#1102 – Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Jen Corace

Little Oink
Written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Illustrated by Jen Corace
Chronicle Books 3/07/2017
978-1-4521-5319-3
28 pages 5½” X 5½” Ages 3—5

“Proper pigs make proper messes!”

“Little Oink is a neat little fellow. Clean, clean, clean, that’s all he wants to do. But Mama and Papa won’t have it! They say in order to be a proper pig he has to learn to make a proper mess. What’s a little pig to do?” [BACK COVER]

Review
[WC 557]
In http://www.pamperedpiglets.com/, Little Oink loves to play with his friends and go outside. He is a clean, respectful little pig. Little Oink actually envies his friends’ parents demands for clean bedrooms. His parents, Mama and Papa Pig, demand his bedroom be a pigsty. Little Oink prefers to be clean and presentable. He even wears a bib and uses utensils at lunchtime; when the others are belly-up to the trough. All this cleanliness upsets his parents. They worry Little Oink will not grow up to be a proper, respectable pig—one who makes messes.
Until Little Oink makes a pigsty, he’s stuck inside with his parents. Little Oink does not intend to watch his parents make a complete mess of the house. Papa Pig makes a fine art mess painting a pile of dirty clothes. Mama Pig waters the table, rather than the plant, which is on its side and spilling dirt. What can Little Oink do? He relents and creates a pigsty in his bedroom (sort of). To make Mama Pig happy, Little Oink changes into a dirty, stained shirt. Still, Papa Pig is not happy.

“I still see toys in their bin, mister. Please—not another word until this room’s a total pigsty.”

Little Oink didn’t wipe his feet when he dragged in a pile of messy mud. Yet, none of this is enough. Papa Pig wants his son’s toys OUT of the bins and the bedroom a total pigsty. For young readers, this is an added bonus to an already wonderful board book. As Little Oink tosses his toys onto the floor, he counts from one to ten. Young children can count right along with him. And when Mama and Papa Pig celebrate their son’s bedroom disaster with silly string, Little Oink goes outside to play—and here is a terrific twist parents will love.
Young children will like the board book version of Little Oink, a popular picture book from 2009. Unlike Little Oink, most young children are messy, some on purpose. They will love seeing Little Oink making messes to please his piggish parents. Unmaking his bed, unfolding his clothes, and wearing a stained, dirty shirt will not please Little Oink, but children will think it quite humorous. (Can you image your mother insisting you wear a dirty shirt?)

I never read the picture book version of Little Oink, but if it is anything like the board, both books are worthy of shelf space. Little Oink is cute and determined to please his parents, even if it is only to get outside. The ink and watercolor illustrations are humorous, adding a new layer to the wry text. I love that both parents are on the scene, instead of simply mom. My first giggle came when Little Oink finds a truffle and offers it up to the girls. Could his truffle be chocolate like mine, or is his made of something more organic?
Whatever it is Little Oink finds, he stole my heart with his enthusiasm and determination. Both the text and the illustrations are perfect for a picture book as well as a board book. I must compare the two books. I am curious as to what Rosenthal and Corace removed, changed, and dis-guarded to turn their picture book into a board book. Whatever they did, the youngest readers, and their parents, are the winners. (I did get to compared, and nothing changed!!)