Hanna's Hog - Hardcover

Hanna is a backwoodswoman, pleased with her chickens and her hog; none of them ever give her any trouble. Every now and then, a chicken disappears, but, while Hanna suspects her neighbor Kenny has stolen it, she can never prove anything. Then one day her hog is missing, and Hanna confronts Kenny. He says a bear took it, but Hanna is on to him. She waits until dark and plays a trick on Kenny to make him believe that a bear really has been around; after scaring him silly, Hanna and her hog head home. Aylesworth's story is really a joke that goes on a bit too longafter all, why does Hanna put up with chicken theft and not hog-stealin'? But Rounds's pictures give the story its punch; his crotchety black lines are scratched around surprising colorslike the mustard yellow of the hog and the olive green of an old slop bucket. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grade 1-3 The author and illustrator of Shenandoah Noah (Holt, 1985) team up for another backwoods knee-slapper. When Hanna Brodie's prized hog is missing, she suspects her shifty neighbor Kenny Jackson. Rather than admit his guilt, he tells her that a bear has been sighted in the area. However, she finds hog tracks around his barn, so she comes back that night, waits until he goes into the outhouse, and attacks with growls and a garden rake. Hanna gets her hog back, and Kenny is so struck with fear that ever after he carries a shotgun when nature calls. As usual, Rounds' scribbly, fluent illustrations capture the charactersHanna's no-nonsense stride and ferocious scowl, Kenny's nervousness, and even the hog's porcine cheerperfectly. John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.