The Big Wig Parade

The Big Wig Parade is a hilarious story about forest animals preparing to enter a contest to see who has the biggest wig. The only problem is, no one is prepared and the parade is tomorrow. Will the big day be ruined, or will their pungent friend, Peltie, save the day? With laugh-out-loud words and illustrations, The Big Wig Parade will be celebration for young readers.

The Big Wig Parade is written and illustrated by Bryan Ballinger, known for his quirky scratch and sniff book, Animal Gas. It follows the drama between a collection of forest friends who are panicking over the upcoming Big Wig Parade. The animal with the biggest wig gets to be Grand Marshall! Naturally, they try a lot of different options, including wearing a skunk and a clod of dirt, but Peltie, their least favorite friend, has the answer. Peltie might stink, and he might shed too much, but he has a brilliant idea that might make everyone a winner.

This laugh-out-loud romp is sure to make young readers giggle. The illustrations are vibrant, wacky, and colorful. The Big Wig Parade will have your young readers marching through the house and begging for more.

Bryan “Breadwig” Ballinger is a muralist, toy designer, and children’s book author and illustrator. He graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration & has a master’s degree in Writing for Children from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.

He was lead illustrator for the first version of the award-winning Encarta CD-ROM encyclopedia as well as the Explorapedia children’s encyclopedia series. For five years, Bryan was the 3D Design Lead at Big Idea Productions, the producers of the VeggieTales children’s videos. He was a professor of Digital Media Arts at Huntington University in Indiana for 16 years.

Bryan is the author and illustrator of Animal Gas: A Farty Farce (2015, Union Square Kids), a quirky scratch and sniff children’s picture book as well as 3 POW! Kids Books titles, The Big Wig Parade (2023), Counting Cows (2024), & The Story of a Pig Named Joe and his Quest to be Fancy (2024), each story featuring whimsical wacky animals up to varying hijinks that keep young readers laughing ‘til the end of the book! 

Bryan is currently the 2023-2024 Artist in Residence at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the world’s largest children’s museum. He runs a program that teaches the young and young at heart all about the creativity of illustration!