The Hog Call to End All!

Kiser's (The Catspring Somersault Flying One-handed Flip-flop) amiable tale about a county fair has an entertaining plot, but the stylized illustrations create the effect of being trapped in a house of mirrors: the distortions quickly go from amusing to disturbing. Minerva's hopes for her prize hog Tillie are shaken when Tillie ``kicks up such a ruckus'' that Mr. Snyder, the hot-headed barn manager, scolds them and tells Minerva not to count on a blue ribbon. ``After all, a hog is a hog!'' he sneers. When Minerva enters a hog-calling contest, her ``Suuuuu-ee Tillie-illie!'' brings Tillie crashing out of the barn and through the mob. Mr. Snyder's efforts to stop the hog backfire: Tillie rears up with a terrified squeal and charges off after the boorish bureaucrat. Gurney's dizzying perspectives have an anxious, queasy quality. Many of his fair-goers, meanwhile, are rendered in the style of political caricatures, with an emphasis on gaping mouths and caterpillar eyebrows. The sculptural, waxy-faced crowd, saturated in orange and pink tones, resemble pigs themselves. A mismatch. Ages 4-7. (Sept.)