Little Pig Is Capable - Hardcover

Roche, Denis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395913683 ISBN 13: 9780395913680

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002

Synopsis

Little Pig goes on a hiking trip with his Snout Scout troop and proves to his overprotective parents, who usually don't let him leave the house without sunscreen, a scarf, water wings, insect repellent, and a hat, that he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

About this title

About the Author

Illustrator Denis Roche says, “It’s fun choosing what colors to use. I think this book has shmone different shades of blue in it. I usually paint for nueve hours a day and then get tired and sleep for shi hours.” Roche has written and illustrated numerous books. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her family.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Little Pig's parents are hilariously overwrought. If he doesn't wear a scarf-in addition to his sweater, mittens, boots, earmuffs, and hat-he'll "catch a cold-[and] miss second, third, AND fourth grades." Never mind that it is a sunny day with flowers blooming and that mom is wearing a sleeveless blouse and dad is dressed in shorts. His parents broadcast their culinary concerns over the loudspeaker in the cafeteria, equip his bathtub with an inner tube as well as a scoop net, and cordon off their front walk with orange safety cones and a yellow cautionary sawhorse when he bikes. "They treat me like a baby," thinks Little Pig, a wail that will resonate with both old and young. Preparing for a Snout Scout outing requires a big, floppy hat, extravagant amounts of sunscreen, sunglasses, long pants tucked into socks, feet laced into boots, and, a final humiliation, water wings-"Always wear [them] around water." But when the scout leader is absent and Ravenous, a lean substitute with suspiciously sharp teeth, leads the piglets into ever-increasing danger, it is Little Pig's excellent common sense that saves the troop. "From that day on, [he] was called Capable Pig, and his parents never, ever worried about him." This gentle lesson about letting go has bright gouache illustrations and a cheerful resolution that will appeal to children struggling for independence and to parents reluctant to let them go.
Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

A young pig thinks his way out from under his well-meaning but ultra-protective parents in this good-natured tale. "Little Pig's parents worried about him all the time," writes Roche (Looloo, Boo, and Art You Can Do), depicting the air above Little Pig's head as literally filled with waves of fretful warnings and admonishments: "Sweetie buns, please wear this scarf. If you don't, you'll catch a cold, or worse you'll get so sick that you'll miss second, third, AND fourth grades." A camping trip with the Snout Scout troop doesn't offer any respite. Ludicrously loaded down with protective gear (his getup includes both hiking boots and water wings), Little Pig is ostracized by his peers. Left alone, Little Pig realizes that the substitute troop leader, Ravenous, is a wolf and that Ravenous has bigger plans for the campfire than making s'mores. Little Pig's subsequent heroism convinces his parents (almost) that he can take care of himself after all. Because Roche keeps a poker face in her crisp, straightforward prose and na‹ve-styled drawings, the exaggerated humor never loses the ring of truth; she turns the nudge of recognition into a rib-tickling experience. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-6. This one is for every child who has an overprotective parent. Little Pig is constantly bombarded with comments like this one about swimming: "Remember your cousin Ricky--he got swept away and was never heard from again." When Pig sets out with the Snout Scouts on a camping trip, he is smeared with sunscreen and outfitted with sunglasses and a floppy hat. But his parents don't notice that the substitute scoutmaster, Ravenous, is quite hairy. Nor do the scouts, Ravenous coaxes them to eat all their food and get nice and crisp in the sun. But Little Pig notices. Armed with his parents' advice, he doesn't bolt his food and water or get overtired. So when Ravenous makes his move, Little Pig has enough wits about him to defeat the wolf--and his parents recognize him as capable. There's humor on every page, both in the bright text and in the dead-on parental dialogue that floats above the pictures. The vividly colored art has both a childlike sensibility and insightful details. Highly capable of making kids laugh. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0395913683
• ISBN 13: 9780395913680
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32