CM Magazine: Five Little Piggies.

________________ CM . . . . Volume V Number 16 . . . . APRIL 9, 1999

Five Little Piggies.

David Martin.
Illustrated by Susan Meddaugh.
Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press (Distributed in Canada by the University of Toronto Press), 1998.
32 pp., hardcover, $19.99.
ISBN 1-56402-918-2.

Subject Headings:
Pigs-Fiction.
Family life-Fiction.

Preschool-Kindergarten / Ages 2-5.
Review by Lesley Beckett Balcom.

**** /4

excerpt:

"Little piggy, will you go to market? We need eggs and milk and apples," said Momma Piggy.
"Sure," said Little Piggy. And she went to market singing, Eggs and milk and apples. Megs and milk and mapples. Pegs and pilk and papples."

Each of the five little piggies has its own story to tell in this delightful new take on the favourite nursery rhyme. The second little piggy "stays home" after spilling his cereal on the floor and splitting his pants. The third little piggy "has roast beef" but discovers that she really likes slops better. Guess why the fifth little piggy cries "Wee wee wee all the way home?" Of course - he is urgently heading for the bathroom!

Life for the piggies and their Momma is a loving jumble of piggies, slops to eat, and lots of hugs to go round. Susan Meddaugh's illustrations reveal the hilarity of the situations, and she captures the emotions always close to the surface in a busy household of young children (or piggies). On the dust jacket, she describes her Momma Piggy perfectly: "She's huge, but lighter than air, solid like a rock, yet buoyant. She's supermom!"

Highly recommended.

Lesley Beckett Balcom is a public services librarian at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - APRIL 9, 1999.