A SPECIAL DAY FOR MOMMY

A piglet unilaterally declares a Mommy holiday, and then throws herself into preparations for a "surprise" celebration with comically heedless gusto. Readers get treated to two running jokes: the progress of the very messy plans (the piglet provides her own running narration), and the domestic triage that Mommy silently performs in the wake of her little bundle of energy. "To cut out a heart that's not crooked, fold the paper in half first. No peeking, Mommy!" says the piglet as she makes a card for Mommy; the honoree, meanwhile, mops up a puddle caused by a tipped-over bottle of glue. Mommy's patience never falters—although when her daughter announces (after having uprooted the daffodil garden, strewn the bathroom with toilet paper and covered herself and her clothes with jelly), "I bet you wish every day was Mommy's special day!" Mommy's smile could easily match the Mona Lisa's for the complexity of its meaning. The sturdy, rounded shapes and warm colors of Andreasen's (Sailor Boy Jig ) oil paintings exude domestic comfort even as they suggest play. As for his bouncy, self-assured piglet heroine, preschoolers and parents alike will find her very familiar—she's incapable of keeping two feet on the floor at the same time, her eyes shine with seemingly unstoppable determination. Parents don't need to worry about their own children being incited to wreak similarly well-

intended havoc: a blank greeting card featuring one of the book's illustrations is tipped into the inside back cover. Ages 2-5. (Apr.)