"A Day No Pigs Would Die" has been noted for not withdrawing from the harsh realities of birth and death, despite being written from for children. From the first chapter, "readers begin to understand the value of life, the ever-present possibility of death, and the need for self-reliance". The book opens with Rob helping a cow through a bloody, difficult birth. He later has Pinky breed for the first time, in a graphic scene, and must then help his father butcher Pinky, after she proves to be barren and too costly for the family to keep if she cannot bear piglets for them to sell. And, in the closing chapters of the text, Haven Peck comes down with "an affection", sickens and dies, leaving Rob to arrange his funeral and then deal with the fact that, now thirteen, he must be considered a man for the sake of his family's continued welfare.