator of
Animal Gas: A Farty Farce (2015, Union Square Kids), a quirky scratch and sniff children’s picture book as well as 3 POW! Kids Books titles,
The Big Wig Parade (2023),
Counting Cows (2024), &
The Story of a Pig Named Joe and his Quest to be Fancy (2024), each story featuring whimsical wacky animals up to varying hijinks that keep young readers laughing ‘til the end of the book!
Bryan is currently the 2023-2024 Artist in Residence at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest children’s museum. He runs a program that teaches the young and young at heart all about the creativity of illustration!
