If You Give a Pig a Pancake (If You Give...)

Whether the homesick pig is wrapped in a bath towel clutching her rubber duck or pirouetting on a tightrope, she’ll please fans of the previous books, who will relish more of the same. (Picture book. 2-5)

PreS-Gr 2--This delightful story continues the playfulness found in its predecessors, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985) and If You Give a Moose a Muffin (1991, both HarperCollins). Here, a little girl is the patient hostess to a demanding piglet, whose myriad requests lead them from the kitchen table to the bathtub to the backyard. Along the way, the endearing porker puts on a pair of tap shoes, gets her picture taken balancing on top of the living room furniture, prepares a stack of mail to send to her friends, and builds and decorates a tree house. Preschoolers and beginning readers will enjoy spotting the objects mentioned in the story. Beginning with the cover illustration of the piglet daintily perched on a windowsill, Bond has once again created an adorable character that expresses the text perfectly. The humor and quick pace of Numeroff's engaging narrative make this book an excellent choice for reading aloud. A surefire crowd-pleaser.--Diane Janoff, Queens Borough Public Library, NY