Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money

Few picture books illustrate the ``capitalist pig'' concept as graphically as this mathematics-based volume does with its glorification of greed and gluttony. After gobbling up all the groceries, Mr. Pig, Mrs. Pig and their two piglets are hungry again, but the Piggy bank is empty. Deciding to hunt for money, the four swine gesture excitedly; then they feverishly root through their home for loose change and bills. Readers are meant to keep a tally of the dimes and nickels the Pigs locate, but they may be misled by the monetary sums planted in the illustrations (on one spread, the text describes a find worth $2.67, but the figures $2.32, $4.22 and $2.81 appear in the art; these numbers, we learn at the end, are part of a suggested math problem). Finally, after finding a grand total of $34.67, the Pigs spend almost all of it at a Mexican restaurant--math whizzes can calculate the tab by reading a menu. Although Axelrod's debut undoubtedly encourages useful skills, it is singularly unappetizing, while McGinley-Nally's ( First Snow, Magic Snow ) pudgy, stylized pigs and Southwestern motif seem garish. Kids probably won't have the patience for this book, and parents won't have the stomach. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)