A small piglet with a big dream—to be the Easter Bunny—will have readers laughing out loud in this spunky outing about self-esteem. Liam is not good at hopping, doesn’t like salad, fumbles egg deliveries, and doesn’t have much family support. But with help from his Web-savvy Grandma, Liam achieves his cotton-tailed vision. Vail excels at conveying childlike emotions and a realistic family dynamic (“You are a piglet... Deal with it,” says Liam’s sister). Liam’s perseverance and his parents’ steadfast support provide a welcome, positive undertone, while Tankard’s stocky, black-lined pigs pop off the pages. Ages 4–6.
From the Sacramento Bee:
Young LIbrary: A piglet wants to be the Easter Bunny in "Piggy Bunny"
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 6, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 1D
Feiwel & Friends, $15, 32 pages, ages 4 and up
The power of pretending hops all over Rachel Vail's whimsical picture book "Piggy Bunny." It bubbles over in little Liam's surprising desire to be the Easter Bunny despite relentless ridicule from his siblings.
"You're a piglet," his big sister says. "Deal with it."
"I am," says Liam as he hops off rather awkwardly to try enjoying a green salad. His parents assure him he's loved just the way he is, a perfect piglet with adorable triangular ears. Liam feels loved, but sad.
Only his grandma understands. When she tells him to put on his bunny suit, he blinks. He doesn't have one. Well, she takes care of that while Liam practices hopping, eating greens (a challenge) and delivering colored eggs.
When the furry white suit arrives, it's not perfect. It's tight in places, one ear flops over, and it's itchy. But when Liam sees himself in the mirror, he sees the Easter Bunny looking back at him. Off he hops, turning all those doubters into believers.
Artist Jeremy Tankard makes the most of Vail's imaginative romp. His piglets and their parents are plump and pink. Each has a distinguishing feature, such as a mustache, hat, ribbon, glasses or thick eyebrows. Tankard pumps pizazz into Liam's simple world with scenes set against backgrounds in bright yellows, oranges, greens and blues.
Like most beloved costumes, Liam's story will have many outings.
And in a wonderful blog called In The Pages:
Piggy Bunny
I spend most of my days ranting and raving over Jeremy Tankard's Grumpy Bird - yep, you don't have to be around me very long for that topic to come up!! I think Grumpy Bird is fabulous and I share it with everyone I meet!! (Ok, ALMOST everyone!) So when I see a new children's book on the market with Rachel Vail as the author and Jeremy Tankard as the illustrator - I am ALL OVER IT! Piggy Bunnyis a fabulous new offering by an amazing team! The storyline is wonderful - what happens if you are a pig and you really want to be the Easter Bunny?? Well, this is Liam's story, and it won't take you long to be as attached to Liam as I am! He is adorable - and immediately I wanted him to be the Easter Bunny - just because he wanted to! And from there continues this sweet story - encouraging kids to be anything they want to be......and maybe to ask Grandpa and Grandma for a little help making it happen!! Perfect to share with a young one!!
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