Piggypine

As a narrator endeavors to tell a simple story entitled “My First Dog,” an endearing “piggypine” (part pig, part porcupine) attempts to insert itself into the tale. Appearing at the end of one story, the snout-nosed creature makes its way onto the page, looking for a spot of its own. Explaining “you’re an idea that never got finished,” the unsympathetic speaker notes that another story’s about to start, then kicks off the tale of Ruby, a pale-skinned girl who loves dogs. As Piggypine insistently disrupts the telling, the increasingly frustrated narrative voice coldly informs, “There’s no room in this story for a piggypine.” That verdict remains unchanged even after the creature offers more about itself (favorite food: “paper towels and honey”). But as the narrator attempts to kick Piggypine off the page, Ruby comes to the rescue, highlighting the way sometimes even a writer doesn’t know where things are going. Morris’s polished dialogue and Santoso’s emotive, colored pencil–like digital drawings tie together the narrative tug-of-war. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)