Illus. in full color. "Mr. Piggott and his sons are a malechauvinist lot who, outside of yelling for their dinner, don'texercise themselves much around the house. When Mrs. Piggottfinally tires of the endless chores that sandwich her workday, sheleaves the menfolk on their own, with a note saying, 'You arepigs.' With the cooking and housework untended, they soon turngenuinely porcine, a transformation Browne foreshadows with pigfaces on the wallpaper, vases, fireplace, phone. As in most ofBrowne's art, there is more than a touch of irony and visual humorhere. Fun to read aloud."

Anthony Browne is rightly regarded as one of the world's leadingpicturebook creators. He lives in England with his wife and twochildren. He has won awards in many countries, including the KateGreenaway Medal of England for GORILLA and ZOO, and the KurtMaschler Award of Germany for GORILLA. His inspiration for GORILLAcame from a combination of things -- a greeting card he'd designedof a huge macho gorilla holding a teddy bear, a very lonely boy heknew whose father lived in New Zealand, his own fascination withgorillas. The behavior of a real family provided the idea forPIGGYBOOK (not his own, however!) When the book was completed, hepresented the family with a copy, without comment. But they didn'tsee any relevance to themselves!