Oink?

by Margie Palatini, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

Overview

Everyone on the farm thinks Thomas and Joseph are sloppy, dim-witted pigs. Thomas and Joseph are content, but the other animals are not. The hens want the pigs to paint their pen, the rabbit wants them to eat healthier food, and the duck wants them to dig a water hole andtake a bath.

Even though the other animals try to show them how it's done, the pigs can't seem to do anything right.Maybe being lazy isn't as dumb as it seems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689862588
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	04/01/2006
Edition description:	Repackage
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Margie Palatini is the author of many celebrated children’s books, including Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes, The Three Silly Billies, and Earthquack!, all illustrated by Barry Moser, as well as Sweet Tooth and Bedhead, both illustrated by Jack E. Davis. She lives with her family in New Jersey. Visit Margie at MargiePalatini.com.

Henry Cole has written and illustrated more than 150 books for children, including Spot, the Cat; And Tango Makes Three; Oink?; and Little Bo in France. He is also the illustrator of With a Little Help from My Friends by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. A former elementary school teacher, he now writes and paints full time.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-Gr 2-Thomas and Joseph are pigs, literally and figuratively, and some of the other farm animals are fed up with their slipshod lifestyle. Two hens, a rabbit, and a duck set out to shape up the slovenly swine. The hens attempt to show the duo how to paint their fence, but when the porkers have difficulty handling a brush, the fowl finish the job themselves. Likewise, the rabbit tries to demonstrate how to gather vegetables in the garden so the two can eat more healthfully. When they trample down everything in sight, the rabbit finishes the harvest single-handedly. And, because the pigs don't seem to understand how to use a shovel, the disdainful duck digs the pond and fills it with water all by himself. It's not until all the work is done that the four smug animals realize that they might have been duped. Humorous watercolor, ink, and colored-pencil illustrations reveal wonderfully expressive critters and capture their contemptuousness to a tee. Their sudden understanding that they have been used is clearly revealed on their chagrined faces. Like the "The Little Red Hen" in reverse, these pigs don't ask for help but are waited on hand and foot, much to their immense satisfaction. This story is laugh-out-loud funny.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

To be a pig in pig heaven-there's a goal to set one's sights upon. Thomas and Joseph are two such situated porkers. They swill, they muck, they have a certain ripeness about them. They are, in the eyes of their barnyard brethren, in need of remedial action. The do-gooders know what is best: Sprucing up the sty, getting some greens in the diet, taking a bath minus the mud. When the hens and rabbit and duck try to show Thomas and Joseph how to effect their betterment, the pigs are too ham-fisted by half, and it rebounds to the good Samaritans to show them how to get the job done. Thomas and Joseph yawn their thanks. Maybe they're not so dumb after all. Palatini's pigs are a couple of cunning free-thinkers, and Cole paints them just right-nothing cute here, only a pair of big Tom Sawyers quite comfortable in their own skins. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews