Pigsty (Scholastic Bookshelf) - Softcover

Mark Teague is an award-winning children's book author and illustrator whose books include the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling How Do Dinosaurs... series, the LaRue series, FIREHOUSE!, FUNNY FARM, and many other humorous picture books. Mark lives in New York state with his wife and their two daughters.

PreSchool-Grade 2-An amiable fantasy on a common theme. When Wendell's mother takes a look at his messy room, throws up her hands in resignation, and tells him he can live in a pigsty if he wants to, he is delighted. What only he knows is that two pigs have found his room so agreeable that they have moved in. He enjoys playing with them, even though he has to give them his bed and they hog his pillows and blankets. But even Wendell has his limit, and when they chew his baseball cards, he reaches it. His mother hands her son a broom, and in a flash of inspiration he organizes the porkers into a cleaning crew. Finding the room a bit too neat for their liking, they return to the farm. Wendell, having learned his lesson, keeps his room tidy after that-except for the occasions when the animals return for a game of Monopoly. Though the premise is not original, it is deftly executed in an appropriately humorous style that has great child appeal. The acrylic, cartoonlike illustrations evoke a time when boys played with yo-yos, electric trains, and board games. Teague's use of clean line renders the paintings easily visible for group sharing, but close observation reveals comical details. An enjoyable choice for story time and for reading at home.
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.