Side by Sidekick! Thunder Pug by Kim Norman

Percy was a pug and Petunia was a pig.

Even so, they loved doing many of the same things.

Percy and Petunia are pals who pair up to play every day.

Of course, they pursue separate activities, too. Pug chomps bones, and Petunia prefers vegetarian provender. But they get together at dusk to play hide-and-seek and lap at puddles, jowl to cheek.

But then Petunia goes off to be shown at the County Fair and comes back a celebrity ...

... wearing a blue ribbon!

Percy is displaced by Petunia's admirers. The animals cheer and parade her around the place on their shoulders. Pug can't even get close enough to give her a high-five.

And she wears that blasted blue ribbon everywhere she goes!

Pug is suddenly a person of no importance to Petunia. He's got to find a way to up his game. And then he spots a discarded comic book about a dashing, daring caped crusader.

Percy the Pug picks up a pig chow sack and and converts it into a superhero cape, and VOILA!

THUNDER PUG TO THE RESCUE!

Percy Thunder Pug leaps to rescue baby chicks from stinky skunks and bathing baby birds from deep puddles. It's fun, but there's still something missing from his super persona.

What this superhero needs is--a sidekick!

And suddenly, there she is, Petunia the Super Star, in blue ribbon and... cape!

PINK LIGHTNING!

Superhero and sidekick pair up to do daring good deeds... and together they are ...

THUNDERFUL!

Pug and Pig are a new dynamic duo in Kim Norman's latest in series, Thunder Pug (Sterling Children's Books, 2019), a sweet story which affirms the way that friendships can be reborn through changes in fame and fortune. Author Norman's narration flows with spot-on text, and Keika Yamaguchi's artwork is perfect for Norman's characters, with soft digital watercolors and page design that places the illustrations in spot art, in full-bleed single-page style, and humorous action which flows over double page spreads as both characters come together. A solid theme of independence and togetherness that soars!

Pair this one with Norman and Yamaguchi's first collaboration in this series, Puddle Pug.