"If you have to build a house, build it out of rocks and bricks. And please
come home and see your mama on Sunday." With this sage advice, Mama Pig sends her three little pigs out into the world. But the first two listen to a sly fox with dangerously spiky hair, who sells them on cornstalks and hay instead. Not surprisingly, they're eaten up with an enormous "Gulp!" In his variation on The Three Little Pigs, Davis spins a cautionary tale about heeding the words of grown-ups. The first two pigs pay the price of ignoring Mama's wisdom; the third chubby porker, Jackie, erects a solid home. At this point the plot line loses momentum as Jackie veers from savvy to gullible. He lets the fox into his home, inexplicably slamming the door on the animal's neck and tail, and only later realizes "he was the very thing the fox was planning to eat." Jackie does ultimately outfox his tricky stalker and makes it home for Sunday supper, but the uninflected writing and heavy-handed message, coupled with Mazzucco's (Little Johnny Buttermilk
) flat illustrations in a muddy palette, may well have kids wishing for the classic's huffing and puffing wolf. Ages 4-7. (July)
