Abstract
Reviewed by: Captain Small Pig Deborah Stevenson Waddell, Martin . Captain Small Pig; illus. by Susan Varley. Peachtree, 2010. 26p. ISBN 978-1-56145-519-5 $15.95 R 3-5 yrs. It's a day on the lake for Small Pig, accompanied by his friends Turkey and Old Goat on a rowing expedition out on Blue Lake. Avuncular Old Goat sets Small Pig up for "whale fishing" (the catch is actually an old boot), lets him have a go at rowing ("Small Pig could only manage one oar at a time so he rowed . . . round and round . . . round and round . . . round and round"), and salutes him as "Captain Small Pig," while curmudgeonly Turkey scoffs and complains—and ends up getting a dunking when the boat tips. The plot loses focus as it drifts toward the adults at the end, but it's still a charming bucolic outing, and the emotional dynamics of the indulgent adult counterbalancing the impatient one as the youngster enjoys the extra attention ring true. There's a definite echo of E. H. Shepard in the comfortably broken linework and cozily anthropomorphized animals of Varley's illustrations, while soft blues and greens, touched with orange at sundown, provide appropriate hues for a boating idyll. Use this as inspiration for a pretend boating trip that conveniently segues into a post-outing bedtime story. [End Page 503] Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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