cover image Goodnight, Sweet Pig

Goodnight, Sweet Pig

Linda Bailey, , illus. by Josée Masse. . Kids Can, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-55337-844-0

Bailey (Stanley's Wild Ride )introduces a piglet named Hamlette (aka pig number one), who actually wants to go to bed. But one by one, her nine fellow pigs burst into her bedroom with much different agendas. Pig number two wants to "read with a light,/ and eat buttered toast all through the night," while the last arrival, pig number 10, is "a famous basketball star/ who brought his whole team in a luxury car!" When Hamlette finally reaches the end of her rope ("How can a poor pig girl get some sleep?"), the perpetrators sheepishly depart in countdown form; those last to leave even make amends with a bedtime story (pig number five), "a tender kiss goodnight" (pig number 4) and other goodhearted ministrations. Masse (Three Cat and Mouse Tales ) packs the subtly grained acrylic paintings with mayhem and pratfalls, including a bride-pig falling into a cake. But the elegant palette and crisp, editorial-style characterizations seem ill-matched to the comically chaotic proceedings. Ages 2-5. (Mar.)