Pig the tourist by Aaron Blabey

Scholastic, 2019. ISBN: 9781742994123.
(Ages: 3-8) Recommended. Themes: Rhyming story, Travel, Humourous story. Pig the pug is back and this time he's off on a worldly vacation. But he's causing trouble at every destination, with poor Trevor standing by unimpressed and at times distraught. The little details in the illustrations are sure to make kids and their grownups giggle; from Pig's doctoring of Trevor's passport on the endpapers to farting in his first class airplane seat, this is Pig as we know and love him. He is larger than life and more inappropriate and naughty than ever before. He hijacks a hot dog cart in New York, wees on a polar bear in the Arctic, knocks the head of a Sphinx in Egypt and lampoons koalas in Australia. And that's just for a start. 'Unbridled and vast was his need to offend. But every wild party must come to an end . . . Yes, if you treat locals with little regard, they'll come back to bite you . . . ' Yes, Pig meets an unfortunate end again. The rhyming and perfectly rhythmic text is rich and with that melancholic tone unique to Blabey's Pig stories. Lovers of Pig's previous escapades will be fans of his travel antics and Piranhas don't eat bananas fans will love to see the role the piranhas play in Pig's eventual comeuppance.
Nicole Nelson