Piggy Pie Po

While the three stories in this picture book are short on plot, they are filled with high-spirited acrylic paintings and rhymes that focus on a single character. The first story features Piggy Pie Po wearing different costumes as he engages in various activities (“If he wears his rubber fins,/ Piggy Pie Po swims and swims”), while the second tale offers demonstrations of the pig’s many artistic and academic talents (“For a penny he will spell/ pistachio and pimpernel”). In the last story, Piggy Pie Po goes on an eating binge, which ends badly when he eats a chili pepper: “So hot! So red!/ He ran straight home... and went to bed.” Like calendar photos of a potbellied porker, the illustrations (drawn by Audrey Wood and painted by Don) flip by accompanied by rhymes that are akin to (and will be as easily memorizable as) a rollicking nursery rhyme. As exuberant as the pigs in the Woods’ Piggies, this solo star will likewise appeal to toddlers, whether he’s dancing in his “party pants” or playing a bongo drum in a hula skirt. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)