Roseberry Great Escape - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 2-- In this updated version of a familiar tale from Aesop, a wayfaring pig finds out that "home is where you feel at home, and where you are among friends." Roseberry, an adventurous pig, has always done "things ordinary pigs never dreamed of," such as taking flying lessons from birds, or digging underground with the moles and badgers. One day he realizes that wandering has its drawbacks: he sometimes eats food he dislikes, and he is often stuck, unsheltered, in the rain. A green meadow where sheep graze looks like the ideal place for setting up a home, until Roseberry learns that the shepherd wants to make a juicy ham out of him. The friends he has made on his journeys rescue him, and Roseberry celebrates the great wide world and all the animals who make him at home among them. Duke's lovable characters wiggle and prance in amusing, frolicsome pictures, dancing about while they eat or shimmering with delight while they dig up dinosaur bones. Large, loose-lined watercolor illustrations will captivate young listeners or beginning readers, and Roseberry's hard-learned lesson will enlighten them. --Leslie Barban, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Roseberry is a pig on the go. No dull farmyard life for him--the world is his oyster, and he's eager to partake of all it has to offer. The roving life has its down side, however, and one rainy day Roseberry begins to think about settling down. A meadow populated by the fluffiest sheep this side of Little Bo Peep seems to offer the domestic bliss he seeks--but he changes his mind when the shepherd tries to put pork on the menu. With the help of his friends, Roseberry escapes and resumes his nomadic existence. Duke's book is dedicated to Aesop, and although the moral at the end--"A home is where you feel at home, and where you are among friends"--may seem somewhat familiar, readers will probably be too captivated by the snappy tale and tongue-in-cheek watercolors to notice. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.