In the great tradition of such memorable children's book buddies as Frog and Toad and George and Martha come Toot and Puddle, a pair of pig pals that have delighted young readers (and older ones, too) since their debut in Holly Hobbie's 1997 picture book, Toot & Puddle (Little, Brown). In that first outing, adventurous Toot sets off on a year-long, round-the-world trip and sends postcards back to homebody Puddle.
The book so enchanted booksellers that it was chosen as an ABBY honor book by the American Booksellers Association. To date, Toot & Puddle has sold 125,000 copies and has inspired two sequels: last year's Toot & Puddle: A Present for Toot (65,000 sold) and Toot & Puddle: You Are My Sunshine, which hits stores this month with a first printing of 25,000 copies.
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Such success has made Hobbie happier than, well, a pig in a mud puddle. "I'm so thrilled Toot and Puddle have found an audience," she said. And even more gratifying to Hobbie, the books mark an important career departure for her. For more than 25 years, Hobbie's name had been synonymous with the wildly popular bonneted-girl characters that graced a line of American Greetings cards and ancillary products in the 1970s and '80s. "That represented a time in my life that was wonderful, but when it was over, it was really over," she said of the era.
While some adults may wonder if the creator of Toot and Puddle and the bonneted girls are one and the same, younger Hobbie fans make no such association. Hannah Schwartz, owner of Children's Book World in Haverford, Pa., noted that her patrons "ask for the Toot and Puddle books," she said, "not the Holly Hobbie books."
Having closed a large chapter in her career, Hobbie was casting around for new projects when serendipity came into play. "The piglet thing started with some postcards my daughter had sent us from San Francisco," she said. "The cards had pictures of real pigs on them and they really lifted us up. Around the same time, I visited a friend's farm in Vermont and saw a sow with her piglets. I knew then that I wanted to draw pigs."
Before long, Hobbie had an idea about "a pig on the move," and the first Toot and Puddle book evolved from that. "Toot and Puddle couldn't be more different than what I was doing before," Hobbie commented. "I wanted to disconnect and start fresh."
Her fresh start led her to the children's book arena for the first time. "I always thought the way I worked suited children's book illustration," she said, "and some of my favorite artists--I love Ernest Shepard and Arthur Rackham--have been children's book illustrators." Hobbie got a boost from children's book illustrator Jane Dyer, who lives near Hobbie in their native Massachusetts. At Dyer's suggestion, Little, Brown v-p and editor-in-chief Maria Modugno met with Hobbie, and a creative relationship blossomed.
Modugno immediately took a shine to Hobbie's piglet paintings and suggested she move ahead with a story idea for them. But given the popularity of Dick King-Smith's Babe, David McPhail's pigs and many other books featuring these animals, Hobbie initially worried that her characters would "fall through the cracks." Happily, Toot and Puddle have carved out their own niche in the picture-book market.
Though the winsome watercolor porkers often sport overalls, turtlenecks and caps while playing or doing household chores, fans might think twice about calling the pigs "cute," an adjective that nearly sets Hobbie on edge. "I want them to be more appealing than cute," she explained. "I try to be guarded against cliché and not make them too anthropomorphic. The settings are important, too. I imagine what Toot and Puddle would be doing, who their friends might be. I want to stay true to the world I've created for them."
Little, Brown has supported the Toot and Puddle titles with a national bookstore tour by Hobbie last fall, a retail activity kit and, most recently, a die-cut cardboard standee, shipped out to 1500 stores that have ordered at least five copies of You Are My Sunshine. Club rights for all three titles have been sold to Children's Book-of-the-Month Club, as well as to Scholastic's school book clubs. And for kids who just have to give Toot or Puddle a hug, plush dolls by Crocodile Creek are also available. According to Little, Brown publicist Kerri Goddard, Hobbie and her publishing house are "proceeding cautiously" with character licensing. In addition to Crocodile Creek, only two other companies have become licensees: Gamewright Games has produced a board game for kids and Peaceable Kingdom is creating greeting cards and stickers.
An Appealing Duo
The connection Toot and Puddle have made with readers is the kind every author and publisher hopes for. "The characters come very much alive for children," said Hobbie. "They write me letters about how real Toot and Puddle are to them. Children are able to see the nuance and subtlety of Toot and Puddle's personalities. Toot and Puddle are alive and evolving for me, too. I learn more about them with each book." Schwartz of Children's Book World noted that kids, and especially teachers, are drawn to the friendship theme of the books. "They like the idea that two pigs with very different personalities can accept each other's differences and be friends," she said.
According to Little, Brown's sales reports, Goddard said, the books have 100% sell-through at independent stores. "The chains have also supported the book from the beginning," she added, noting that Barnes & Noble chose the first Toot & Puddle book for the cover of its Children's Holiday Book & Gift Catalog in 1997. Little, Brown reps have commented that the $12.95 price for the first two books, which is low for a jacketed hardcover, has helped boost sales (You Are My Sunshine is $14.95).
Toot and Puddle fans can rest assured that their favorite pigs will be having more adventures, though, as Hobbie put it, "I can't say where they're going." She has just completed an alphabet book starring the pair and is mulling over other ideas. For now, young readers can only hope that Toot and Puddle's "swine" song is a long way off.
