PIG

This zippier alternative to Gail Gibbons’s Pigs (1999) surrounds similarly simple, brightly colored cartoon portraits of side-posing porkers with labels, maps, snippets of fact (“Denmark has more pigs than people!”), and exclamation points. Older never quite gets around to explaining the common fate of all those farm pigs, but he does present a general view of their habits and predilections (i.e., food, mud, having their backs scratched), points out physical differences between common breeds, provides a bit of ig-pay atin-lay actice-pray, and closes with both a tally of renowned pigs and a helpful Web site. Another decidedly un-boaring look at livestock from the creators of Cow (1998). (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8)