Little Oink

August 1, 2009
PreS-Gr 2-Fans of "Little Pea" (2005) and "Little Hoot" (2008, both Chronicle) will enjoy this team's latest creative effort. Little Oink likes to dig with his friends and go to school but he does not like disorder. Papa Pig tells him, "If you want to grow up to be a respectable pig, you must learn how to make a proper mess." So, before he can play he has to unmake his bed, unfold his clothes, put on a stained shirt, and throw his toys out of their bin. Once he has messed up enough, he can play his favorite gamehousewhere he sweeps, scours, and scrubs up. Delightful wordplay turns this classic childhood argument upside down while Corace's simply detailed ink and watercolor drawings are full of expression, standing out on a clean white background. Young readers will relate to Little Oink's frustrations as they find humor in this classic twist on everyday situations, and many will share variations of his promise to himself: "When I grow up, I'm going to let my kids clean up their rooms as much as they want.""Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
From the creators of Little Pea and Little Hoot comes this tale of a diminutive swine whose tidiness upsets his mess-loving parents and vice versa ("All my friends get to clean their rooms. Why can't I?"). The joke goes nowhere, but there's ample amusement in the delicate ink and watercolor illustrations of a primly dressed young porker reluctantly trashing his bedroom.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)