Piggy and Pug

Pug lives with a young couple in a small town. Although Pug is left alone all day, he enjoys the evenings when the couple plays with him. Piggy lives on a farm outside the small town with a couple and their son. While the boy is away at school, Piggy has no one to play with and is lonely. One day, Pug’s couple puts everything in a truck and drives away. Pug waits and waits, but they don’t ever come back. Finally, he gets out of the yard and goes looking for a new family. He tries lots of places and meets many creatures but doesn’t find a family. Meanwhile, Piggy is lonely and tries to find friends, also meeting lots of creatures with no luck. When Pug and Piggy find each other, a new friendship is born.

Author Anne Wheaton has written a very sweet story that raises some difficult issues for youngsters — foreclosure and abandonment of pets — that will be good discussion starters. The writing is excellent, and the story and characters are very engaging. The illustrations by Vipin Alex Jacob match the sweetness of the story perfectly. This is not a traditional picture book, being somewhat lengthy and with difficult issues, but would be perfect for independent readers, five to seven years old.