Rufus Goes to School by Kim Griswell

From Booklist

Does Rufus Leroy Williams III ever want to go to school! Sure, he is a piglet, but he has got a beloved picture book, and he wants to be able to read it. After observing human students, he figures out what he needs to be admitted: a backpack! Suitably backpacked, Rufus is taken before the principal, who shuts him down. “Because pigs track mud in the halls,” he says. “They play leapfrog in class, and they start food fights in the cafeteria.” Next Rufus acquires a lunch box and then a nap-time blanket, but the principal maintains that pigs disrupt school in a dozen different ways. It is only when Rufus reveals that he wants to learn to read that the principal reconsiders. Griswell’s list of imagined pig offenses is hilariously random (apparently pigs like to knock over block towers, leave nose prints on the windows, etc.), and each trespass is painted by Gorbachev with a maximum of pink, potbellied cuteness. The final pages take an odd sidestep into the inspirational, but otherwise this is a pure porcine pleasure. Preschool-Grade 1. --Daniel Kraus

 

 

 

"A warm, gently humorous story for kids who are looking to school with anticipation, not trepidation." —Publishers Weekly

Just arrived! Huff & Puff

HUFF & PUFF

Can You Blow Down the Houses of the Three Little Pigs?

By Claudia Rueda (Author) , Claudia Rueda (Illustrator)

 

 

Kirkus Reviews

HUFF & PUFF (reviewed on February 1, 2012)

This sweet little bare-bones version of “The Three Pigs” places readers in an active role.
The opening spread looks plain and ordinary: “First pig building a house,” says the text, as a pig builds a modest thatched hut. Black pen lines give shading and texture to pale watercolors, surrounded by calming white space. Soon the pig’s inside the hut, gazing happily out the window. But spread three brings an invitation. The left-hand page says, merely, “One wolf huffing and puffing,” and the book’s subtitle is the key here—for there’s no wolf to be seen. The right-hand page says “HUFF & PUFF” in lined block letters, and the ampersand’s lower circle is a cut-out hole. When the reader blows through the hole, the reward is a sad and perturbed pig with loose straw floating down through the air. The reader/wolf blew down the hut! The second pig suffers the same fate. Tradition prevails as the third house, made of brick, is too strong to succumb to air. Does the reader/wolf end up defeated? Nope—Rueda introduces a new result of blowing, one familiar to many toddlers and connected to gustatory joy all around.
A good chance for youngsters to relish enacting the wicked role while still getting a (not particularly logical, but who cares) friendly reconciliation at the end. (Picture book. 1-3)

---

Pub Date: March 1st, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0170-2

Page count: 32pp

Daisy loves to read!

 Brittany gets up close and personal with Daisy...

Farmer Minor and Daisy!

FARMER MINOR & DAISY "PIG OUT ON READING"

Daisy and Farmer Minor have performed “Pig Out on Reading” programs across the U.S. for over 10 years and Daisy is known as the “World's Most Famous Pig,” having been filmed for Belgian National TV and featured in newspapers and TV across the United States.  Daisy became the first pig ever invited inside the U.S. Capitol while on her first national tour in 2002. Countless school principals, teachers, librarians, mayors, celebrities and hundreds of thousands of school children have kissed the famous pig; people kiss Daisy for a number of reasons ranging from promises kept to students for reading lots of books to fundraising efforts on behalf of non-profit groups, but mostly just for the wonderful love of Daisy! Meet Daisy at the Wellesley Free Library on Saturday, November 5th from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the Wakelin Room.  Bring your cameras to capture that pig kiss forever!  This program is recommended for families with children ages three and up.