Synopses & Reviews
A hilarious trickster tale companion to the story time hit
My Lucky Day.
Just as Alligator Al is planning the perfect birthday dinner for himself, there is a knock on his door. It's a delicious-looking piglethow lucky! But as Al prepares his feast, the piglet makes some suggestions. Shouldnt Al have a big birthday cake? Piglet can tell him how to make one. And wouldnt the celebration be more fun with fancy decorations and party guests? Piglet would be happy to ask some friends to come over. Al is so lucky that Piglet is there to help...or is he? Could Piglet have a clever party trick up his sleeve? Fans of trickster tales, rooting for the underdog, and the proven crowd favorite My Lucky Day will be thrilled to see who turns out to have the luckiest birthday of all.
Review
"More fun than a rasher of bacon and sure to be in demand at story hours."
Review
"A sardonically humorous, rip-roaring yarn that can be enjoyed all year round."
Review
"This is definitely not your run-of-the-mill Halloween picture book, even though Gritch the Witch certainly looks her part (though a bit more trendy), with a pointy hat, a gap-toothed grin, vicious green fingernails, and two beauteous moles on her face. She acts her part, too, swaggering, greedy, and just plain impatient, as she brooms off to Old MacDonald's Farm in search of eight plump porkers for her favorite pie. But Palatini deftly turns the tables on Gritch, whose own sense of importance (and the skywritten warning "Surrender Piggies!" ) gives her victims time to implement a plan to save their bacon. When hungry Gritch arrives at the farm, she can't find a single pig. Instead, she finds a wolf, whom she slyly invites home: "I always enjoy having a wolf for lunch." The wry, peppery dialogue is simply great ("Look, Shorty, I've been quack-quacked here, moo-mooed there, and clucked-clucked everywhere all over this farm" ), and Palatini's allusions to popular children's stories from The Wizard of Oz to the "Three Little Pigs" will delight kids. So will Fine's bold, expressive artwork, which gives wicked Gritch a comic audacity that makes her trouncing all the better. A sardonically humorous, rip-roaring yarn that can be enjoyed all year round. " Booklist, ALA
"The exuberant illustrations are colorful and action-filled. Greedy witch and wolf both get what they deserve in this thoroughly enjoyable romp that turns a popular nursery song on end." School Library Journal, Starred
Synopsis
Gritch the Witch is grouchy, grumpy, and very hungry. The only thing that could make her happy is something extra special for lunch, and that is: Piggie Pie Gritch zooms off on her broomstick to find eight plump piggies -- where else? -- on Old MacDonald's Farm. Cleverly disguised pigs impersonate ducks, chickens, a cow, and Old MacDonald himself, as this uproarious, quick-paced story builds to an ironically surprising conclusion. Wacky, hip, and illustrated with bold, bright paintings, Piggie Pie adds a new twist to an old fairy-tale scene.
Synopsis
Gritch the witch flies to Old MacDonald's farm for some pigs to make piggie pie.
About the Author
Howard Fine is the illustrator of many popular picture books, including Clarion's best-selling Piggie Pie! He lives with his family in White Plains, New York.Margie Palatini earned her BFA in design from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia. She is the author of three novels for children, and a partner in an interior design and decorative painting business. Ms. Palatini lives in Plainfield, New Jersey.