"In rhyming couplets and airy watercolor vignettes, Yee chronicles a pig's successful ploy to raise some extra cash," said PW. "This unprepossessing business primer boosts children's entrepreneurial instincts and makes the work of marketing look like great fun." Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
In rhyming couplets and airy watercolor vignettes, Yee (The Officer's Ball) chronicles Pinky Pig's successful ploy to raise some extra cash. If business doesn't pick up at Hamburger Heaven, where Pinky works on Fridays after school, she will lose her job--and will never be able to replace her clarinet (which, the dedication page reveals, was accidentally flattened by an elephant). So the resourceful Pinky puts her business acumen to work and surveys members of the community: "Pinky asks shoppers she happens to meet: `What kind of burgers do you like to eat?' " Based on their replies, she designs a new menu, papers the neighborhood with copies and watches with pride as a crowd swells outside Hamburger Heaven to sample the new line of specialty burgers: "Porcupine's burger is served on pine needles./ Possum's order comes crawling with beetles." A grateful chef gives Pinky a raise and the new clarinet is hers. Yee's unprepossessing business primer boosts children's entrepreneurial instincts and makes the work of marketing look like great fun. At the same time, the visual slapstick of the artwork and the gleeful yuckiness of the burger recipes prove that Yee, like his pink protagonist, is no neophyte when it comes to giving his audiences what they demand. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
PreS-Gr 2-An ordinary employee might begin looking for other employment when she hears her boss talking about a drop in business and a possible layoff, but Pinky Pig is no ordinary wage earner. She works after school to earn money to buy a new clarinet, and she's not about to give up her job easily. Realizing that the hamburgers at Hamburger Heaven are boring, she devises a new menu and vigorously advertises it. While the cook is wary about the odd creations, he can't deny that the new selections have drawn a crowd, and he sets Pinky Pig to work collecting ingredients. The result: a never-ending stream of satisfied diners for him, and a brand new clarinet for Pinky. The rhymed text is fast paced and humorous, and its list of such gourmet delights as "worms lightly fried," "Snailburger Supreme," and "Burger on pine cones, frosted with ants," is just disgusting enough to tickle young readers. Yee's watercolor cartoons add to the fun. Not only do they depict burgers oozing with worms, ants, and other crawling creatures, but they contain some visual jokes for adults as well. A music store is called "Moozart's"; beetles form a "bug off" sign when Pinky looks under a rock for some needed ingredients. A "heavenly" entree in which a feisty heroine saves the day.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Overhearing that her job at the diner might be eliminated, Pinky Pig sets out to discover new ways to improve customer satisfaction. Can she save her job and earn enough money to buy a clarinet? Her new menu brings in the customers in droves. Children will squirm over the new concoctions, with something unique for each patron: Snailburger Supreme for Hedgehog, a burger with worms lightly fried for Mole, a termite-infested burger for Aardvark, not to mention Burger Deluxe, which has three kinds of bugs! Who could resist? Yee (Fireman Small to the Rescue, 1998, etc.) pens this fable lightly, but the moral is plain: by putting others first, Pinky attains what she wants. Whimsical, often hilarious watercolors show Pinky fast at work collecting assorted bugs of all sizes and shapes. Up-and-coming young biologists might be inspired to come up with some recipes of their own. (Picture book. 4-8) .
Pinky Pig works after school at Hamburger Heaven. When business slows and her job is threatened, it is Pinky's ingenuity that saves the day. Kids will appreciate the menu of burgers served with assorted bugs and leaves to beavers, porcupines, and possums. Action-filled watercolors accompany this funny culinary adventure told in rhyme.
