OINK?

To be a pig in pig heaven—there’s a goal to set one’s sights upon. Thomas and Joseph are two such situated porkers. They swill, they muck, they have a certain ripeness about them. They are, in the eyes of their barnyard brethren, in need of remedial action. The do-gooders know what is best: Sprucing up the sty, getting some greens in the diet, taking a bath minus the mud. When the hens and rabbit and duck try to show Thomas and Joseph how to effect their betterment, the pigs are too ham-fisted by half, and it rebounds to the good Samaritans to show them how to get the job done. Thomas and Joseph yawn their thanks. Maybe they’re not so dumb after all. Palatini’s pigs are a couple of cunning free-thinkers, and Cole paints them just right—nothing cute here, only a pair of big Tom Sawyers quite comfortable in their own skins. (Picture book. 4-8)