In Little Pig Joins the Band by David Hyde Costello (Charlesbridge, 2011), Little Pig does not feel like he fits in with his family, and he does not like being called “Little Pig.” When his family pulls out some instruments and starts getting a band ready, Little Pig wonders where he can fit in.
After watching chaos for a while, he finds his place in a special way, even insisting that he doesn’t mind being Little Pig. The solution — that of being the leader — is not one would think about for a band. After all, one thinks of bands as big and noisy. But a leader is just as important as the drummer keeping a beat because the leader pulls it all together.
The watercolor and ink illustrations give life to Little Pig’s family and somehow they manage to capture the little one’s frustrations wonderfully. Little Pig Joins the Band is a good story for the child looking to fit in with her or her own (possibly noisy and chaotic) family.
