Aunt Pitty Patty's Piggy - Hardcover

Fresh from The Gingerbread Man, Aylesworth and McClintock offer a similarly energetic, folksy retelling of a sequential tale about a stubborn pig who refuses to pass through a gate to enter the yard of its new owner. Rendered in brown pencil and watercolors, McClintock's earth-toned art conjures a rural 19th-century setting, replete with charming period particulars. The text's repetition and rhythm virtually command readers to chime in, as the determined heroine, Nelly, tries to enlist the aid of a number of initially uncooperative animals and inanimate objects: "Stick, stick, come hit dog. Dog won't bite Aunt Pitty Patty's piggy. It's gettin' late, and piggy's by the gate sayin', 'No, no, no, I will not go!' " Nelly's resolve pays off in an ending propelled by an amusing chain reaction. McClintock's pictures contain spirited detailsAe.g., a butcher, complying with Nelly's request that he scare an ox, chases the animal while carrying a picture of a steak; and the title character, persuaded at last to enter the yard, licks his chops hopefully as he stares in through the window at a supper shared by his mistress, her farmer suitor and Nelly. A recipe for corn bread appears, invitingly if irrelevantly, on the back of the book jacket. Narrative and art pull equal weight in this cheerful reworking. Ages 3-7. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PreSchool-Grade 1-Aunt Pitty Patty can't get her piggy to go in the gate, so her young niece Nelly tries to get some assistance. She is turned down first by dog, and then by stick, fire, water, and so on, until cow requests hay in payment, and Farmer Brown decides to trade some for the prospect of a good meal. "And little Nelly took the hay and gave it to the cow," starting the chain reaction that leads to the expected and satisfying conclusion. The fun is in getting there. By the same team that did The Gingerbread Man (Scholastic, 1998), this nicely paced retelling of the old cumulative tale is done in much the same style and format, although these pencil-and-watercolor illustrations don't leap off the page with quite the same wit and energy. Most of the paintings are soft-edged and grainy, thus underscoring the folksy, turn-of-the-century setting. McClintock depicts a bucolic landscape, animals with personality, and a determined and feisty Nelly. A recipe for "Aunt Pitty Patty's Old-Fashioned Corn Bread" is appended on the dust jacket. A winning read-aloud or storyhour selection.
Corinne Camarata, Port Washington Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.