THE STORY OF THE LITTLE PIGGY WHO COULDN'T SAY NO

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THE STORY OF THE LITTLE PIGGY WHO COULDN'T SAY NO

Name: THE STORY OF THE LITTLE PIGGY WHO COULDN'T SAY NO
Author: Sabine Ludwig
ISBN: 978-1-62087-684-8

by Sabine Ludwig ; illustrated by Sabine Wilharm ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2013

Saying “no” to this piggy should be easy.

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With everyone making demands, what’s a little piggy to do?

“The day is lovely with bright sun. / A swim, thinks piggy, would be fun.” She grabs her beach-fun supplies and heads out for the ocean. But her mother wants a kiss goodbye, and piggy misses her bus. She decides a walk will do her good, but she’s accosted by a dog who demands her swim tube, and he pops it. A kitty takes her hat. Piggy loses her ball to a bunch of soccer-playing rabbits. A crocodile snatches her shades; a badger takes her cookies. And finally, a bear insists she help him escape a bog. Piggy’s had enough! Putting her trotter down has unforeseen consequences...but they aren’t all bad. Something is definitely lost in translation in this German import. Piggy never even gets the chance to say “no” as animal after animal accosts her along the way. The animals who steal and destroy her belongings all end up having a blast in the mud of the bog, so their unacceptable behavior is rewarded. The genial, bright, colored-pencil illustrations can’t save this forcibly rhymed text. Piggy never learns to say no; she plans to play with her tormentors tomorrow.

Saying “no” to this piggy should be easy. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-62087-684-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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GRUMPY MONKEY

by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...

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It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?

When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 15, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-553-53786-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ARCHIBALD AND THE FURRY DINOSAURS
by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang

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GRUMPY MONKEY FRESHLY SQUEEZED
by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang

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GRUMPY MONKEY PARTY TIME!
by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)