Starred review from March 2, 2015
In a story with echoes of Seuss and Willems, Virján (Nacho the Party Puppy) offers a very funny lesson about the unreliability of narrators. “What this story needs,” the unseen narrator declares, “is a pig.” Fair enough: the pig, pink and drawn in a naïve cartoon style, appears in a spotlight. When the narrator decrees that the pig don a red bouffant wig and climb in a boat in a moat “with a frog,/ a dog,/ and a goat on a log,” the pig goes along with the plan, though it’s clear dubiousness is setting in. But when the narrator keeps adding so many rhyming characters and objects that it imperils everyone on board the tiny pink ship, the pig finally speaks up. “Hey!” she calls out, “It’s getting crowded in here, don’t you think?/ Off of this boat before we all sink!” Taking control of the narration, the pig sends the other animals packing, but the final scene sets things right while tipping its hat to a classic line from Jaws. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary Agency.

March 15, 2015
One pig, one boat, and a lot of passengers add up to one hilarious voyage. The opening spread presents one pink pig under a spotlight. Her beady eyes look right at the reader as she says, "What this story needs is a pig." Apparently a pig is not enough-the story needs a pig in a wig, an oversized red wig. So begins this over-the-top rhyming romp of a pig in a boat, in a moat, with a frog and a dog and a goat (on a log-in the boat!). Soon a rat, an elephant, a skunk, a house, a mouse, and a panda threaten to sink the little pink rowboat, forcing the pig to send some of the critters packing. Bright, saturated digital colors are the order of the day, adding extra humor to the tale. Easy rhymes make the story simple to predict and memorize for new readers, and the bright white typeface is clear on the dark backgrounds. Carefully chosen, easily decoded words ensure that beginning readers will find instant success here. The slowly filling boat and ridiculous situation add to the fun. Observant readers will enjoy finding the pig snouts drawn on the boat's prow and hidden in many of the spreads. Even the endpapers are filled with them. There's not much of a story here, but a boatload of giggles will keep children returning for more easy-to-read fun. (Early reader. 3-6)

May 1, 2015

Toddler-PreS-With its engaging word families and rhyming text, this circular narrative will delight fans of Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (HarperCollins, 2005) and Mo Willems's "Elephant and Piggy" books (Hyperion). A pig in a wig is on a boat in a moat, where she picks up a frog, a dog, and a goat on a log. More animals are added to the mix, until Pig declares, "Hey!/It's getting crowded/in here, /don't you think?/Off of this boat/before we all sink!" One by one they disembark until she is the only one left on the boat. A spread in muted blue tones enforces the mood as readers view Pig all alone in her tiny boat. She realizes that she would rather have all her friends with her, so as the text states, "What this story needs now is..." a bigger boat appears that will hold everyone. Crisp, vibrant drawings are rendered in charcoal and painted digitally, creating an intensity that will draw children to the story. The composition is creative, with pig-themed elements appearing throughout: pink snouts cover the endpapers, a pig pulls part of a boat onto the title page, and the back cover shows Pig and her friends peeking over the jacket flap as she says, "Hey, Let's Play!" VERDICT This is a charming story to share one-on-one or in a storytime.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 2, 2015
In this bedtime-themed companion to What This Story Needs Is a Pig in a Wig, Virján’s scarlet-bouffanted pig is trying to go to sleep but, as in the previous book, she’s promptly joined by a slew of animals: “This bedtime also needs a bark, a quack, a honk, a coo,/ a ribbit, a meow, a neigh, and a moo,” the not-so-helpful narrator informs her. Virján’s bright illustrations, outlined in black, telegraph the pig’s annoyance and the other animals’ innocent cheerfulness as they pile into her bed (the horse, having planned ahead, even has a sleep mask). It’s good-natured rhyming fun that eventually has the pig finding a quiet night’s sleep somewhere unexpected. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary Agency.

November 7, 2016
Virján’s wig-wearing pig returns in her fourth picture book, a noisy outing that gets underway after the pig builds a bandstand and attracts an outfit of instrument-playing animals. As in the previous books, there’s raucousness to spare in Virján’s punchy rhymes (“This story also needs a twang, a tootle, a ping, a boom,/ a brup, a jingle, and a doom-doom-doom”), and children can easily match up the various instruments with the sounds they make, from the “tish” of an elephant’s cymbals to the “bwap” of a monkey’s trombone. The Pig on a Wig Band’s music gets temporarily disrupted when a mouse with a (tiny) tuba frightens an elephant, but it isn’t long before they are up, running, and attracting applause. It’s good, boisterous, musical fun. Ages 4–8. Agent: Edite Kroll, Edite Kroll Literary.

July 1, 2015
"What this story needs is a pig. / A pig in a wig, / on a boat, / in a moat, / with a frog." Add six more animals and a house and the boat becomes so crowded that the pig sends everyone swimming. The story is predictable, but the precariously posed animals in Virjan's digitally painted charcoal sketches engage in antics that add some hilarity.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

"In a story with the echoes of Seuss and Willems, Virjan offers a very funny lesson about the unreliability of narrators." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A boatload of giggles will keep the reader returning for more easy-to-read fun." — Kirkus Reviews