A PILE OF PIGS

Stirred by a busybody rooster (``Strut-a-doodle doo! You should see what the cows are doing'') and inspired by an old circus poster of acrobats forming a human pyramid, Littlest Pig perseveres until at last he's able to galvanize his reluctant relatives into action. Laboriously, they form a pyramid so tall that, peering over the barn roof just before they all fall down again, Littlest Pig does see the cows, or at least the youngest calf, looking back from the top of their pyramid on the other side of the barn. Colorful names, engaging repetitions, and expert pacing enliven the story, while the grunting, comical labor and cooperation necessary to hoist the pigs uncomfortably into place are hilariously evoked (``Littlest Pig scrambled from shoulder to snout...from pig part to pig part. The bottom pigs moaned. The pyramid swayed back. The pyramid swayed forth...''). Jordan's illustrations, mostly in slightly grimy pig pink shadowed with dark brown, depict a crowd of comically expressive pigs; they are nicely composed, too—as pyramids must be. A simple idea developed with panache—delightful. (Picture book. 3- 7)