Will You Read to Me?
Hamlet's companions in the pigsty jeer at him for keeping clean and reading books; even his family does not want to read to him or hear what he writes. But when he reads his poems aloud to the "twin" he sees in the pond in the moonlight, the other animals hear him and ask for more. The pun on the little pig's name works without the Shakespeare reference (he calls his twin "Eggs"), so it will reach preschoolers. Kids will enjoy the uproarious pigsty scenes, in which everyone yells "Supper!" and shoves in the mud hole. But Cazet's simple poetry and soft-toned watercolor-and-colored-pencil spreads also show the beauty of the quiet night in the woods near the water ("Black leaves drifted in the fading sky, / and shadows crept along the edge of the pond") and the farm community in solitude. This is not only a celebration of reading but also a moving story about not fitting in, even at home.Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved