Dumpy La Rue - Hardcover

Review

Call it a tale of bold and balletic self-actualization (of the porcine kind) the stirring story of young Dumpy La Rue, "the pig who knew what he wanted to do."

Despite all sorts of well-intentioned advice to discourage him ("'Pigs don't dance,' said his mother. 'They bellow, they swallow, they learn how to wallow'"), Dumpy can't ignore the tantalizing beat he hears in his head: "He twirled in the sty, raised his snout to the sky, spread his hooves far and wide, and pretended to fly." Not surprisingly, an at-first-reluctant barnyard audience begins to catch on, first the sheep--"'We want to dance too,' cried the sheep. 'It looks like fun. Why should he be the only one?'"--then even, eventually, Poppa Pig himself.

A fun and muddy romp, with plenty of glissades and jetés, Dumpy La Rue ably displays the talents of Elizabeth Winthrop (of The Castle in the Attic fame) and firecracker illustrator Betsy Lewin, returning to the farm after her Caldecott Honor winner Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Ages 4 to 8) Paul Hughes

About the Author

Elizabeth Winthrop, the ever popular author of Shoes, illustrated by Bill Joyce; Halloween Hats, illustrated by Sue Truesdale; and Castle in the Attic, has written more than forty books, from picture books to young-adult novels. Her recent middle-grade fantasy novel, The Red-Hot Rattoons, is also illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Ms. Winthrop lives in New York City.

Betsy Lewin has illustrated more than fifty books for children, some of which she also wrote. She received a Caldecott Honor for her illustration of the bestselling Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. Ms. Lewin lives with her husband, artist Ted Lewin, in Brooklyn, New York.