Oink

"Can four animals share a bathtub? Not if the pig protagonist, who utters a satisfied 'Oink!" upon spotting the empty, large, white, claw-foot tub, has anything to say about it. No sooner is the pig in the water than: 'Knock! Knock!' A sheep in a frilly pink skirt enters: 'Maaa?' Is this a polite request to enter the bath? The pig doesn't answer but looks unhappy as the sheep climbs in and proceeds to splash. Another 'Knock! Knock!' and a large, horned bovine wearing a shower cap and long yellow trunks appears. The bovine says 'Moo?'; the sheep answers 'Maaa!'; the pig just glowers. How could things get worse? Well, a donkey in another outlandish bathing costume shows up with a 'Hee haw?' Soon the animal companions are talking up a storm, save for the poor pig--but in a completely wordless spread, the tables turn. With a few expressive pencil lines emanating from the water, Elliot finds a way for the pig to regain privacy. The surprised and then disgusted looks on the other animals' faces, their accusatory animal-sound questions, and then their huffy departures tell the story perfectly. The soft pencil-and-watercolor drawings are masterful in their simple details, and kids will enjoy telling the tale themselves, intoning the animal sounds in different ways to heighten the drama of the story. Told only in animal dialect and sound effects but with brilliant visual details, this story will become a bathtime favorite."--starred, Kirkus Reviews

"A little pig ('Oink!') climbs into a giant clawfoot bathtub and settles in for a soak, but then someone knocks at the bathroom door. A little sheep ('Maaa?') with a toy boat comes in. Another knock heralds the arrival of a large cow ('Moo?') with a beach ball and shower cap, and then a donkey arrives ('Hee haw?') with a life preserver. All the animals seem to take a more-the-merrier approach to bath time, except the pig, who looks comically more defeated with every page turn. Told only through small-scale art and the animal and door sounds, the story uses smart pacing and energetic line work with muted washes of color to draw out the droll humor throughout. The bath activity escalates, halting abruptly at every knock on the door, and then gets wilder still as the art takes up progressively more of the page. Just when the splashy bath scene becomes a real party, with the art expanding to fill full-bleed double-page spreads, some smelly fumes bubble up from the water. Covering their noses, the disgusted animals begin pointing hooves at one another and indignantly stalk off, one by one. Alone at last, the pig once again relaxes in the bath--and passes a little more gas for good measure. Classic bath-time antics!"--The Horn Book Magazine