The Adventures of a South Pole Pig by Chris Kurtz - ADVISABLE

Kurtz, Chris. The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage.  Illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt.  Harcourt Children’s Books, $16.99. 278 pages.  

Flora is no ordinary piglet—she’s curious and spirited.  She isn’t content to eat and sleep in the pigpen.  She wants adventure!  At first her only adventure is a rusty nail.  Then one day she finds a loose board she escapes her pen and sees a corn field and sled dogs.  Flora learns that dogs pull sleds, cats catch rats, but she doesn’t know what pigs do.  She decides she wants to be an adventure pig.  She is excited when the farmer sells her to a ship’s captain headed for the South Pole.  She meets a cat named Sophia who is supposed to catch rats, but she doesn’t know how.  Together they team up to kill rats and become friends with the lead sled dog Oscar.  When an accident happens and the captain is stranded, Flora proves that she has more to offer than just food.  

Children will surely cheer for Flora and her friends while they discover that if you try hard enough anything is possible.  The ink illustrations are rare but charming.  

EL-ADVISABLE.  Samantha Hastings, MA, MLS.