Oink?

Everyone on the farm thinks Thomas and Joseph are sloppy, dim-witted pigs. Thomas and Joseph are content, but the other animals are not. The hens want the pigs to paint their pen, the rabbit wants them to eat healthier food, and the duck wants them to dig a water hole andtake a bath.

Even though the other animals try to show them how it's done, the pigs can't seem to do anything right.Maybe being lazy isn't as dumb as it seems.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - Children's Literature

Although pigs Thomas and Joseph are sloppy, lazy, and dirty, they are content. Not so their neighboring animals, who plan together to do something about tidying up. But when the hens try to persuade the pigs to paint their fence, they get nowhere, and have to do it themselves. When rabbit sends them to pick vegetables for dinner, she has to rescue the garden from disaster. The duck has to dig a cleansing water hole by himself, since the pigs cannot seem to get the idea. At the end of the day, the other animals are exhausted but pleased with the results, despite the pigs' seeming inability to do anything to help. Still, as they look at the contented porkers, they wonder who the dumb ones are. Certainly not the "couple of big stinkers." The bare-bones text provides the frame for Cole's watercolor, ink, and colored pencil comic visuals. The double-page scenes offer the other animal characters in the drama a chance to express their outrage and anger, while the pair of fat pigs display only the most bemused and satisfied of reactions. The illustration on the front of the resting pigs, eyes half-open amid the mud, and the confronting critters on the back prepare us for the predictable fun inside. 2006, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Ages 4 to 8.

Margie Palatini is the author of many celebrated children's books, including Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes, The Three Silly Billies and Earthquack!, all illustrated by Barry Moser, as well as Sweet Tooth and Bedhead, both illustrated by Jack E. Davis. She lives with her family in New Jersey. Visit Margie at margiepalatini.com.

Henry Cole is an extremely versatile artist who has illustrated numerous picture books, including And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, and Oink! by Margie Palatini. He has also illustrated Moosetache by Margie Palatini and Little Bo: The Story of Bonnie Bodacea by Julie Andrews Edwards, as well as writing and illustrating his own books. He lives in Washington, D.C.