"See the piggy, See the puddle, See the muddy little puddle.
See the piggy in the middle Of the muddy little puddle. See
her dawdle, see her diddle In the muddy, muddy middle. See her
waddle, plump and little, In the very merry middle." So begins
Charlotte Pomerantz''s irresistibly catchy verse story The Piggy in
the Puddle. It''s the classic "If you can''t beat ''em, join ''em"
tale, as the little she-piggy''s father, mother, and brother take
turns exhorting her to exit the mud puddle in which she is
frolicking, only to have her respond with a happy "Nope!" One by
one, they give up and plunge into the puddle where they too
discover the joys of the "squishy-squashy, mooshy-squooshy,
oofy-poofy" mud.
James Marshall, creator of the George and Martha books, provides
the perfect visual accompaniments. True to form, he depicts the
admonishing father pig "See her daddy, Fuddy-duddy, fuddy-duddy,
fuddy-duddy. ''Don''t you get all muddy, Muddy muddy muddy
muddy" as a large, fez-wearing, mustachio-sporting hog, standing
on a box of soap. All you can see of the scolded little pig is the
end of her snout and the word "Nope!" Young children will delight
in the silly, repetitive verse of this Reading Rainbow Book--and of
course the forbidden pleasures of being in the middle of a messy,
messy muddle. Excellent read-aloud for preschoolers, but perfect
for early readers ages 4 and older --Karin Snelson
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