Rosalie and Truffle, Truffle and Rosalie - Hardcover

Grade 1-3-In this porcine courtship tale, Rosalie meets Truffle under an apple tree and it's love at first sight. Her friends warn her to not go with the first pig to come along and persuade her that she needs a complete makeover to find someone better. She changes so much that Truffle doesn't recognize her anymore. In a clever twist, readers flip the book over for Truffle's parallel story. Under his friends' guidance, he is transformed into a stock-market-playing, weight-lifting boar. When he realizes the error of his ways, he runs to the apple tree. The wordless center spread shows the two soul mates embracing. Bücker uses a mix of simple pencil sketches and color illustrations. The innocent expressions of the sweethearts are juxtaposed against the calculating and unsympathetic sneers of their pals. The elevated language (How naïve can you get? Love is work. Passion is, too) will not resonate with young readers. The message of being true to oneself is somewhat overshadowed by off-putting quips such as ...around every corner await sweet new temptations, ripe and yours for the picking! and All men are pigs. This one is likely to have trouble finding an audience.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada
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