Lady Lollipop

From Publishers Weekly
King-Smith's sprightly confection dresses up a standard-issue plot with amusing, old-fashioned storytelling. Spoiled, willful and insufferably rude, young Princess Penelope is "a right pain in the neck," as the palace courtiers and servants agree. Her parents, especially her father, seem bent on indulging her every whim, however, and when Penelope insists on a pet pig for her eighth birthday ("I wanna pig, I wanna pig, I wanna pig!"), they reluctantly summon all the pig keepers in the land. To her parents' dismay, the princess chooses "the scruffiest, ugliest pig of the lot." Lollipop may not be comely, but "she's the brightest, cleverest pig you ever did see," as her keeper, Johnny Skinner, assures the royal family, an assertion that quickly proves correct. Before long, the boy and his charge have charmed not only the king and queen (who is delighted with Lollipop's skill at weeding and fertilizing the rose garden), but more importantly, the princess herself, who, in the process of helping to train Lollipop, learns a few lessons about manners and friendship. Beginning or reluctant readers will appreciate that the tale is served up in a dozen short chapters, which Barton's (the Baby Duck books) line illustrations mine for all their innocent charm. Ages 7-10. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-Spoiled Princess Penelope's parents give her the pig she demands as a present for her eighth birthday. And, luckily enough for the child and her royal but ineffective parents, the endearing animal is accompanied by young Johnny Skinner, an amiable pig-keeper determined to teach the family something about manners and good sense. King-Smith's abundant affection for pigs and sure hand with dialogue keep the story buoyant, and the happy ending is never in doubt. Lollipop adapts to palace life quite quickly, thanks to Johnny's good training, and she even has a flap in the palace door so that she can get out as necessity dictates. Barton's pencil illustrations are charming and recall Ernest H. Shepard's various royal personages in A. A. Milne's Now We Are Six. The king's befuddled face and Penelope's stormy looks are delightful. Lollipop is shown with a sweetly confident expression as she goes about her pig activities, including happily depositing a bit of fertilizer on the queen's roses. The cover is inviting, and the book is handsomely designed with an open and readable typeface. An appealing read-aloud for younger children and a satisfying chapter book for those a little older.Kathie Meizner, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Chevy Chase, MDCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 2-4. Princess Penelope is a royal terror who gets whatever she wants from her indulgent father. What she wants now is a pig for her birthday. After all the pigs in the kingdom are rounded up, she chooses lovely Lollipop, the only possession of poor Johnny Skinner, who's allowed to stay as the pig's keeper. At first it seems that his job will be teaching Lollipop to be a pig in a palace, but it soon becomes clear that his task is to train the princess to be a better human being. The story itself is predictable, and even the characters are pretty much stereotypes. What's fun is the way everyone interacts with Lollipop, a wise creature, who has only to look at people to change them for the better. Still, without Jill Barton's pencil drawings this might have floundered. Barton's talent for drawing both pigs and children elevates the story from commonplace to endearing. New readers can handle this, and because of the profusion of pictures, it will work equally well as a read-aloud. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Card catalog description
A quick-witted swineherd and a pig named Lollipop are royally rewarded after they reform a spoiled princess.


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The author of Babe, the Gallant Pig (1985) offers another winner with this tale of a bright pig and her canny young keeper "training" a spoiled princess. When Princess Penelope demands a pig for her eighth birthday, her over-indulgent father requires every pig keeper in the country to assemble with a likely porcine candidate. The princess settles on Lollipop, who turns out to be the sole possession of penniless orphan Johnny Skinner. As only Johnny can get Lollipop to sit, roll over, or poop outdoors, soon lad and pig are comfortably ensconced together in a royal stall-at least until the pig can be persuaded to respond to the Princess's commands. It's only the beginning of a meteoric rise for Johnny, and for Lollipop too, as the two conspire to teach the princess civilized manners, and end up great favorites of the entire royal family. Barton (Rattletrap Car, p. 504, etc.) captures Penelope's fuming, bratty character perfectly in a generous array of line drawings, and gives Lollipop an expression of affectionate amusement that will win over readers as effortlessly as it wins over the princess and her parents. Move over, Wilbur. (Fiction. 8-10)


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