THE GOOD, GOOD PIG GETS HIS OWN PICTURE BOOK, PERFECT FOR YOUNG READERS. Christopher Hogwood is definitely a pig with personality! He's bright, curious, and has just a slight infatuation with rich, inviting mud. Hogwood Steps Out is Howard Mansfield's fictionalized account of his own pig's behavior on a fine spring day, a pig made famous in his wife Sy Montgomery's book, The Good Good Pig. Barry Moser's luminescent paintings give Hogwood a personality that is all his own, allowing him to remind us to notice all the little wonderful things that surround us every day. Hogwood Steps Out is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year. PreSchool-Grade 2—Mansfield has written a short, loving reminiscence of Christopher Hogwood, a well-loved pig adopted and raised by him and his wife, naturalist writer Sy Montgomery. The Good, Good Pig (Ballantine, 2006) details their life with Christopher from a tiny runt carried home in a shoebox to the huge (700-plus pounds) hog whose loving personality deeply touched their lives and the lives of their hens, their neighbors, friends, and even strangers. In this story, the huge hog lets himself out of his comfortable pen and goes on a spring jaunt, enjoying some lettuce in a neighbor's garden; rooting a winding trench through a lovely green lawn with his flat nose; then scaring away the backhoe operator with his congratulatory bellowing. Finally, bribed with an apple, he allows the town policeman to lead him home. Moser's realistic double-page watercolors introduce youngsters to an endearing, bright-eyed pig whose obvious enjoyment of the small pleasures of life in his rural village is contagious and childlike in its naïveté and sincerity-possibly the reason that Moser has placed himself in the role of policeman. Mansfield's story provides insight into realistic porcine character and behavior in a most enjoyable format.— Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Christopher Hogwood, the 600-pound, black-and-white pig featured in Sy Montgomery’s memoir for adults, The Good Good Pig (2006), makes his picture-book debut as a personable narrator. The text is short and appealing. After spending the winter in a cozy barn snuggling with the other barnyard animals, Hogwood is itching to get out and wallow in some good mud. Unfastening the gate is no challenge for him, so off he goes to a garden with fresh lettuce, only to be run off by the angry gardener. Next he tears up a lawn and gets chased off. Finally, he’s apprehended by a policeman. Back, cozily asleep in the barn, Hogwood dreams of the next crops that he’ll raid, expressing the sentiment, “God bless gardeners.” Completing the appealing package are bold, full-page, realistic watercolors featuring handsome Hogwood, usually front and center, in a lush setting. Children will cheer for the unruly, unrepentant Hogwood. Grades K-2. --Randall Enos "The list ofclassic pig-based children's books is longer by one with the introduction ofthis new title." -- The Bloomsbury Review "Hogwood StepsOut is a great children's book, with an endearing and enduring main character,a fine adventure, and not a hint of condescension or sentimentality. Itssubtitle "A Good Good Pig Story," suggests this may be the first of many.Here's hoping." -- Rebecca Rule, The Concord Monitor "Mansfield haswritten a wonderful first book for children, showing Hogwood's wry sense ofhumor. This book will make a great read-aloud as students become absorbed inMoser's full page illustrations, which almost steal the show with their beautifulcompliments to Mansfield's text. They are vibrantly colored with great detailand some humorous touches... The story eloquently concludes with Hogwood in hispen dreaming of future adventures in a watermelon and pumpkin patch. Just likeHogwood, readers will be saying yes to this wonderfully crafted story. HighlyRecommended." -- Library Media Connection, (Starred Review) "What happenswhen spring strikes the fancy of a 600-pound pig with personality and panache?Confined to his pen all winter, Christopher Hogwood smells the rich, invitingmud. Beguiled by sunlight, the light-footed porker opens the gate and heads tothe garden for a light lettuce snack, until a frustrated gardener wards himoff. Unruffled, Christopher Hogwood follows his nose to the lawn, which heproceeds to roll up like a carpet with his snout. When the distraught lawnowner chases him with a broom, the mud-mad piggy trots toward a "deep, deepearth smell" and discovers an excavator at work. Leaving chaos in his wake,Christopher Hogwood seems content to "let" the nice policeman lure him homewith a bucket of apples. Life is good. Based on experiences with his own pig,Mansfield spins this affectionate paean with tongue firmly in cheek, whileMoser's stunning watercolors capture Christopher Hogwood at his most luminous:dreaming innocently in his pen; indi