Books like A Perfect Pork Stew
If you liked A Perfect Pork Stew, read The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Down, Heckedy Peg, or Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap! — the closest matches in our database, matched on shared themes, shared award lists, and reading level.
Closest match: The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Down by Paul Brett Johnson
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Looking for books like A Perfect Pork Stew by Paul Brett Johnson (Fairy Tale/Folklore · grades K–3)? It’s most often read for its themes of witches, baba yaga (legendary character), and pigs, fiction. The 10 titles below are the closest matches in the ReadingList database — each scored on shared themes, shared award lists, genre, and reading level, and each linked to the curricula, states, and grades where it’s assigned, with primary sources.
These are reading-level matches, not just topical ones — so the picks stay grade-appropriate for a grades K–3 reader. See how we judge text difficulty on our methodology page.
10 books similar to A Perfect Pork Stew
The Cow Who Wouldn't Come DownPaul Brett Johnson
Heckedy PegAudrey Wood- Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap!Tom BirdseyeSoap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap!Tom Birdseye
- The Rough-Face GirlRafe MartinThe Rough-Face GirlRafe Martin
Zomo the RabbitGerald McDermott
Big Bad BruceBill Peet
EpossumondasColeen Salley
Many MoonsJames Thurber
My Lucky DayKeiko Kasza
PigginsJane Yolen
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Why each is a match
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- The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Downgrades K–3
- Is by Paul Brett Johnson, the same author, both on the Kentucky Bluegrass Award list, and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Heckedy Peggrades K–3
- Shares themes of witches, same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore), and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap!grades K–3
- Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore), overlapping grades (K–3), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
- The Rough-Face Girlgrades K–3
- Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore), overlapping grades (K–3), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
- Zomo the Rabbitgrades K–3
- Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore), overlapping grades (K–3), and the same era (1990s). Amazon → books like this →
- Big Bad Brucegrades K–3
- Shares themes of witches and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Epossumondasgrades K–3
- Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Many Moonsgrades K–3
- Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- My Lucky Daygrades K–3
- Shares themes of pigs, fiction and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
- Pigginsgrades K–3
- Shares themes of pigs, fiction and overlapping grades (K–3). Amazon → books like this →
Books like A Perfect Pork Stew for younger readers (K–2)
Closest matches whose grade range overlaps K–2— same scoring, different audience.
- Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant · grades 2–3 — Shares themes of pigs, fiction and overlapping grades (2–3).
- The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz · grades 2–3 — Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (2–3).
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum · grades K–1 — Shares themes of witches and overlapping grades (K–1).
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema · grades K–3 — Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (K–3).
Books like A Perfect Pork Stew for elementary readers (grades 3–5)
Closest matches whose grade range overlaps 3–5— same scoring, different audience.
- The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka · grades 4–8 — Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and the same era (1990s).
- Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant · grades 2–3 — Shares themes of pigs, fiction and overlapping grades (2–3).
- The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz · grades 2–3 — Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (2–3).
- The Witch Boy by Lee Knox Ostertag · grades 4–8 — Shares themes of witches.
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema · grades K–3 — Same genre (Fairy Tale/Folklore) and overlapping grades (K–3).
Common questions
- What books are similar to A Perfect Pork Stew?
- The 10 closest matches to A Perfect Pork Stew by Paul Brett Johnson on ReadingList include The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Down, Heckedy Peg, Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap!, The Rough-Face Girl, and Zomo the Rabbit. Each is scored on shared themes (witches, baba yaga (legendary character), and pigs, fiction), shared award lists, genre, and reading level (grades K–3), and links to the curricula, states, and grades where it is assigned in US schools, with primary sources.
- Are books like A Perfect Pork Stew reading-level appropriate?
- Yes — every match is a reading-level match, not just a topical one, scored on Lexile and grade band (grades K–3), so the picks stay grade-appropriate. See how ReadingList judges text difficulty on the /standard methodology page.
- How does ReadingList choose similar books?
- Matches are ranked by shared themes, shared award and reading-program lists (two books picked for the same state award were chosen by the same committees for the same readers), same genre, comparable Lexile and grade band, and publication decade — computed from cited public curriculum data, not editorial opinion or AI-generated summaries.
Book data last updated 2026-09-05. Matches are computed from each book’s cited attributes — see the methodology.