Playful Pigs from a to Z

June 8, 2015
Lobel dresses 26 pink pigs as soldiers, athletes, troubadours, and scamps as they help to celebrate the letters of the alphabet. Setting the action against bucolic hilly landscapes, Lobel introduces each pig with brief phrases that feature alliterative names and verbs: “Imogen Pig imitated an I,” she writes as a tall, skinny pig stands straight as a rail beside a tall, skinny i, the pig’s balloon echoing the lower-case letter’s dot. Lobel also sneaks in a tiny lesson in botany, tucking images of mushrooms, nectarines, onions, and other flora into the corners of each image. A couple weaker entries (“Zeke Pig zzz’d on a Z”) detract only slightly from the charms of these playful, cavorting pigs. Ages 3–7.

April 15, 2015
Twenty-six pigs spend a glorious day playing with the alphabet. When 26 pigs wake up and decide to go exploring, they race along a country road to a field of "magical surprises." Each pig finds a large, free-standing letter of the alphabet and interacts with it in a special way. Wearing a fetching pleated skirt and pullover, Amanda Pig admires A; Billy Pig, in his form-fitting leotard, balances on B; Clara Pig, wrapped in a blue apron, cleans the C. Each appropriately costumed pig showcases a letter of the alphabet until Zeke Pig, in his pajamas, "zzz's" on the Z, and the hungry, tired, and happy pigs return home to feast on corn and apples and fall asleep, pink bottoms up. Matching the beginning letter of each pig's name and verb to a letter of the alphabet, Lobel reinforces both letter recognition and sound. Working in gouache and watercolor, she frames pages in neat alphabet borders, drawing attention to each costumed pig with its featured letter. Strategically tucked into the corner of each frame, a different fruit, flower, or vegetable beginning with the same letter adds to the playful pedagogy. Drawn in her amusing signature style, Lobel's adorable pigs steal this very clever show. Delightfully playful indeed. (Picture book. 3-6)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 1-Lobel adds another alphabet book to her repertoire with this verb-oriented porcine piece. While exploring, 26 pigs find the "magical surprises" of letters. Each pig proceeds to pose with a letter matching their name and depicted action, captioned by brief alliterative statements, starting with "Amanda Pig admired an A." Each picture also includes an object, typically flowers or produce, in one of the bottom corners that begins with the same letter, though they are not labeled. This creates a fun "Easter egg" hunt for kids to enjoy, although many of the letter-object pairings are quite obscure (K, Q, U, and Y in particular). Crossing the patterns of folk art with tentatively cartooned pigs in gouache and watercolor, the illustrations are comforting and lovely but unchallenging. Lobel's skill is most apparent in the freely curving string of pigs on the title page. The later pages are constrained by colored frames with capital letters in formal serif type across the top and lower case across the bottom. Unfortunately the overall feel comes across as very static, especially with the repetitive landscape of bumpy green hills, strings of red-dot flowers, and blue mountains found in every frame. VERDICT Despite the winning, whimsical artwork, this ABC book lacks the interest and punch to replace many current alphabet favorites.-Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Preschool-G Caldecott winner Lobel is back with 26 playful pigs that escape their pen to race along a country road. They come upon a field of magical surprises, full of individual alphabet letters. From Amanda Pig who admires an A to Zeke Pig catching some zzzs on a Z, the pigs cavort, climb, and create activities for a letter on each page. No stranger to illustrating animals, Lobel's watercolor and gouache pictures feature each porcine personality in costume (artist, clown, sailor, troubadour, etc.). A sequential list of all the alphabet letters in uppercase runs across the top of the page, and again across the bottom of the page in lowercase. And cleverly tucked into the lower left-hand corner of each single-page spread is a fruit or flower starting with the same letter. When the pigs rush home, they cuddle, all pink and sleepy, into their pen, knowing that tomorrow is another day. A piggy delight for youngsters practicing their alphabet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 1, 2015
Twenty-six pigs wake up in their pen and decide to explore the countryside, running down the road and finding a field of magical surprises: brightly colored, freestanding letters of the alphabet. Lobel's soft early-morning watercolors give way to bolder pages on which each pig is now clothed and standing upright. The entire alphabet, set in a distinctive condensed typeface, runs along the top and bottom borders while each pig interacts happily with a single tall, thin letterform (all are upper-case but i). Lobel uses a name-verb-letter structure ( Amanda Pig admired an A. Billy Pig balanced on a B ), with rolling hills below and plenty of white space behind the pig and letter. Repeat readers will spot an extra object beginning with the letter in question tucked into a lower corner. Gender roles are satisfyingly relaxed: Greta, a female soldier, guards the G, while on the opposite page Hugo tenderly hugs an H. By the time Yolanda yawns and Zeke zzzs, evening has arrived and the pigs return to their pen in a mirror image of the opening spreads, once again unclothed and running on all fours. Dinner is followed by bedtime, with all twenty-six snuggled together cozily. This playful treatment creates a humorous, easygoing book that should relieve any anxiety about learning the alphabet. lolly robinson

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)