"Piggybook" by Anthony Browne, published by Walker Books, Sydney, 1996

Irony is present - the written text tells the story of the father and two sons being taught a lesson, while the illustrative text supplies the reality of the mother's life. The illustrations of pigs flying on the front end pages set the tone as they allude to the seemingly impossible event which occurs in the story. The front cover illustration is a play on the title of the book as well as the narrative - the mother carries her family on her back both figuratively and literally.

Multiple constructions of meaning - questions arising may include the role of mothers and fathers in families; two parents, two children may give rise to questions relating to family structures and the roles therein; and the similarity between the father and sons and the traditional story of the three little pigs - in this case the mother's absence being the big bad wolf.

Intertextual elements are present:
With texts other than the book...
- the newspaper, letter and envelope, TV, and gorilla connect the story with other texts, including other Anthony Browne books
- shadow images of a wolf and pig connect the story to The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf
Within the book...
- small illustrations of pigs gain prominence as the story unfolds, connecting with the narrative (both written and illustrative)

Macro and micro views of illustration - the details of illustrations, the frames surrounding the illustrations, the placement of frames and the use of double page spreads combine to encourage an holistic reading of the text. The rigid frames create a feeling of structure to the family's life which is broken only once in the body of the narrative - when the mother returns - and disappear altogether in the end pages.

Isomorphic relations - the painting of the cavalier in the first double page spread is repeated in the second double page spread, but this time with the head of a pig. The painting of the huntsman and woman has only the outline of the woman as if she has been cut out of the picture.