cover image Pig Pig and the Magic Photo Album

Pig Pig and the Magic Photo Album

David M. McPhail. Dutton Books, $10.95 (24pp) ISBN 978-0-525-44238-7

Pig Pig's fans will probably jump at anything about the lovable character, but in this story he is just a peg on which the talented author-artist hangs a series of hair-raising predicaments. The result has more in common with a fast-action TV plot than the gentle humor and warmth of Pig Pig Rides or Pig Pig Grows Up. While Pig Pig waits to have his picture taken, he looks at a photo album and practices saying ""CHEESE.'' Whenever he says it he is propelled into one of the pictures. He hangs by the strap of his overalls from a steeple, almost slides off an airplane wing and faces the jaws of a hungry crocodile. There is plenty of action, much of it scary, but Pig Pig finally returns home safely, where ``he absolutely refuses to say `CHEESE.' '' The device lacks real magic, but it's a quickly paced tale and the art is as full of gusto as ever. (48)