THE PICKY EATER

Can a picky piggy learn to eat right?

Piper is a good piglet: She works hard in school, loves to dance, and is great at rolling in the mud. However, she will eat only foods that start with P. When presented with waffles, eggs, and OJ at breakfast, she declares “Nope! Not gonna eat it!” Her parents ask her to eat just five bites, so she eats exactly five bites…and complains that the waffles aren’t pancakes, the egg was not poached, and there was no pulp in the juice. After five bites of lunch she complains that the turkey sandwich is not peanut butter and the cookie wasn’t pie. Dinner meets with Piper’s disapproval too. Mom gets a special cookbook that suggests hiding veggies in a pineapple upside-down cake, but Piper’s not fooled. Mom “loses her piggy marbles.” Piper is punished. After five nights without dinner, she’s so hungry she tries new foods and likes them! The piggy parable Parkinson serves up is less than fulfilling. Piper’s parents never explain why she should eat sensibly. Their facile solution to a behavior they must have fostered in the past is to starve her for five days—hardly groundbreaking. Clester’s bright, perky illustrations of anthropomorphic pigs are attractive, but they’re little more than the proverbial lipstick, literally and figuratively.

Unlikely to solve picky problems.