Peddles by Elizabeth Rose Stanton

PEDDLES WAS JUST A PIG. HE LIVED ON A FARM, DOING THE USUAL PIG THINGS...

WALLOWING AND.... [CENSORED]. BUT PEDDLES THOUGHT ABOUT THE USUAL PIG THINGS...

DIFFERENTLY.

Peddles imagines pizza instead of swill, soaking in a sudsy tub instead of wallowing in mud puddles, and perusing the newspaper while seated on a spotless toilet!

THE OTHER PIGS SHOOK THEIR HEADS AT HIM.

But one night while Peddles is stargazing, he hears whooping and yee-haws coming from the barn. A barn dance is in progress, Cowboy boots are stomping to the beat, and Peddles just has to get in on the act. He peeps in and sees a cat fiddling away and thinks.. . a very un-porcine thought.

WHY COULDN'T HE DANCE?

He finds a pair of castoff red cowboy boots and stuffs his hind feet in them and tries to join the dance.

IT DIDN'T GO WELL.

Cowboy boots take a bit of breaking in, but Peddles gets by with a little help from his friends, in Elizabeth Rose Stanton's Peddles (Simon and Schuster, 2015), as the barnyard pigs rally behind him and join the square dancers on the floor. Yee-haw, all y'all!

Stanton's free-thinking pig is a refreshingly naive but game little hero, and "Stanton's lovely pencil and watercolor illustrations are a thing of beauty," says School Library Journal, and they truly are. Peddles is a cute, roly-poly piglet who is keen to try new things, a think-outside-the-pigpen little porker. Like the eccentric hen-with-arms in her first book, Henny, (read review here), Peddles has the innocent enthusiasm of a toddler who looks at life as the adventure it is.

"Am NOT!" "Are TOO!" Pig and Pug by Lynn Berry

PUG IN A PURSE.

PIG IN A POCKET.

"ARE YOU A PUG?" PUG SAYS TO PIG.

"NO, PIG!" SAYS PIG TO PUG.

The two tea-cup-sized pets don't quite know what to make of each other. There are certain similarities, but still....

'Tis a puzzlement.

Pug suggests that Pig is a pudgy pug. Pig insists not. Pretty soon the meeting turns into a petty dust-up. Pug gets pugilistic; Pig gets piggish.

Name-calling ensues. Pug calls Pig a copycat!

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

PIG AND PUG POUNCE!

The little dust-up gets dirty as Pug takes a tumble into a mud puddle. Pug is a muddy mess. It's just too funny for the petite pets to stay petulant. They start to titter and giggle and finally chuckle at each other. It's time to recalculate their relationship.

Pals?

PALS!

It's a tempest in a tea cup for those popular pygmy pets in Lynn Berry's Pig and Pug (Simon and Schuster, 2015). With simple line drawings by illustrator Gemma Correll, who reveals the various emotions playing across the faces of her characters with a few deftly drawn lines, and an easy text that lures emergent readers to jump in and read along, two peewee pets find peace and friendship as youngsters find a fun easy reader that's just perfect for two voices to perform together. For another pair of uncommon pals, pair this one with Jennifer Sattler's Chick 'n' Pug.

You Can't Take It With You! Peppa Pig and the Great Vacation by Neville Astley

PEPPA PIG AND GEORGE WERE PACKING TO GO ON VACATION.

"YOU CAN'T BRING EVERYTHING!" SAYS PAPA.

But Peppa and little brother George insist that they must have all their toys. Pappa Pig firmly tells them they can only bring their very favorites, and Peppa picks a Teddy and George chooses his "dino-saw."

But then Peppa thinks about her goldfish Goldie. Papa says definitely NOT, for all the right reasons, and Grandpa and Granny agree to Goldy-sit for the duration with plenty of tender loving care.

Mollified, Peppa and George climb into the back seat, and the Pigs are off to vacationland. After a few "Are we there yets?," they arrive at their cottage near the seashore and hit the outdoor pool for plenty of Pig family splashing.

As the days go by, they shop, go out to eat, have a picnic and take a scenic nature walk, and of course enjoy sand castles, splashing in the waves, and wading in the tidal pools. George and Peppa are having the time of their lives, except ... the fishies in the tidal pools remind Peppa of Goldie, alone at home in  a lonely little fishbowl.  How sad is that?

Peppa has to call Granpa and Granny Pig right away to check on Goldie.  Reassured that he's swimming happily, she still feels that she has to do something to let him know she misses him. Momma and Peppa make a secret visit to the post office, and as soon as they arrive back home, the Postman delivers a postcard addressed to Goldie from Peppa.

"GOLDIE, YOU'VE GOT MAIL!"

Peppa Pig, the perky protagonist of the popular television series, shares all the fun of a summer seaside holiday in her latest, Peppa Pig and the Great Vacation (Candlewick Press, 2014) The illustrations, stylized, cartoon abstractions retain few porcine features, except the snout, and show their characters doing all the things kids do on a family beach trip.  Other titles in this popular and prolific preschool spinoff series include Peppa Pig and the Perfect Day, Peppa Pig and the Muddy Puddles, and Peppa Pig and the Vegetable Garden. (Read review here).

Back to School: Rufus Goes to School by Kim Griswell

EVERY DAY RUFUS LEROY WILLIAMS III TURNED THE PAGES OF HIS FAVORITE BOOK.

HE LOOKED AT EVERY PICTURE. HE MADE UP STORIES TO GO WITH THEM.

BUT HE COULD NOT READ THE WORDS.

RUFUS KNEW JUST WHAT TO DO.

HE WOULD GO TO SCHOOL.

All pink and polished, Rufus presents himself at school to the principal. But Principal Lipid is prejudiced against pigs. As he points out persuasively,

"PIGS TRACK MUD MUD IN THE HALLS. THEY TURN THEIR DRAWINGS INTO PAPER AIRPLANES!"

But Rufus is resourceful. Maybe he just needs the right school supplies to look like a potential pupil.

Rufus returns with a proper backpack. Principle Lipid is unimpressed.

He turns up again with a new lunchbox. No luck. He brings in a perfectly sized blanket for rest time. No way!

What must poor Rufus do to impress the principal with the importance of school for this pig?

Rufus Leroy Williams III finally comes up with the operant object, the requisite reason, one he has had all along, in Kim T. Griswell's debut back-to-school picture book, Rufus Goes to School (Sterling, 2013). Valeri Gorbachev's picture-perfect illustrations portray the dutifully polite pig and pinch-faced principal to a T, but his comic portrayals of all the potential mischief pigs might cause in school will give kids plenty to giggle over in this well-paced pig-as-pupil tale. For youngsters with rising expectations of reading, pair this one with Tad Hill's' popular How Rocket Learned to Read.

Blowing Your Own Horn! Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems

LISTEN... GERALD!

I HAVE A TRUMPET!"

Piggie plunks down a little three-legged stool for her friend Gerald the Elephant. Gerald is not sure what to expect from his exuberant friend. A trumpet? Piggie plays a trumpet? It's news to him.

KL-ACK! GR-ELP! GR-ICK!

"YIKES!" Gerald involuntarily yelps. Piggie can't play the trumpet! This is awful! What in the world can he say to his best friend, eagerly waiting for his reaction?

Piggie redoubles her efforts to impress her consternated friend.

"Blap- BLONK!"

Gerald is speechless. His best friend is waiting for his approval, but how can he give it when her notes are so unspeakably painful? He decides to open by accentuating the positive.

"YOUR TRUMPET IS SHINY!" HE OFFERS.

"AND....?" PIGGY ASKS.

Gerald struggles with his conscience. Finally he decides to tell his friend the truth, however unpleasant.

BUT THAT WAS NOT MUSIC!"

Gerald waits fearfully for his friend's reaction. Will she cry! Get angry? All his fears play across Gerald's face as Piggie just stares at him, a bit baffled.

"I AM TRYING TO SPEAK ELEPHANT." SHE POINTS OUT PATIENTLY.

Oh. That's different.

Mo Willems' latest in his award-winning early reader books, Listen to My Trumpet! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion, 2012), continues this deservedly best-selling series, combining easy vocabulary, irresistible characterizations done in seemingly simple line drawings, surprise endings, and thoughtful insights into the nature of friendship between these unlikely comrades. Elephant and Piggie rock and rule!

When Pigs Fly! Dream Big, Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi

POPPY WAS A PIG WITH DREAMS.

AND SHE WAS A PIG WHO DREAMED BIG.

SHE WANTED TO BE A STAR!

But being a star requires that Poppy pick a career in which she can star.

Prima ballerina? A "toddlin', waddlin' pig?" Poppy falls and fails the tryouts.

A swingin' songstress? Poppy can't carry a tune in a tin bucket.

A posh supermodel? Poppy is just not built to be a slinky, glittery runway celebrity.

Then Poppy catches a glimpse of a girl executing a spin on the ice rink in Rockefeller Plaza.
"Do what you love," her mother has said, and Poppy is in love with the ice. She laces up some skates and stays at it all day until she is able to skate across the rink without falling. In the days to come she learns that she also loves to practice--and practice she does. She's not perfect, but every day her work pays off, and she soon is able to twirl and spin and jump.

BEFORE SHE KNEW IT, SKATERS WERE STOPPING TO WATCH POPPY PRACTICE. SHE EVEN HAD HER PICTURE IN THE NEWSPAPER.

POPPY FELT LIKE A STAR!

The sky's the limit for a pig who dreams and works at it, and in former Olympic skater Kristi Yamaguchi's book, Dream Big, Little Pig! (Jabberwocky, 2011) Poppy the pig is ready to strap on her parachute and take to the air and sky dive next. Illustrator Tim Bowers provides the cutesy pink frou frou, and Yamaguchi, whose successful stint on "Dancing with the Stars" proves her own vocational versatility, takes on a new career herself as picture book author.

Piggie Pitches: Watch Me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems

You want to throw my ball?"

"Sure," says Piggie.

"Do you know the secret of throwing?"

"Have FUN." Piggie says.

Mo Willems' new sequel in his award-winning Elephant and Piggie series, Watch Me Throw the Ball! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion, 2009) continues his exploration of the interaction between this lovable odd couple, the serious, meticulous Gerald the Elephant, and the impulsive, intrepid, and fun-loving Piggie. In this early emergent reader, Piggie finds Gerald's ball. "You found MY ball," Elephant says pointedly and suggests that there is a lot involved in throwing that ball.

"Maybe ONE DAY you can throw like me. But---"

Typically, however, Piggie's impulse is to go for the gusto immediately, and he FLINGS the ball without regard to proper form, resulting in an erratic flight which takes the ball backward over his head and lands it behind Gerald.

"I threw the ball so far you cannot even see it," says Piggie, looking proud.

"Need to throw the ball? Here's the pig to call!"

Gerald stolidly feels he has to point out that the ball made no forward progress at all. "Piggie, you did not throw the ball around the world! The ball flew behind you and fell here."

Oops! Piggie has a moment of truth about personal pitching prowess, but with a "La, la, la" he points out that at least he had fun, and the elephant decides to take Piggie's approach to the whole thing with a joyful FLING of his own. "Woo Woo! Yes! I rock! " Gerald says as he celebrates the fun part of sports.

As usual, Mo Willems' delivery is right over the plate in the early reader game in his Watch Me Throw the Ball! (An Elephant and Piggie Book). And young picture book and emergent reader fans can soon enjoy the forthcoming entry in this series, Elephants Cannot Dance! (An Elephant and Piggie Book), (Hyperion, June 9, 2009)in which Piggie sets out to prove that when it comes to la danse, pigs have all the right moves.