Peddles by Elizabeth Rose Stanton

PEDDLES
Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Rose Stanton
(A Paula Wiseman Book; $17.99, Ages 4-8)

Today we’re heading off to the farm with Elizabeth Rose Stanton’s charming picture book, Peddles. Peddles is not an ordinary pig. Your regular old run of the mill pig doesn’t have big ideas and it’s these big ideas that will make kids eager to read on. Peddles certainly does all the things – and I do mean all – that pigs are wont to do, but for Peddles, the routine pig stuff isn’t enough for this dreamer.

Thoughts of pizza, taking to the sky like a bird or into space like an astronaut fill his head.

To his porcine pals he may seem to have his head in the clouds, but it’s really just Peddles yearning for something different, something more. And then one day, more arrives in the form of a barn dance. Suddenly this little porker is determined to boogie on down just maybe not with the people he sees. The catch is Peddles thinks all he needs is the fancy footwear to dance the dance. But when it appears he’s got four left trotters, it turns out he really requires more than just a pair of cowboy boots. He needs his pig community to help him realize his dream.

Stanton’s sparse language coupled with the soothing pale palette of her fresh and exuberant pencil and watercolor artwork create a more than satisfying read. There’s something so wonderful about the way she uses a lot of white on many of the pages so the reader’s eyes get right to the good stuff. Maybe the best way to describe it is dreamy just like her adorable main character, Peddles! If you know a child who follows his heart and not the crowd, Peddles is a celebration of that admirable individuality.

• Reviewed by Ronna Mandel