The Adventures of South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage

"We are farm pigs, and farm pigs are not in control of their lives. Our food is brought to us each day, and if we ask for more than that, it will just make us unhappy and ill-tempered." So says Flora's mother, trying to stem her daughter's wanderlust. Flora hates her cage, even when her cautious mother insists on calling it a pigpen. Unlike her siblings, Flora has itchy hooves, ready to bust out of the cage and experience real adventure. Soon Flora is on a boat with a sled-dog team headed to the South Pole, where she knows she will find adventure. Never mind that Amos the sailor keeps referring to her as his "little ham bone"; she's convinced that she's along to help pull the dogsled. Her hooves will be just the thing for grabbing the snow, won't they? And no one loves being part of a team as much as Flora. Like all good animal adventure stories, this one has a richly drawn cast of helpers. Cat Sophia, who speaks in the third person, is filled with ego and pride but needs Flora's knowledge to conquer the ship's rats. Dedicated sled dog Oscar will move readers to tears. The only (very small) misstep here are the jolly line drawings: the cartoon style is not as serious as the story demands (the rat-killing gets a bit gory; the crew is shipwrecked). Thirty-eight fast-paced chapters make this a perfect book for reading aloud and also assure that newly independent readers will feel successful. Loyalty, courage, and optimism are important ideas, and newcomer Kurtz brings us a rollicking story filled with all three. robin l. smith