This weird pig's unsatisfying story perhaps should have stayed a mystery.
The mystery of a porcine stranger who steals food in the night is solved in a spookily crafted story from Chile.
Two boys, Rafa and Juan, accustomed to playing in the hills after dark, encounter a scary creature, one who has been raiding their town for food. The culprit is revealed to be the Pig's Head, who stands upright and wears clothes but is otherwise just a very hungry pig. Despite some design flourishes and an animation style that makes the pencil art layered with color appear to pop off the page, the story itself is a mess. Some uncomfortable hypotheses about the creature’s origin are explored (yes, that means implied bestiality), and many parents of younger readers won't be thrilled with a page with the sentence, "Hes [sic] ugly as Hell!" Text on an opening page is either badly translated or just poorly written: "One evening, the children found a scary creature, from which they have always heard, but never believed that existed, until then." The clever bits, such as a page with a variety of animals to colorize by touch, are outweighed by clunky storytelling. The app's sole extra feature, a song performed by the titular monster, completely fails to engage.
This weird pig's unsatisfying story perhaps should have stayed a mystery. (Requires iOS 7 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Cangrejo Ideas
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Told from the point of view of two warring siblings, this could have been an engaging first chapter book. Unfortunately, the length makes it less likely to appeal to the intended audience. Jessie and Evan are usually good friends as well as sister and brother. But the news that bright Jessie will be skipping a grade to join Evan’s fourth-grade class creates tension. Evan believes himself to be less than clever; Jessie’s emotional maturity doesn’t quite measure up to her intelligence. Rivalry and misunderstandings grow as the two compete to earn the most money in the waning days of summer. The plot rolls along smoothly and readers will be able to both follow the action and feel superior to both main characters as their motivations and misconceptions are clearly displayed. Indeed, a bit more subtlety in characterization might have strengthened the book’s appeal. The final resolution is not entirely believable, but the emphasis on cooperation and understanding is clear. Earnest and potentially successful, but just misses the mark. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 23, 2007
ISBN: 0-618-75043-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
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