“Perrier was no ordinary pig.” He’s a miniature potbellied pig with a pedigree, a Beverly Hills mansion, and his own uniformed nanny in this amusingly quirky tale. Perrier travels the world with his movie-star owner, Marbella, though he is never quite happy and is always yearning for something to make him feel satisfied. On an excursion to their country estate, Perrier joins some farm pigs for a romp in the mud that leaves him feeling ecstatic, though his newfound pleasure is quashed when Marbella extracts his promise to “stay clean.” He pines for the pleasures of mud, growing “pale and listless,” until Marbella shares her mud-based facial masks with him, followed by a visit to a luxurious hot springs for his birthday to sample the mud baths. Matje (City of Ink Drinkers, not reviewed, etc.) captures both Perrier’s wistful loneliness and his overblown lifestyle in stylish illustrations using sophisticated shades of pink, gray, and mud-brown mocha. While amusing to adults, much of the droll humor here will be over the heads of children unfamiliar with paparazzi, Perrier, and pedigrees. There’s something rather chilling about Perrier’s emptiness and longing, his hide-tingling physical ecstasy in a forbidden substance, his reluctant, repeated promises to “stay clean,” and his ultimate satisfaction in an expensive consumer product and an “exclusive celebrity hideaway.” Fizzy, but not very satisfying. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7868-0302-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
