School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Drawing inspiration from "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," this rollicking story of a small pig's escapades at a fair will delight readers. Escaping from his boy, the porker gets into plenty of messy trouble before winning a blue ribbon. The whimsical, rhyming text scans well for reading aloud and provides opportunities for talking about colors and predicting what adventure will next befall the runaway. "I know a wee piggy who wallowed in red./Hoof to head, he wallowed in red./He wallowed in red to go with the brown./Upside down, he wallowed in brown." Cole's brilliant colors and rounded shapes done in acrylic paints and colored pencil extend the fun, drawing children into the action and offering additional occasions for storytime and classroom discussion. The book design enhances the flow of both text and illustrations, including the colors in the font as well as in the paintings. This will be a surefire winner, especially for those communities that host local, county, or state fairs.-Sharon Grover, Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This little piggy has escaped from his owner and is running riot through the county fair, getting covered in gunk, globs, and other stuff representing nine colors: brown from the muddy pig pen, red from the tomato canning display, yellow from the broken yolks in the chicken coop-which provides Cole (Big Chickens Fly the Coop) the opportunity to prove, once again, that he's virtually unrivaled when it comes to drawing hysterical hens-and so forth. By the time the wee piggy proudly wins a blue ribbon, he makes the Garbage Pail Kids look pristine-and kids will be reveling in his genially mischievous grossness. Norman (Ten on the Sled) contributes a catchy cumulative verse that riffs on "I Know an Old Lady" ("I know a wee piggy who wallowed in green./ Oh, what a scene! He'll NEVER get clean!/ He wallowed in green to go with the black./ He wallowed in black to go with the yellow"). But it's Cole's porcine hero who steals the show: even the fussiest grownups will fall for this eager-eyed, grinning, leaping, prancing, filthy pig. Ewww. And awww. Ages 3-5. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
