Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. This little pig went to market, this little pig stayed home, but THESE little pigs have escaped from the back of Bert and Ethel's truck and hightailed it out of town, along with a lot of clothes belonging to the locals. A clue to the peripatetic porkers' whereabouts soon arrives in the form of a postcard from Florida containing a one-word message: "Oink." Before you can say "Wee wee wee all the way home," the hapless hog farmers have headed to the Sunshine State in pursuit of their porcine property. Readers of Christelow's The Great Pig Escape (1994), also about these feckless farmers, will know the pigs don't have to worry. And once again, kids will delight in spotting the cleverly disguised swine, who romp about unnoticed under Bert and Ethel's very noses. Fans of Walter R. Brooks' immortal Freddy books may smell an homage in this sprightly story, but others will simply enjoy the farcical search and the cheerful cartoon illustrations that depict it. --Michael Cart
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this rib-tickling sequel to The Great Pig Escape, two farmers seek hogs that are hidden in plain sight. As Bert and Ethel shrug and scratch their heads over their lost pigs, other townspeople go about their business some of them wearing floppy hats and carrying newspapers to shield their faces. How strange. After a postcard reading "Oink!" arrives from Florida, Bert books a beach vacation and spends it asking, "Seen any runaway pigs?" Neither the squealing hotel clerk, the restaurant's pink maitre-d' nor the policewoman with the funny snout can help him. Christelow places sympathy firmly with the swine by suggesting the farmers' intentions. Bert complains, "I raised those pork chops from baby piglets!" and Ethel reminds him that freedom "beats being bacon any day." In her casually drawn ink-and-watercolor images, pigs in wigs, scarves and swimsuits grin conspiratorially; when Bert falls off a fishing boat, he doesn't notice he's been rescued by an amiable porcine sailor. The author gets a few more giggles out of a classic comedy plot, pitting brazen outlaws against thickheaded authorities. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3-This story continues the adventures of Bert, Ethel, and their pigs, which began in The Great Pig Escape (Clarion, 1994), but it can be enjoyed independently. Ethel understands why the animals ran away-"Beats being bacon any day"-but Bert, a farmer, just can't let their disappearance go, especially after a postcard arrives with the message, "Oink!" He and Ethel take a trip to Florida, she to vacation, he to look for his missing animals. Readers see pigs everywhere, but he does not, no matter how hard he looks. Bert searching for and missing what is right under his nose will have readers rolling with laughter. Christelow's watercolor and pen-and-India-ink cartoonlike illustrations do a fabulous job of reinforcing the mood and action of the text. They begin "telling" the story on the cover, move to the front endpapers and title-page spread, then blend with and extend the text throughout the book. Some spreads are fully illustrated. In others, the text is on white with the illustrations above, below, or next to it. Some drawings are framed and placed over others or on the white background. Because the illustrations play such an integral role in this comical adventure, it is best suited to independent reading as well as small-group sharing. A sure hit.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary) These little piggies didn't go to market. Instead, in Christelow's 1994 The Great Pig Escape, they ran away from farmer Bert and his wife, Ethel. Now a mysterious postcard from Florida with a single-word message ("oink!") suggests the porkers have headed south. When Bert and Ethel decide to vacation in Florida, Ethel wants to sit on the beach and dance under the stars, but Bert can't get his mind off the fugitive pigs. From the moment the couple is driven to their motel by a nervous, grunting cabdriver, it will be obvious to the reader (if not to Bert and Ethel) that the runaways are hiding in plain sight. The loosely composed ink drawings, splashed with bright watercolors, provide plenty of laughs as Bert and Ethel remain oblivious to the porcine sunbathers on the beach, the large-snouted waiter at a restaurant, and a local rock band called the Squealers. But it's the pigs who have the last laugh, as they once again foil Bert's attempts to bring home the bacon. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Christelow's jolly tale revisits Bert, Ethel, and the troublemaking pigs from The Great Escape (1994). Once again the pigs have fled Bert and Ethel's Vermont farm, " without so much as a thank-you,' " grumbles Bert. But Bert can't shake the pigs escape from his mind, nor the mysterious postcard sent from Florida with the message "Oink!" Ethel recommends a holiday, and Bert buys tickets for Florida. Once there, he drives Ethel (and not a few Floridians) crazy with his incessant pig search. (Not that young readers will rest any easier as they ferret out the porkers hiding under sunbonnets and behind palm trees.) Bert never does see the pigs right under his own nose-C'mon Bert, that cabbie has cloven hands on the wheel-until it's too late. Maybe they'll send him another postcard. Christelow's squiggly lines and dabs of bright watercolor are a perfect counterpoint to the deadpan text, which will have readers rooting for the pigs and laughing as the hapless Bert finds nothing but trouble in this snorter of a hide-and-seek picture book. (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
