Learners will need a copy of Five Little Pigs, available at your local library or via for purchase via amazon.com, local bookstores,  or via second-hand bookstores such as Thriftbooks.com  https://www.thriftbooks.com/ as well at reduced prices. If possible, please try to get this edition of Five Little Pigs https://www.amazon.com/Five-Little-Pigs-Hercule-Mysteries/dp/0062073575   If you cannot find this we can still make it work though!

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie was originally published in 1942.  It is essential for families to remember that at this period in history ideas of casual racism and anti-semitism were rife in throughout society, including in Britain where this novel is set. The essay “Death on the Nile and Addressing Racism in Agatha Christie” on BBC.com quotes Vike Martina Plock, a professor of modern literature and culture at the University of Exeter in the UK:
 
“However, she says that censoring the books in such a way was a mistake – as she believes that, for the most part, Christie was not being racist herself in her novels, but rather reflecting the racist attitudes of her time and leaving them open to critique. "It made the [censored] novels less socially critical as documents of their time because I do think Christie's novels criticise racism rather than perpetuating [it]," she says. "The racism depicted in the books draws attention to the fact that it was very dominant in the culture in which Christie was living.”

We will discuss how the world has changed and thinking has expanded since this period. It’s important to note that subsequent filmed versions of this novel  and other Christie novels, including recent the recent Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express directed by Kenneth Branagh, consciously choose to significantly diversify the cast omitting hurtful stereotypes and focusing on the puzzle/mystery aspects of of the books.   James Pritchard, great-grandson of Agatha Christie and head of Agatha Christie LTD quoted in an essay on RTL, that his great-grandmother ‘“would not have liked the idea that someone is hurt by his (sic) turns of phrase’ “When the book was written, the language was different. Agatha Christie was above all there to entertain.”

We will address these issues in the first class and throughout the sessions. 

While Five Little Pigs was written for an adult audience, publisher HarperAcademic.com, a division of publisher William Morrow, notes that Christie novels work exceptionally well for developing critical thinking in both middle and high school students.

Five Little Pigs is of course a murder mystery, and while the descriptions of the murder or murders are not intensely graphic, there is mention of knives, firearms, and poisons as well as mentions of suicide that are essential to the themes of the story.
Kindly see the attached for further information and please feel free to be in touch with me via Outschool email if questions or issues.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220214-death-on-the-nile-and-addressing-racism-in-agatha-christie

https://newsrnd.com/life/2020-08-26-why-agatha-christie-s-%E2%80%9Cten-little-negroes%E2%80%9D-changed-its-name-in-france.B1VNRN4mD.html