THE LITTLE PIG IN THE CUPBOARD

Soft, tender and all-of-a-piece is this pictorialization of a last day in school that starts with regret and ends in a contented glow. Richard anticipates missing ""this room, this teacher, and the little pig"" in the cupboard--especially the little pig he's looked at hard all year. ""Wasn't the little pig tired of sitting in the cupboard? Wasn't it. . . hot and dark and maybe a little scary?"" On the way home, still thoughtful, Richard has an idea: the teacher commended him for his spelling but she doesn't know the hard word he can spell. He returns, spells HIPPOPOTOMAS, tells about the pig, and receives it for his own (it didn't belong to anyone). The pig is a ploy, of course, and the conclusion is contrived, but the mood is authentic, and those youngsters (probably girls) who respond to the pastel paper and expressive pencil drawings may well warm to it.