MONKEYPIG

A pig masquerading as a monkey risks banishment from the troop when a literal-minded simian smells an imposter.

Molly, who is rotund and bubble-gum pink, lives in the jungle with “all the other monkeys, dancing and playing and being silly among the treetops.” But she has a secret: She is a pig. (The joke here is that readers hardly have to be told—they can see for themselves.) No one seems to notice that Molly is different until the day that Norman, the head monkey, convenes a meeting and makes an announcement: A “strange non-monkey scent had been smelled among the treetops,” and the faker must be exiled from their community. How to ID the interloper? Norman introduces “three tests of monkey ability”: “eating a banana in the correct manner,” “monkey communication,” and “monkey transportation.” Naturally, Molly fails all three tests spectacularly. But when it’s time to identify the imposter, monkey fingers don’t point in the expected direction. In this hearty salute to inclusiveness and the democratic process, the deadpan narration contrasts hilariously with Welsh cartoonist Aaron’s loose and ebullient art, which showcases his mastery of pictorial slapstick. As Molly and the monkeys cavort and contort and otherwise behave ridiculously, their unselfconscious facial expressions distill the book’s worthy takeaway: What’s weird to some is perfectly normal to others.

The be-yourself story reaches new heights with this winner.