GINGER AND PETUNIA

With her long, flowing headscarves and ’30s-style gowns (think Tallulah Bankhead), elegant piano virtuoso Ginger Folsum is the unlikely—and doting—owner of a big, pink pig named Petunia. After the warm-hearted bon vivant is invited to perform in London, and the housesitter fails to show up, the porcine Petunia takes on Ginger’s identity—without anyone noticing. Not Ginger’s music students, not the museum patrons where Petunia exposes a forgery, not even the smitten governor. As with the prolific and popular Polacco’s other picture books, this somewhat overextended, yet gently amusing tall-tale is based on characters from real life. Featuring contrasting colors, Polacco’s vibrant signature artwork contrasts expressive cameo portraits set against crisp white backdrops with more expansive compositions that spill over from one page to the next. (Picture book. 5-8)