THE LONG-NOSED PIG

A companion to The Wide-Mouthed Frog (1995) that is not as funny, but fans of the first book will want to get their hands on this one to see what pops out at them. Faulkner purports to explain why the pig has a short, wrinkled snout. The very first pig (who is pink, portly, and grubby—flies hover around him) has an exceedingly long nose, so long that preschoolers may be inclined to think of him as an elephant. Vain about his lengthy proboscis, the pig trots about holding his nose higher and higher until he bumps into a tree and squashes his nose into the short, wrinkly shape it is today. Along the way, readers meet a few other creatures whose long noses obligingly pop up: an anteater, a swordfish, and a toucan. The last spread (to be opened with a single ``OINK!'' fortissimo) is an extreme close-up of the pig's face, 18 inches in diameter. All the protuberant pop-ups, some bright colors, and lively art—the dirt smudges that begrime the pig are cleverly made from brown fingerprints across the pink paint surface—keep everything trotting merrily along. (Pop-up. 2- 6)