PUDDLE PUG

Are the pigs’ digs big enough for both a porcine family and a mud-loving pug?

Percy the pug loves puddles, the muddier the better. He even makes a map of his favorite puddles so he can find them easily. One day, he hears splashing on the other side of the fence and, peering through, sees the perfect puddle. He sneaks in under the fence and begins some serious splashing. The resident piglets don’t seem to mind, but the big sow glowers at him, and in no time, Percy is back outside the fence. Now all the old puddles seem inadequate. Every time he tries to sneak back, Mama sends him packing. A severe rainstorm changes everything: A tree crashes into the wallow, and all the pigs are displaced. Worse, tiny Petunia is missing. It’s Percy who comes to the rescue, finding the missing piglet thanks to his map of puddles. Reunited with Petunia, Mama’s whole body twitches “with piggly jiggly joy.” From then on, Percy is able to enjoy his very favorite puddle. This playful, accessible friendship story features some nice vocabulary choices, and its sly use of voice puts readers in Percy’s paws: “But his puddle did not love him back”—that big old sow is never mentioned. Partaking of an animation aesthetic, Yamaguchi’s pencil-and–digital paint illustrations are simple and clean, the animals adorable.

Sweet and muddy—err, sunny.