Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace

Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace

Rating: 5 clean stars


If ever there was a book for me and my kids, this is it.  As a joke--the sort that holds some truth in it--we say you're only part of our family if you know how to make a mess.  (MAAAAAYBE I had a small problem with cleaning up when I was younger.  Perhaps your definition of cleaning up does not involve shoving all the crap on your floor under your bed or in your closet?  What, it's not?!?)  But we do our best to clean up before bedtime, pretending that all we've done all day is sit around, sipping tea with our fingers turned correctly...  We four know the truth: it'll happen again tomorrow.

He savored his days at school.

Just like the gem Little Hoot, Little Oink takes a childhood truth and turns it on its head.  In this case, a friendly little pig called Little Oink is required to make a mess before going outside to play.  His shoulders droop, his spirits sag, his snout turns downwards at the mere thought of his tidy room turning into a pigsty.  Rosenthal's witty writing shines:

"All my friends get to clean their rooms.  Why can't I?" asked Little Oink.
"If you want to grow up to be a respectable pig, you must learn how to make a proper mess," said Papa Pig.
"Mess up your room, put on some dirty clothes, and then you can go out to play," said Mama Pig.
"Do I have to?" Little Oink snorted.
"Yes, you have to," they retorted.
So off he went.
"When I grow up, I'm going to let my kids clean up their rooms as much as they want."

Such a clever little book with amazing illustrations.  I did have to hide my smile when Lorelei asked after dinner if they could have mess up time, just like Little Oink has in the book.  Ummm...no, we've been doing that all day.