When You Take a Pig to a Party

Not to be confused with Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Pig a Pancake, this porcine parable shows, unsurprisingly and wordily, that social occasions and farm animals don't mix. The pig in question, Sherman, belongs to a girl named Adelaide, who takes Sherman to a friend's birthday party. At first everything is ""dandy,"" but then Adelaide forgets to mind her pet. Sherman snacks on the host's peonies, and when Adelaide's friends chase him, he runs amok in the suburban setting. This prompts various ker-splats, ker-plunks and repeated cries of ""Stop, Sherman, stop!"" The McLareys, a mother/daughter team, place Sherman in alliterative situations; people announce, ""There's a pig in the pool!"" and ""There's a pig in our pastry!"" Wunsch (Spaceship Number Four) sets the antic events in a nondescript landscape of green lawns, gray houses and white picket fences. Sherman smiles throughout his mad dash and, predictably, winds up with his snout in the birthday cake. As madcap pig adventures go, this tale claims to be frantic but never whips up much energy--the garrulous narrative is unwieldy, and, conversely, there's too much restraint in the art. Ages 5-9. (Mar.)