Wheeler (Sailor MooPorcupining) brings her quirky sense of humor and wordplay to these Fitch & Chip titles, first in a planned series of easy readers. In New Pig in Town, Chip, the new pig, and Fitch, a lone wolf, build an unlikely friendship in entirely believable ways: eating lunch, playing ball and walking home from school. The two friends compare their home life in candid, realistic banter: "Granny knows who to blame when things break," says Fitch, an only child. "I get blamed when I didn't do it," says Chip, one of a passel of piglets. Ansley (Turk and Runt) fills at least half of each page with watercolors in a bold palette with many close-up perspectives. When Pigs Fly finds the friends coping with peer pressure and fitting in when everyone but Fitch dresses as a TV character for Hero Day at school. Creating an interesting story line and characters within the confines of the format, Wheeler offers beginning readers two new friends. Ages 6-8. (Sept.)
