Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 PreS-Gr 1—Lobel adds another alphabet book to her repertoire with this verb-oriented porcine piece. While exploring, 26 pigs find the "magical surprises" of letters. Each pig proceeds to pose with a letter matching their name and depicted action, captioned by brief alliterative statements, starting with "Amanda Pig admired an A." Each picture also includes an object, typically flowers or produce, in one of the bottom corners that begins with the same letter, though they are not labeled. This creates a fun "Easter egg" hunt for kids to enjoy, although many of the letter-object pairings are quite obscure (K, Q, U, and Y in particular). Crossing the patterns of folk art with tentatively cartooned pigs in gouache and watercolor, the illustrations are comforting and lovely but unchallenging. Lobel's skill is most apparent in the freely curving string of pigs on the title page. The later pages are constrained by colored frames with capital letters in formal serif type across the top and lower case across the bottom. Unfortunately the overall feel comes across as very static, especially with the repetitive landscape of bumpy green hills, strings of red-dot flowers, and blue mountains found in every frame. VERDICT Despite the winning, whimsical artwork, this ABC book lacks the interest and punch to replace many current alphabet favorites.—Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/15/2015 Caldecott winner Lobel is back with 26 playful pigs that escape their pen to race along a country road. They come upon a field of magical surprises, full of individual alphabet letters. From Amanda Pig who admires an A to Zeke Pig catching some zzzs on a Z, the pigs cavort, climb, and create activities for a letter on each page. No stranger to illustrating animals, Lobel’s watercolor and gouache pictures feature each porcine personality in costume (artist, clown, sailor, troubadour, etc.). A sequential list of all the alphabet letters in uppercase runs across the top of the page, and again across the bottom of the page in lowercase. And cleverly tucked into the lower left-hand corner of each single-page spread is a fruit or flower starting with the same letter. When the pigs rush home, they cuddle, all pink and sleepy, into their pen, knowing that tomorrow is another day. A piggy delight for youngsters practicing their alphabet. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.