I'm a pig, I'm a pig,/ and I don't give a fig/ if you call me a pig,/ .../ and I'm happy as a clam/ that I'm not an armadillo,/ or a lion/ or lamb." So go some of the opening lines of Week's (Follow the Moon
) swine song—an exuberant, insouciant and sublimely silly paean that brings to mind Monty Python in a less naughty moment. Berry's (Market Day
) cheery pictures chortle along in a style reminiscent of vintage Golden Books; her bold colors, sturdy shapes and unabashed playfulness animate every full-bleed, full-page scene and spot illustration. This is a pig who does indeed pig out on life: he dances a jig, orbits the moon in a space capsule and makes his parents proud by graduating from school (Berry pictures him in a cap and gown as he declares, "I'm a pig, I'm a pig,/ and my brain is very big/ Nothing's smarter than a pig./ Look it up—it's true!"). Children could certainly search for cleaner role models for self-esteem, but they'd be hard-pressed to find one with more joie de vivre. Ages 3-7. (May)
