PA'S BALLOON AND OTHER PIG TALES

by Arthur Geisert ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1984

Three laconic picture-tales about a pig family and their balloon--in a fat little volume by a new artist with intriguing visual ideas (if not a true illustrator's knack for storytelling or characterization). Geisert does leave blanks, and take liberties. There's no making sense, really, of the pig family's all-roof house, next to a single flourishing tree, in what looks to be the original Dust Bowl. There's no comprehending, either, the green-and-moist table rock on which Pa's balloon lands in the kick-off episode. But you'll watch intently as a storm comes up, and the balloon takes off--leaving behind the little pig-narrator, hiding on an outcropping. . . who has to be rescued in a fishing net. ""The Race"" then features a file of balloons, passing over roofs and fields, Pa's balloon in first place, ""the last place balloon. . . jealous."" That delectable notion, and the ensuing balloon battle (with pigs parachuting too), makes for quick page-turning. ""Over the North Pole"" has more circumstantial detail, some bewitching imagery (the balloon-borne pigs, complete with lantern and crooked smokestack, silhouetted against the northern lights), a precarious equanimity. (Home after their ordeal, Ma and Pa say--with quite different intonations: ""we did it""/""we sure did."") One of those anomalies that some youngsters might take to wholeheartedly: the cross-hatched, salmon-and-eggshell-blue pictures have a distinctiveness that draws attention--and suits the contents. (Some might also like the real-book look and feel.)

Pub Date: April 1, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1984

Categories: CHILDREN'S