Piggy

An insatiable reader, Piggy spends his days poring over books in his personal library at the expense of making real-life friends. After Piggy finds himself with just one book left to read, he decides that he “should save this happy ending.” Wearing overalls and red eyeglasses as large as his head, the ingenuous piglet ventures outside and comes across a cat reading in a tree swing. Recognizing her as a potential friend, Piggy tries to catch her attention—even flying loop-the-loops in his open-cockpit plane—but the cat’s eyes never leave her book until Piggy simply introduces himself and shares his remaining book with her. Lai (Tomo Explores the World) gives Piggy a good amount of personality in his brassy cartoons (the character also features in digital animations created by Lai’s company, Up Studios), but the overall story is predictable and somewhat cloying. In the oddest moment, Piggy gives the cat, Kate, a pair of glasses that match his because she “couldn’t see the words in Piggy’s book clearly”—a strange revelation considering she has spent the entire book reading intently. Ages 3–6. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (Dec.)