Dear Diary, Aug. 11
I do not know where I am. When they took me, mom and the others were left behind. The strangers have put me in a pen somewhere very noisy with lots of people around. Every few minutes a new face comes and picks me out of the pen. I scream at these strangers and they promptly return me to my pen. No one seems to heed my cries for help. Today there was only one nice man who came and picked me up. I didn't scream at him. I had hoped he would help me but he put me down like all the rest. I don't like being alone and prodded by all these strangers. I miss my family and I want to go home.
-Babe
I do not know where I am. When they took me, mom and the others were left behind. The strangers have put me in a pen somewhere very noisy with lots of people around. Every few minutes a new face comes and picks me out of the pen. I scream at these strangers and they promptly return me to my pen. No one seems to heed my cries for help. Today there was only one nice man who came and picked me up. I didn't scream at him. I had hoped he would help me but he put me down like all the rest. I don't like being alone and prodded by all these strangers. I miss my family and I want to go home.
-Babe
Dear Diary, Aug. 12
Once again the strangers packed me up and took me away, but this time they brought me to the nice man that picked me up yesterday. He has lots of other animals on his farm so at least I am not alone anymore. Fly, a sheep-dog, and her puppies came to visit me. I like Fly; she seems really nice. She told me to be brave and that leaving home is part of growing up. She said she would look out for me.
Today she showed me around the farm and introduced me to the other animals. There are lots of rules and things I must remember:
-Babe
Once again the strangers packed me up and took me away, but this time they brought me to the nice man that picked me up yesterday. He has lots of other animals on his farm so at least I am not alone anymore. Fly, a sheep-dog, and her puppies came to visit me. I like Fly; she seems really nice. She told me to be brave and that leaving home is part of growing up. She said she would look out for me.
Today she showed me around the farm and introduced me to the other animals. There are lots of rules and things I must remember:
- Cats scratch
- Hens peck
- Turkey's bite
- Do not chase the chicks
- Do not eat the eggs
- Do not go in the house
-Babe
Dear Diary, Aug. 17
Today the last of Fly's puppies left the farm. I will miss them, but that is the fate of a sheep-dog. They are old enough to begin work so it was time for them to leave, now it is just Fly and me. After observing Fly and the puppies for awhile now, I've decided I want to be a sheep-pig! Fly let me try to heard the ducks from the pond this morning, but it didn't go very well. I am resolved to keep on trying. I know I can do this.
I also met a sheep for the very first time today. Her name is Maaa and she says she has foot rot. The farmer is trying to get her better, but she said I could come and visit her and all of her friends out in the field when she recovers. I can't wait! Fly says that sheep are stupid, but I'm not so sure. Maaa seemed plenty nice and quite intelligent to me.
-Babe
Today the last of Fly's puppies left the farm. I will miss them, but that is the fate of a sheep-dog. They are old enough to begin work so it was time for them to leave, now it is just Fly and me. After observing Fly and the puppies for awhile now, I've decided I want to be a sheep-pig! Fly let me try to heard the ducks from the pond this morning, but it didn't go very well. I am resolved to keep on trying. I know I can do this.
I also met a sheep for the very first time today. Her name is Maaa and she says she has foot rot. The farmer is trying to get her better, but she said I could come and visit her and all of her friends out in the field when she recovers. I can't wait! Fly says that sheep are stupid, but I'm not so sure. Maaa seemed plenty nice and quite intelligent to me.
-Babe
Endnote -
I decided to write a few diary entries from the point of view of Babe. I wanted to imagine how Babe felt in those initial days after being taken from his family and home and put on display at the fair as well as his feelings towards his first few days at the Hogget Farm. The intended audience for this piece is anyone who has read or is reading Babe The Gallant Pig because it provides a deeper insight into what Babe is feeling at the beginning of the book.
All of the journal entries are based on actual events and text from the book Babe The Gallant Pig and his feelings are more or less indicated within the text of the book, just not so explicitly. I discovered that it is more difficult to get into the mindset and voice of a character without knowing them real well. Upon examination of the dialogue in the book, Babe is actually a more eloquent speaker than the human characters. I had initially wanted to write his diary entries with grammatical errors and overly emotional because of the traumatic experience he was currently going through. However, after re-reading some of the text, I discovered that Babe would be more thoughtful in his journal entries and would still speak eloquently with good grammar and sentence structure.
I feel like the diary entries achieve my goal of getting into the head of Babe and expressing the emotions he must have been feeling at the beginning of the novel. These diary entries just take a closer look and expand upon the information that is already tucked away in the page of Dick King-Smith's novel, but helps the reader get to know and understand Babe just a little bit better.
I decided to write a few diary entries from the point of view of Babe. I wanted to imagine how Babe felt in those initial days after being taken from his family and home and put on display at the fair as well as his feelings towards his first few days at the Hogget Farm. The intended audience for this piece is anyone who has read or is reading Babe The Gallant Pig because it provides a deeper insight into what Babe is feeling at the beginning of the book.
All of the journal entries are based on actual events and text from the book Babe The Gallant Pig and his feelings are more or less indicated within the text of the book, just not so explicitly. I discovered that it is more difficult to get into the mindset and voice of a character without knowing them real well. Upon examination of the dialogue in the book, Babe is actually a more eloquent speaker than the human characters. I had initially wanted to write his diary entries with grammatical errors and overly emotional because of the traumatic experience he was currently going through. However, after re-reading some of the text, I discovered that Babe would be more thoughtful in his journal entries and would still speak eloquently with good grammar and sentence structure.
I feel like the diary entries achieve my goal of getting into the head of Babe and expressing the emotions he must have been feeling at the beginning of the novel. These diary entries just take a closer look and expand upon the information that is already tucked away in the page of Dick King-Smith's novel, but helps the reader get to know and understand Babe just a little bit better.