What This Story Needs Is a Hush and a Shush

Starred review from March 2, 2015
In a story with echoes of Seuss and Willems, Virján (Nacho the Party Puppy) offers a very funny lesson about the unreliability of narrators. “What this story needs,” the unseen narrator declares, “is a pig.” Fair enough: the pig, pink and drawn in a naïve cartoon style, appears in a spotlight. When the narrator decrees that the pig don a red bouffant wig and climb in a boat in a moat “with a frog,/ a dog,/ and a goat on a log,” the pig goes along with the plan, though it’s clear dubiousness is setting in. But when the narrator keeps adding so many rhyming characters and objects that it imperils everyone on board the tiny pink ship, the pig finally speaks up. “Hey!” she calls out, “It’s getting crowded in here, don’t you think?/ Off of this boat before we all sink!” Taking control of the narration, the pig sends the other animals packing, but the final scene sets things right while tipping its hat to a classic line from Jaws. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary Agency.

November 2, 2015
In this bedtime-themed companion to What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, Virján’s scarlet-bouffanted pig is trying to go to sleep but, as in the previous book, she’s promptly joined by a slew of animals: “This bedtime also needs a bark, a quack, a honk, a coo,/ a ribbit, a meow, a neigh, and a moo,” the not-so-helpful narrator informs her. Virján’s bright illustrations, outlined in black, telegraph the pig’s annoyance and the other animals’ innocent cheerfulness as they pile into her bed (the horse, having planned ahead, even has a sleep mask). It’s good-natured rhyming fun that eventually has the pig finding a quiet night’s sleep somewhere unexpected. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary Agency.

October 1, 2015
Virjan's porcine protagonist is back in another rollicking, rhyming bedtime book (What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, 2015). This big-haired pig just wants some shut-eye. She knows the routine: tub, brushed teeth, combed hair, clean sheets, and a stuffed animal. All the other farm animals seem ready to retire too, but they come with an assortment of onomatopoeic orchestrations: quack, honk, bark, coo, ribbit, meow, neigh, moo, cluck, hiss, baa, and peep! Soon the pig is smothered by farm friends settling down in bed with her, making a lot of noise. Saturated digital illustrations are funny and easy to read, especially when the sounds are set in display type next to the corresponding animals. While "neigh" might be hard to decode for some new readers, the placement of that word right next to the horse's open mouth makes it a snap. Each animal's eyes reflect the happiness it feels at being in the room with all its friends, but readers will be drawn to the pig, whose eyes look exhausted, complete with bags under them. "Be quiet. Keep mum. Pipe down and HUSH! What this bedtime needs is a SHUSH!" With these words, the stern swine sends this menagerie packing. Easy words, a funny premise, and droll illustrations add up to a book that will satisfy, even after many readings. The ending, complete with a change of sleeping venue, will bring a chuckle to lap listeners and new readers alike. Zzzzzzzz. (Early reader. 3-7)

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November 7, 2016
Virján’s wig-wearing pig returns in her fourth picture book, a noisy outing that gets underway after the pig builds a bandstand and attracts an outfit of instrument-playing animals. As in the previous books, there’s raucousness to spare in Virján’s punchy rhymes (“This story also needs a twang, a tootle, a ping, a boom,/ a brup, a jingle, and a doom-doom-doom”), and children can easily match up the various instruments with the sounds they make, from the “tish” of an elephant’s cymbals to the “bwap” of a monkey’s trombone. The Pig on a Wig Band’s music gets temporarily disrupted when a mouse with a (tiny) tuba frightens an elephant, but it isn’t long before they are up, running, and attracting applause. It’s good, boisterous, musical fun. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary.

July 1, 2016
Noisy animals impose upon red-wig-sporting Pig's bedtime until she sends them away one by one (Hush). Pig unpacks for a picnic, then repacks when it rains (Munch). Each rhyming text follows a predictable pattern and incorporates repetition to support beginning readers. Digitally painted charcoal sketches add mild humor, but Virjan's first Pig in a Wig book contained more quirky, kid-pleasing details.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)