EVERYONE LOVES BACON
by Kelly DiPucchio ; illustrated by Eric Wight
Retro art meets wry humor in this very funny tale of hubris set in a diner.
Bacon is one popular dude—and the love in which he basks includes a hefty dose of self-love. On Page 1, the anthropomorphic Bacon gazes admiringly at his reflection in a spoon and then parades around the countertop like a rock star while Egg, Waffle, and Pancake look on in awe. And yet the next spread shows a scarf- and beret-clad French Toast sneering while twirling a skinny moustache. “But he didn’t count because French Toast doesn’t like anyone” proclaims the text, trading un petit peu on ethnic stereotype but staying just this side of offensive since the book as a whole invites laughter with a bit of edge to it. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the story’s culmination, when our egotistical meathead of a hero gets his comeuppance: after turning his back on friends (Lettuce, Tomato, and Avocado) and leaving a baconless cheeseburger to cry, “Fine. Have it your way,” in a possible nod to the old Burger King slogan, Bacon ends up on a fork, gobbled down for breakfast by a bacon-loving customer. Throughout, Wight’s expressive illustrations meet DiPucchio’s text at every humorous turn as they define the foodstuffs—er, characters—with cartoonish panache.
A bacon book so funny that perhaps even some vegetarians will love it. (Picture book. 4-8)