Cute. Perfect for young kids. ( )

Fun book about Pig trying to make friends with frogs by speaking their language, "Ribbit." The animals get mad that a pig is saying Ribbit and seek the advice of a wise old beetle. The beetle surmises that maybe the pig was just trying to make friends. The animals seek out the pig, find him in a tree saying tweet, and say tweet to him. They all feel included and are friends.

From lmnet

RIBBIT! by Rodrigo Folgueira and ills by Poly Bernatene (both from Argentina) Pub by Knopf March 2013 Ages 4-8 978-0307981462

Friendship. Acceptance. Looking beyond skin deep. All good messages. Can they apply when we're talking about pigs and frogs? Let's risk it.

So, here we are in the pond with the usual suspects croaking about and being their own unique selves when .... wait a minute... sitting in the middle of the pond on the best rock I might add is a pig... a large pink pig whose ears cover his eyes. What's he doing there? What does he want? Is he making fun of us? And to their amazement the pig compounds the confusion by opening his snout and giving a loud, pronounced Ribbit.

This is a forest of very charming animals. Any one of them would make a delightful pet but grouped together as they are and faced with this very difficult problem, they are truly befuddled. Actually they are beyond befuddled. They are all the way to angry.

The pig practices his Ribbit and the animals led by a forceful frog with a very magical one-toed foot head off to find he who knows all... the wise beetle.

The subject of diversity and acceptance is running rampant through the forest and is ever so charmingly explored and felt. What does one do when one is faced with a pig who seems to have invaded the world of the frog with not so much as a mother may I. Gasping occurs.

Happily for all of us the beetle turns out to be very wise indeed and equally delightfully endowed with a black horn. If you're going to deal with a subject of such sensitivity, the black horned beetle as oracle is a must.

They won my heart ... all of them. They'll get you too. It's the illustrations...charming and warm along with the clever and marvelous journey through and resolution to our problem. 32 pages Ages 4-8

Delightedly,

Barb

a little pig is sitting in a pong ribbiting. all the other animals are trying to figure out what he is. they all begin to fight because they can not figure it out. so they visit the wise old beetle but when they came back, the pig was gone. the beetle suggested that he just wanted to maybe make some new friends. so the animals found him in a tree and joined him in his new tweeting.
1 book

This book is truly captivating and I enjoyed it for so many reasons, but mainly the plot, the character, and its ability to push readers into broadening perspectives.

The plot of the story is charming and very unpredictable. I really loved the way the reader is brought into a different habitat and environment each time they come across a new animal who wonders about the croaking pig. Each little vignette between the animals added an element to the story that created piece unlike any other. For example, when the frog spoke to the fox, the raccoon, and then the wise old beetle, each interaction was different. I liked this because of the variability it provided.

The characters were another element that I enjoyed because they were all believable- even though they were animals! I especially like how each new character had its own unique flair, especially the wise old beetle. In addition, the characters are engaging and create an interaction with the reader that is really fun each time the frogs tell someone else about the mysterious pig. With each story they tell, they always mention that the pig says, “ribbit,” and each time, it seems as though the reader is prompted to say “ribbit” with them.

The last but not final element that I enjoyed most was the main idea it put forth while pushing the readers to broaden their perspectives. Acceptance and staying true to yourself are two things that are so important to teach young children. When the pig noticed that the frogs were too preoccupied to see that all he wanted to do was make friends, he moved on to find another group that would accept him. Instead of dwelling on something sad, he made a positive change. Then, when the frogs took wind of the change, they befriended the pig who had made a new set of friends with the birds. Then way the pig stayed true to himself and the acceptance between species is a great way to model high self-esteem and acceptance between different kinds of people. ( )