Mystery
Grade 2-4-Clever concept and illustrations outshine the unsettling plot in this brief whodunit. A sharp-eyed piglet goes to the art museum with her grandpa for "copying day," when artists are invited to "draw and paint the collection." While she waits for Grandpa, who is copying haystacks, she notices that pieces of some paintings (all pictures of food) have been removed and "replaced with not so very good patches." Searching with the guards for clues, the little pig sketches each one, then tapes the sketches to a wall and uses them to solve the case. The culprits' hiding place is discovered, along with the stolen art. The piglet is rewarded, and then, in a humorous finale, shares lunch with her grandpa, unaware that the tiny art thieves are stealing her cookies. The large, well-crafted colored etchings on what appears to be vellum are clearly the focus of the book. The text is minimal, written in short, matter-of-fact sentences, but the solution of the case, involving an architectural detail in the building and other subtle clues, aims the book at older children. Little attention is given to the crime of art mutilation or putting it to a halt. A marginal purchase.Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OHCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.