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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THE PUMPKIN THIEF

From the Leaf Thief series

by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2026

More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones.

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Not even the arrival of autumn can cool down this impetuous squirrel.

Although Squirrel is skeptical about Bird’s vegetable patch (“Nothing is HAPPENING!”), Bird does produce five (count them) lovely pumpkins. Squirrel picks out a favorite: “The enormous orange one.” Bird hints that Squirrel might want to help out; Squirrel sets out to fetch some work gloves and returns to find only four pumpkins. The frequently distracted Squirrel notices more gourds disappearing and leaps to the conclusion that a thief is near. And where’s Bird?! Has Squirrel’s pal also been taken? Diligently detecting, Squirrel finds clues—peck marks, footprints, and more—and produces a sketch of the suspect. As readers will guess, each clue turns out to point to one of Squirrel and Bird’s friends. Turns out Bird was delivering pumpkins to their pals while saving the big one to give to “my very best friend,” Squirrel. But why does Squirrel haul it up a tree? “So the Pumpkin Thief can’t find it, of course!” A page of pumpkin facts provides the learning component common to all titles in this series. Once more, readers will enjoy the pleasure of prediction and repetition, Squirrel’s silly persistence, Bird’s generosity, and the vibrant color illustrations, balancing orange with green.

More fun antics to satisfy returning fans and snag new ones. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 28, 2026

ISBN: 9781464268076

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUN THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

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THE SNOW THIEF
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nicola Slater

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BISON AND THE BUTTERFLY
by Alice Hemming ; illustrated by Nancy Leschnikoff

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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)