Saturday, June 13, 2015

Under a Pig Tree (2015)

Under A Pig Tree: A History of the Noble Fruit. Margie Palatini. Illustrated by Chuck Groenink. 2015. Abrams. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Pigs appear in the earliest recorded history. Pigs were presented as "medals" to the winners of the first Olympics in 776 BC. Every citizen of ancient Athens, including Plato, was called "A Friend of the Pig." Figs, people. These are facts about FIGS! 

Premise/plot: What would happen if a publisher got one little letter consistently wrong in an author's new book? Under A Pig Tree: A History of the Noble Fruit illustrates what might happen if every instance of the word FIG became PIG. The illustrator also did not catch the publisher's mistake--the illustrations couldn't be more pig-filled! The author has notes--passionate notes--to the publisher throughout the book. 

My thoughts: What a fun book! The premise is silly, but, it didn't get old for me. I found it funny from cover to cover. Who could resist silly sentences like this:
Nothing is better than a pig right off a tree. Look for the ones on low branches. They droop a bit but feel nice and soft, and are not mushy.
I really enjoyed the text. I did. But I loved the illustrations. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the illustrations. 

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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