Pig Pig and the Magic Photo Album

by David McPhail

Book Overview

While waiting to have his picture taken, Pig Pig practices saying "Cheese" as he looks through a photo album and is amazed at the outcome.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525445390
• ISBN13: 9780525445395
• Release Date: October 1989
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.0" x 10.6"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

4 1/2 This Little Piggy Went to the Photographer

David McPhail likes his pigs. Before he wrote the more accomplished "Pigs Ahoy" and "Pigs Galore," both featuring a 30-something man and a pigsty of romping pigs, he authored the "Pig Pig" series about one pig--"Pig Pig." The series aims at a younger audience than his later books, and doesn't feature the single man vs. horde of pigs motif; instead, Pig Pig has a series of adventures that toddlers will enjoy. While a photographer sets up his camera for a picture of Pig Pig, the bow tie clad youngster mutters "cheese" and is instantly transported to a place depicted in a photo book. Unfortunately, this is the top of a church steeple from which the porcine one is slowly slipping! He grabs the book, finds a picture of an airplane, and says "Cheese!" Wouldn't you know it--he's suddenly riding the wing of an open cockpit plane flown by a mustachioed man with a purple scarf! But one semi-dangerous situation leads to another, and Pig Pig keeps rifling through the photo album to escape such potential threats as angry humans (Pig Pig lands on a guitar, in a rowboat scene that recalls French impressionist subject matter), an alligator in a swamp, and hungry dogs. In perhaps the funniest sequence, he lands squarely and happily on top of a boy's chocolate birthday cake: "Chocolate!" squealed Pig Pig, "My favorite!" "Get that pig out of my cake" a little boy screamed. He finally returns to the studio, resolving not to say cheese to the photographer. This is a pleasant, albeit fairly simple book, with colorful, action packed pictures by McPhail. It has more color and shading than earlier "Pig Pig" books, and would probably be an engaging read to the young toddler set. However, the more complex and funnier pig books mentioned at the top of this review are better efforts, and I recommend them over this one, especially if your audience has any experience following a story book.