Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey by Alex Milway (review)

Descended from a line of pigs with important careers, Pigsticks is determined to make an equally famous name for himself as an explorer, but he needs an assistant to carry all his stuff. He sweet-talks Harold, a delivery hamster, into the position, promising cakes along the journey to “the ends of the earth.” The pair treks through a variety of terrains, with Harold clearly doing the majority of the work, until they face a herd of persistent—and hungry—goats on a mountain peak. Pulling the emergency handle on Harold’s supply backpack unleashes a pair of wings, and the pair (safely) plummets back to their home of Tuptown. Younger audiences, who will certainly enjoy the adventure, will fare better as listeners to a readaloud, while independent readers will be comfortable tackling it solo. Milway’s humorously dramatic writing (“‘Nonsense!’ said Pigsticks. ‘Explorers like us eat up danger like it’s sticky toffee pudding’”) keeps the story moving along at a snappy pace. The plentiful pictures, rendered in ink and colored digitally, offer a stylized, cartoonish world. Pigsticks’ oversized snout, baby-blue eyes, and changing headgear (suited to the various climes) give him presence, while rotund, brown Harold elicits sympathy with his clearly overstuffed backpack. Budding adventurers and lovers of comic stories will enjoy this duo’s escapades, and a spot of cake afterwards would not go amiss.