• Age: 5 to 8
• Grade: k to 3

Hambone is a normal, little pig who loves to wallow in mud, gobble corn cobs and play with his brother and sister on Farmer Brown’s acreage. But Hambone has a dream – he wants a dill pickle – a big, green, drippy, sour dill pickle. His dream is so compelling that Hambone leaves home to chase it. He meets with many colourful characters on his adventure, including a parrot, a chef and a really big elephant until at last – his dream comes true – but something unexpected happens to his tail as his dream becomes reality! Hambone’s little tale teaches us that you really can believe in your dreams!

A delightful story showing how a simple act of kindness can make a big difference… to all involved! Angela Jeffreys – Author, The Purple Frog

“A delightful tale to read aloud. Hambone will leave you drooling for pickles!” Kaiti Webb – Children’s Library Programmer

"Hambone is a charming farm story of a young, resourceful, and determined pig. Throughout Hambone's adventures, he gently shows that it is ok to venture beyond your ‘farmyard’ in search of new things. The variety of descriptive language that Ms. Arnason writes for Hambone, and his surroundings, is so colourful and evokes imagination. The reader cannot help but imagine the little pig and his adventure in great detail. With Hambone's kind spirit, he ends up with a tale for the ages." Jodi Sobool, Preschool Teacher

Jackie Arnason's profile page

Jackie Arnason is prairie girl. She was born in a small town in Saskatchewan and spent most of her life in Regina, Saskatchewan.

While growing up in the “dirty thirties” life was hard. The library became her haven. She learned to love books of all kinds and made up stories to tell her brothers and sisters.

As an adult she married and had children and then grandchildren. Here at last was a captive audience, so she told stories about pigs and dragons and kittens and clouds and zebras. The stories fostered a closeness between mother and daughters and grandmother and grandchildren and had a gentle and imaginative way of teaching life lessons.

Despite the fact that she is now in her 80’s, Jackie still loves to tell stories, using her imagination to bring joy to others. She is essentially a story teller, a mom, an Ahma, a mentor, a reader, a writer and a delighted first-time author.

“An utterly delightful book that captures the imagination and intrigue with animals, life on the farm, and adventures. Hambone is rich in vocabulary development with a storyline that is both enduring and layered in depth and lessons. Adults and children alike will come back to this book again and again. As a special learning support teacher and primary teacher, I am thrilled with the rich vocabulary. I would recommend this book to any library, teacher, parent, and speech and language pathologist.” Linda Whittle, Elementary and Special Learning Support Teacher