A clever duck teaches a lazy, autocratic pig a memorable lesson in barnyard egalitarianism. Dressed the part in his bib overalls and boots, Farmer Orvie lazes all day in his chair leaning against the barn while the other animals do all the work. A real swine, Orvie justifies his despotic management style by painting his arbitrary “4 legs bad, 2 legs good” rule on the barn and ordering the animals to wait on him since he can’t move while “holding up the barn.” Soon, two-legged Duck demands to know why he can’t be the farmer. When Orvie claims he’s the farmer because he does “big” work like balancing his chair on two legs, Duck decides he, too, can do “big” work. During a nocturnal engineering feat, Duck drains the pond, igniting a classic chase culminating in Farmer Orvie stuck two-legs deep in the mud. In the lighthearted finale, Orvie’s totalitarian reign topples and Duck wears the boots. Slightly cubist, cartoon-like illustrations in mixed media capture the lighthearted politics of this comic animal farm. (Picture book. 4-6)
