A PIGGIE CHRISTMAS

If Marge Palatini’s Piggie Pie (1995) and Zoom Broom (1998) made your stomach hurt from laughter, you may need medical attention after getting a gander at these porcine takes on five familiar Christmas songs from the same illustrator. Except for “We Wish You a Piggie Christmas,” the words haven’t changed, but seeing a sleigh full of pigs screaming down a snowy slope directly toward disaster (“Jingle Bells”) or bellowing out “Deck the Halls” through mouthfuls of holly and other greens will put these chestnuts in an entirely new light. The centerpiece of the collection is “Twelve Days of Christmas,” in which an unseen benefactor drives a disgruntled porker out of his house with increasingly larger gifts—including a pair of turtles brandishing “Peace Now” signs (get it?), three hens in berets, and dishes of five golden onion rings. Some songs are quite abbreviated and there’s no musical notation. But there will be snorts and chortles galore in this exuberant holiday offering. (Picture book. 6-9)