A Piglet Named Mercy

Hot
Published |
Updated
 
0.0 (0)
1036 0
9780763677534_p0_v1_s550x406

Book Information

Category
Picture Book
Reader Personality Type
Illustrator
Publisher
Candlewick April 2019

So, maybe you've read the origin story of Superman?  Wonder Woman?  If you're like me, you've been waiting and waiting and waiting for one very special origin story.  You've been asking yourself, "Self, just how did Mercy Watson get to Deckawoo Drive?"  I mean, really, a pig just doesn't wander in off the streets, right?

Well, hallelujah!  The day has arrived. Here is the origin story of one of the world's most beloved pigs.  This is the ever-porcine, ever-curious, ever-toast-loving nemesis of Eugenia Lincoln.  This is the origin story of Mercy Watson!

Now, you need to know that Chris Van Dusen was born, born I say, to illustrate this story.  His illustrations meld  with the lilting voice of Kate DiCamillo, that goddess of children's literature.  So, it will come as no surprise to you that the illustrations are warm, welcoming, reassuring, gentle and truly just beam, beam, beam with the joy of what is about to come to pass.

As our story opens, we join an ordinary day on Deckawoo Drive.  It's a day of doing the chores, getting the grass mowed and vacuuming the rugs while the neighbors stroll past the house with their little ones.  This is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Watson where all is fair and fine.  Until the moment.... dunh dunh dunh....  when Mr. Watson says to Mrs. Watson...could it be that we are too... yes, too.... predictable?  Gasp.  Can it be true?  Are our beloved Watsons living a predictable life and is that not what we want in a life?  Must something different happen?  Must it?

Well, you've read a book or two I suspect, so you know that when that question is asked, there is bound to be something new and different just ahead.  What will it be?  A tornado?  An alien landing?  A fast-paced car chase speeding through the neighborhood?

Expect the different thing to be small.  Expect it to be "not at all ordinary."  Expect that the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Watson will not let you down.  Expect that you are still in the wonderful place that comes from the "imagination location"  (term borrowed from Ibi Zoboi and her latest book MY LIFE AS AN ICE CREAM SANDWICH) of the blessed Kate DiCamillo.

In our current days of, shall we say, turmoil, it is glorious to sit down with a child and share a glowing place (face it Eugenia, you even glow on Deckawoo Drive), to share hearts filled with love  (thank you Baby Lincoln) and kindness and to share eyes that see the wonder of every little living thing porcine and all.  Welcome to one small piglet who will come to live on Deckawoo Drive and in the hearts and specially marked and cherished pockets of the minds of readers everywhere.

32 pages                   978-0763677534                         Ages 3-7

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

**********

Every porcine wonder was once a piglet! Celebrate the joy of a new arrival with this endearing picture-book prequel to the New York Times best-selling Mercy Watson series.

Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson live ordinary lives. Sometimes their lives feel a bit too ordinary. Sometimes they wish something different would happen. And one day it does, when someone unpredictable finds her way to their front door. In a delightful origin story for the star of the Mercy Watson series, a tiny piglet brings love (and chaos) to Deckawoo Drive — and the Watsons’ lives will never be the same.--from the publisher

Tales from Deckawoo Drive: Leroy Ninker Saddles Up; Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon; Where Are You Going Baby Lincoln?; Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package

User reviews

Have you read this book? We'd love to hear what you think. Click the button below to write your own review!
Already have an account? or Create an account