Olympig!: The Triumphant Story of an Underdog

K-Gr 3—"If you practice and try your best," says Boomer, "you can do anything!" This cheerfully unrealistic belief carries the piglet through a series of painful and amusing disasters at the summer Animal Olympics. His fellow sprinters include a greyhound and a cheetah; one of the weight lifters is an elephant; and he's easily beaten at pole vaulting by a flying squirrel. But each time Brent Hamstring, discouraging sports reporter, confronts Boomer with the impossibility of his winning any event, the pig bounces back to try again. (Okay, a couple of temper tantrums intervene.) One suspects that his can-do attitude has a lot to do with his mama, who says on camera, "My son may not be perfect, but he is still my special little boy. Boomer…I love you and I am so proud of you!" Jamieson snatches moral victory from the jaws of athletic defeat with warmth, satirical wit, and old-fashioned silliness. Her drawings and formats are wonderfully varied, colorful, and bursting with personality. Subtle, funny commentaries will be appreciated by slightly older readers, stretching Olympig's appeal.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY