Milway develops his characters into quite lovable friends that
children will adore. Pigsticks is certainly in charge, but it is
clear that without his assistant, his goal will never be realized.
Ample illustrations and a large font make this is a solid chapter
book addition for new and/or struggling readers.
—School Library Journal
Milway’s ink illustrations ... [use] sequential panels to show the
duo’s progress, and the art often reveals the truth behind the
deadpan text. “Harold was definitely going deeper into the jungle
than any hamster had gone before,” he writes as Harold sinks into a
pit of quicksand. An entertaining kickoff to a series of
adventures, whether Harold likes it or not.
—Publishers Weekly
When Pigsticks, a pig with wanderlust, teams up with Harold the
hamster, anything can happen. ... Humorous cartoon illustrations
appear on most pages and extend the text, adding to the chuckles.
... Funny.
—Kirkus Reviews
With rich vocabulary, humor, and busy illustrations, this book
should satisfy the young illustrated fiction reader in your
library.
—Library Media Connection
Milway’s humorously dramatic writing keeps the story moving along
at a snappy pace. The plentiful pictures, rendered in ink and
colored digitally, offer a stylized, cartoonish world. Pigsticks’
oversized snout, baby-blue eyes, and changing headgear (suited to
the various climes) give him presence, while rotund, brown Harold
elicits sympathy with his clearly overstuffed backpack. Budding
adventurers and lovers of comic stories will enjoy this duo’s
escapades, and a spot of cake afterwards would not go amiss.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
In three generously illustrated chapters we follow the explorers as
they survive swamps, deserts, rickety rope bridges, malevolent
mountain goats, and an avalanche to return home triumphant. The art
is slapdash-goofy: Pigsticks looks like a yam with a snout, and
Harold is a mustachioed hacky sack. Frequent disconnects between
text and pictures carry much of the humor in this
tongue-in-cheek-funny (everybody will have the pleasure of seeing
right through Pigsticks’s charming arrogance) early chapter book.
Plums for grownups? Mild satire of the British-colonial mindset and
some porcine parodies of cubist masterworks on Pigsticks’s
walls.
—The Horn Book
[W]hen it comes to children’s literature there are a few elements
that can be counted on to endear book to reader. Characters with
wildly opposite dispositions (and the humor that stems from their
relationship). A journey’s usually good. And vibrant, modern
illustrations never hurt. Early Reader Pigsticks and Harold by Alex
Milway has all of these elements. It’s entertaining, it’s subtly
sophisticated, and it’s a book that readers won’t want to put
down.
—100 Scope Notes
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