Pigs Rock!

Jones, Melanie Davis. 2003. PIGS ROCK! Ill. By Bob Staarke. New York: Viking Children’s Books. ISBN 0670035815 [Suggested Grade Levels Preschool-2]

SUMMARY and ANALYSIS
A pig rock band is on tour. They play all kinds of music from rock and roll to country. All the pigs wear wild outfits that make them hard to miss. Then, the pigs go to sleep. After they wake up, they hop onto their tour bus. Despite an accident on the way, the pigs make it to their gig on time with some help from an ice cream truck man. As usual, the pigs are a hit at their concert.

All the rhyming and repetition make the book fun to read. The rhythmic text has a fast beat that kids will have fun following. Ms. Jones uses some nice contrast when writing the text. If the text is on a dark background, it is white. The text is black if it is on a light background. Mr. Staarke created some eye-catching illustrations with his combination of geometric and bright colors. He also exaggerates the features for comic effect. For example, many of the characters have eyes that are big and round. Kids will enjoy hearing about these cool pigs.

CONNECTIONS
The kids would have fun with a craft project where they could create their own pigs with pieces of paper, pencils, glue and Popsicle sticks. They could decide what kind of outfits their pigs would wear. A variety of colors would be provided, so kids can come up with different combinations.

This book can also be a fun way to teach kids about shapes. The librarian or parent can pull out a colorful geometric block and ask the child about the shape. Then, they can compare the shape to one in the book.

RELATED BOOKS
Other books about musical animals:
Gollub, Matthew. THE JAZZ FLY. ISBN 1889910171
London, Jonathan. HIP CAT. ISBN 0811814890
Pham, LeUyen. PIGGIES IN A POLKA. ISBN 0152164839

By Christine Cortez