Guinea pig characters – And the most popular name is….

I collect English-language guinea pig fiction and one element of the listing is a compilation of the names of the guinea pig(s) from the stories. 

Gertie and Molly are the most popular names at the moment. They appear each in 5 different stories, by five different writers. 

Gertie appears in - My very own guinea pig (2006), Dirty Gertie (2009), Gertie and Gus the guinea pigs (1997), Gertie: a guinea pig's tail (2009), and, Gertie saves the day (2010).

Molly appears in the books - The Jenius (2004), The Three little pigs (1997), Billie B Brown: The cutest pet ever (2012), The guinea pigs Twiggy and Molly : little runaways (2012), Super Pig 2 (2011). 

There are lots of sweet and funny names in books. Names like Josie Gigglepip, Honey Rose, Dandelion, Flash, Eduardo Julio Antonio del Monte, Sasspants, Zeus and Fluffy.

Sometimes, when translated into another language, the characters have had their names changed. 

For example,

Michael Bond's, Olga da Polga = Charlotte Parlotte (French)

Heather Eyle's, Herbert saves the day = Hubert gewinnt einen Preis (German)

Kate McMullan's, Fluffy, the snow pig = Bonhomme Caramel  (French)

Rosemary Well's, Felix gets better = Anton geht's besser (German)

Then, there is Anne Liersch's story, about a girl and a guinea pig, originally written in German, Nele & Wuschel : eine Geschichte, in English they became, Nell & Fluffy, in Slovenian, Neli & Ščetinko, in Dutch, Julia & Happy, and in Italian, Sara & Briciola. (With thanks to WorldCat.org)

My favourite guinea pig name? Maybe it's Christopher Nibbles. He's Charlotte Middleton's character from a series that began with Christopher Nibble in a tale of dandelion derring-do!, followed by Christopher's bicycle! : a tale of cycling and recycling, and, Christopher's caterpillars : a tale of minibeasts and mystery! They were published by Oxford University Press in England and by Marshall Cavendish Books in the United States. 

I'm not sure if they're still in print. Check if you can find these and other guinea pig story books at your local library, or bookstore. I often check to see what's new using websites like Amazon and if books are out of print I look for them on websites like Abebooks.

Enjoy!

2014 Pig Day Out (Australia)

For the first time ever I ran a guinea pig fiction book stall. I wanted to support the Gold Coast Guinea Pig Rescue, and it was a wonderful opportunity to show the guinea pig lovers at the Pig Day Out in May 2014 the range of guinea pig fiction currently in print. The most popular titles were Undead Pets: Gasp of the ghoulish guinea pig, and, I love guinea pigs, and, Valentino finds a home.

Here's the selection of books I chose from all those currently in print. They're all colourful, fun and it was lovely to show over 30 titles on the day.

Georgia the guinea pig fairy.  Daisy Meadows.
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #1 : Hamster and cheese.  Colleen AF Venable
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #2 : And then there were gnomes.  Colleen AF Venable 
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #3 : The Ferret's a foot.  Colleen AF Venable 
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #4 : Fish you were here.  Colleen AF Venable 
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #5 : Raining cats and detectives.  Colleen AF Venable 
Guinea pig pet shop private eye #6 : Going, going, dragon!.  Colleen AF Venable
Mariella Mystery investigates : The Ghostly guinea pig.  Kate Pankhurst.  
Guinea pigs online.  Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift.    
Guinea pigs online : furry towers.  Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift.    
Guinea pigs online : Viking victory.  Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift.    
Guinea pigs online : Christmas quest.  Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift.    
Guinea pigs online: Bunny trouble. Jennifer Gray, Amanda Swift.
Stink and the great guinea pig express.  Megan McDonald.  
Undead pets: Gasp of the ghoulish guinea pig.  Sam Hay.   
The Looming lamplight : Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta. Ursula Dubosarsky.    
The Perplexing pineapple : Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta. Ursula Dubosarsky.     
The Missing mongoose : Cryptic Casebook of Coco Carlomagno and Alberta. Ursula Dubosarsky.     
Guinea pig nativity.   
I love guinea pigs. Dick King-Smith.   
John Willy and Freddy McGee.  Holly Meade.    
Guinea pig party.  Holly Surplice.    
Charlie and Lola : I completely know about guinea pigs.  Lauren Child.   
My uncle is a hunkle.  Lauren Child.  
Christopher Nibble.  Charlotte Middleton.   
Christopher's bicycle.  Charlotte Middleton.   
Christopher's caterpillars. Charlotte Middleton. 
Valentino finds a home. Andy Whiteside. 
Super guinea pig saves the world. Udo Weigelt. 
The Tales of Olga da Polga.  Michael Bond.  
Greenbeard the pirate pig.  Andrea Torrey Balsara.   

Early appearances of Guinea pigs in nineteenth century fiction

Konrad Gesner included the guinea pig in his 1550s compilation, Historiae animalium.

There's a nice description of the multi-volume publication by Cambridge University Library, Rare Books, http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/gesner.html, with references for further reading.

So the question is, when did the guinea pig first make appearances in books, fact or fiction, for children?

It's fascinating tracing the appearances of guinea pigs in nineteenth century story books in the United Kingdom and the United States.

I've collected a couple of miniature, instructive books, about beasts (1844) and pets (late 1860s), which include a page or so on the guinea pig with an accompanying picture.

Thomas Nelson published in Edinburgh, 1844, Stories of Natural History : Beasts, and included on pages 107-111, The Guinea pig. (Note: Page 10 is blank)

In the mid to late 1860s, Leavitt & Allen, New York published The Boy and his pony, and Other Stories, and included on page 4, The Guinea pig.

The earliest fiction story (c.1840s) I know about to-date, which features a guinea pig, is Chapter IV, The Guinea-pig, from:

Mamma's stories | about | the old dolls ; distinctions ; | the half-crown ; guinea-pig ; mother's return ; | new doll ; cautions ; transgression and penitence ; | nursing ; the visit ; children's wishes ; |conclusion. | Embellished with plates. | London : | T.H. Munday. | 9, Fore Street, Cripplegate. Printed by J. May, Cannon Street, Dover.

 A contemporary inscription on the front free endpaper includes a date for 1843.

Guinea Pigges - a feast expense

A 16thC or 17thC feast item for the Duke of Norfolk?

Light reading: Havey-cavey

Emily Colette Wilkinson in response to Jenny Davidson's blog on guinea pigs writes in part:

I also found transcribed in a 17th C family commonplace book a list of purchases and expenses for a sixteenth-century feast for the Duke of Norfolk that included "2 Guinea Pigges."

5/21/2008 12:45 AM

If it's a 16thC feast then this is an earlier reference to guinea pigs in English than is noted by the Oxford English Dictionary which refers to Henry Power, Experimental Philosophy (1664).

Any details on the reference Wilkinson has read would be wonderful.

Earliest guinea pig in a western painting

There is a painting in a private collection, from the late 1500s.

It's the earliest western painting I've come across with a guinea pig in it.

I'd like to find out more about it, so, if you have information, let me know...

Guinea pigs in fiction

To offset the length of time it's taking me to get anywhere with researching how the guinea pig got it's name in English, I started collecting fiction books with guinea pigs as a main character.

Now there's over 170 of the books, listed at: http://www.guineapigs.net.au

Guinea pigs in art

There is a property in the New Forest area, England, called Breamore House.
If you visit go on a tour through the house, and when you're in the dining room, take a look at the painting above one of the doorways.

The painting is by David de Connick and it has a couple of guinea pigs in it.

From the time I saw that painting I started to note other paintings that included guinea pigs in them. The next place I saw a guinea pig in a painting was in the Museo del Prado. The painting was by Jan Brueghel.

See the collection images found with guinea pigs in them at:
Guinea pigs in art