Peddles

Stanton follows Henny with another gently funny tale of a barnyard outsider. Peddles, a pale pink pig, dreams of bringing civilization to his brethren. Stanton draws vignettes of the other pigs “grunting and rooting and wallowing and…” (you guessed it—pooping, graphically). Peddles “thought about the usual pig things differently,” writes Stanton as she shows him fantasizing about speaking actual words (“Howdy!”), bathing in a tub, and sitting on a toilet with a newspaper. The sight of a hoedown gives Peddles a new idea—he wants to dance! His attempts to walk in a pair of discarded cowboy boots might have led his fellow pigs to make fun of him. Instead, they help him stand, then try on some footwear of their own. Peddles is an eccentric, but he can also be understood as a stand-in for a child starting down the road toward adulthood, trying on big shoes and dreaming about doing grown-up things. He’s easy to love, and his porcine companions seem like the nicest of friends—even if they aren’t toilet-trained. Ages 4–8. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Jan.)