Pigs On The Ball: Fun With Math and Sports (Pigs Will Be Pigs)

The Pig family visits a miniature golf course to celebrate Mr. Pig's birthday and everyone learns about shapes, angles, and geometry in the fifth book featuring the math savvy Pig family.

Grade 1-3-In this fifth addition to the series, the focus is on geometry. Mom and the piglets blindfold dad and take him to the new "Sport-O-Rama" miniature golf course as a birthday surprise. With the promise of all-you-can-eat pizza as a prize, he is determined to score a winning number of holes in one. Unfortunately, the descriptions of Dad's putting performance are more ho-hum than fun, and forced, artificial language makes for awkward reading. For example, one of the piglets coaches dad with, "Just gently putt to the center of any one of the equal sides, and the ball will land in the cup." Tongue-in-cheek touches include the family's need to stop for a gargantuan "snack" at the fourth hole, but again the silliness is more tired than clever. Colorful, cartoon illustrations contribute a built-in vibrancy, but are often too busy to be easily shared with a group. Also, in spite of the promise of the subtitle, the only references to other sports are the background motifs for the miniature golf-course holes. Older students might have the patience to follow through with the math questions found at the end of the story, but don't count on it.
Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In another entry in Axelrod's math-concepts series (Pigs in the Pantry, 1997, etc.) Mr. and Mrs. Pig and their piglets visit a miniature golf course for Mr. Pig's birthday, and get a crash course in simple geometry. The pigs, as always, are a jolly bunch, ever-ready to exploit the comic possibilities. In this story, Mr. Pig plays the fall guy: Even his new lucky shirt can't save him from putting his ball out of bounds, into the water, or beneath the bushes. Of course, the other three pigs work the greens like Sam Snead, all the while offering Mr. Pig advice, much of it laced with geometry. Some of the dialogue becomes stilted (``Dad, this one is so easy. Just gently putt to the center of any of the equal sides, and the ball will land in the cup''), but the story still prattles along in a merry vein, with its subtext of lines and curves, parallels and semi- circles. (There is a quiz at the end.) McGinley-Nally shows pigs running happily amok, flashing wit, knowledge, and the electric palette of a single-minded crusade against math anxiety. (Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.