YOURS TRULY, LOUISA

Louisa the pig, unhappy with the conditions on the farm, sends a series of anonymous letters to Farmer Joe requesting improvements. Her increasingly imperious missives demand that he tidy things up and make them more attractive as well. Despite the farmer’s earnest efforts, Louisa remains “disgruntled” and sets off for a better life in the big city. Like the country mouse, Louisa finds that she misses life on the farm and she sends another letter, signed this time, with a more polite message announcing her imminent return to farm life. Kiddie’s cartoon-style illustrations in a moody palette of subdued hues are enhanced by a flattened perspective that gives the farmer the appearance of a friendly rag doll. Louisa’s letters are reproduced in a collage style, with printed scrawl on notepaper, inkblots and dots and added elements such as a spoon, a pencil and a taped-on daisy. While the story hasn’t the verve of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, its embedded letters could easily scaffold on lessons in early-elementary classrooms. (Picture book. 5-8)