Most of us learned about Snowdrop’s escape on social media. The August 2 post read: “If anyone sees Snowdrop the pig wandering around Edgartown please call me!… He’s brownish with dark spots and likes it when I scratch behind his ears.” For over a month, Snowdrop the pig evaded and avoided. When he was finally caught and returned to his owner, Katrina Nevin, the Edgartown Police department posted a release stating: “This little piggy has made it all the way home.” Cute.
Soon Snowy, a fictional pig that was inspired by Snowdrop’s story, will step in line with other literary swine, the most well-known being Wilbur, Piglet, Olivia, and Mercy Watson. “Snowy’s Edgartown Adventure” is a new picture book for children written and illustrated by artist Timothy Thomas. The book, which will be self-published, chronicles a pig named Snowy who sets off down a road to see what he might find.
“When the news broke in early August about the stray pig wandering around Edgartown, I was instantly captivated,” Thomas explained in an email. “I followed the story closely, but instead of just waiting for updates, the creative spark hit me immediately. I wanted to capture that wonderful sense of community curiosity and turn it into a magical, whimsical fable for kids.”
Thomas, who currently lives in Illinois but visits the Vineyard when he can, frequently paints scenes from the Island. He sketched images of a cute pig on the Chappaquiddick ferry, by the lighthouse, and on a beach, and posted them on his own Facebook page as well as Islanders Talk, the FB page people love to hate. Commenters gave thumbs up to his whimsical images and encouraged him to write a children’s book. One commenter wrote: “I wonder if Snowdrop jumped off the Jaws Bridge, waited in line at Back Door Donuts and witnessed the Island’s political unrest (aka the coffee incident and the pig roast), all while Iislanders frantically search for him as his face appears on flyers in each town.”
By the time the real Snowdrop was safely caught and returned home, Thomas had almost finished a draft of a book. “Snowy had already come alive on my pages as a fictional character, and the book was built as a whimsical fable,” he said. “I also wanted to be deeply respectful of the real-life people involved—especially knowing they may be considering writing their own non-fiction account —and I didn’t want to interfere with that. Changing the name and keeping it as a standalone children’s book felt like the most graceful way to honor that spark of inspiration while respecting everyone’s privacy.”
Indeed, we can confirm that Snowdrop’s owner Katrina Nevin, a writer and illustrator who grew up on the Vineyard, is working on her own children’s book about Snowdrop and his adventures. Unlike Thomas’ book, Nevin’s story will lean toward the actual events that happened during Snowdrop’s great escape during the summer in 2026.
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