Pirates Don't Take Baths

PreS-Gr 1—This piglet does not want a bath, and he can back up his argument with the wildest of fantasies and the most persuasive arguments. After all, "pirates...plunder, they pillage, they sail the seas in search of treasure, but they DON'T TAKE BATHS!" Neither do cowboys, Eskimos (it's too cold to bathe), knights (a knight's armor might rust), denizens of the desert (where there's no water), or astronauts (how could you take a bath in zero gravity?). As her child's imagination takes flight, Mama pig cleverly guides her youngster past his stubborn refusal and visions of a tub-free world as she questions with humor and a practical mind. Would he really want to be an Eskimo and eat whale blubber and walrus liver? Her gentle reasoning leads him to realize that imagination might make even a nightly chore such as bathing fun. Segal's fanciful cartoon pigs capture the expressions of delight, surprise, and horror as they fill the adventurer's roles in a succession of little pig's wild color-washed scenarios. Children and parents alike might recognize these voices heard at the end-of-day bath time in this first-purchase selection for all libraries.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX