by Kate DiCamillo
illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2008. 74 pages.
Here’s another book perfect for a beginning reader who’s ready for chapters. Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig has 15 very short chapters. The pages are loaded with colorful, hilarious illustrations.
Mercy Watson is a pig, a porcine wonder. She is treated like a person by Mr. and Mrs. Watson, but sometimes she indeed acts like a pig. For example, when she smells the flowers her next door neighbors have planted, she can’t resist eating them. This prompts Eugenia Lincoln to call Animal Control Officer Francine Poulet, who has never dealt with a pig before.
In the hilarious chain of events that ensues, you can be sure that Mr. and Mrs. Watson retain their shining faith in their sweet Mercy, and that there is plenty of buttered toast.
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www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/mercy_watson_thinks_like_a_pig.html