I love Chris Van Dusen. I love Mercy Watson. I love Kate DiCamillo.

Enough said ( )

I love the Mercy Watson books, and so do my kids. Genuinely funny for the whole family. And the illustrations are top notch. This book isn't in the main series; it's a prequel. It's adorable and funny. I really appreciate that it's a full size picture book so we can really enjoy the illustrations.

My daughters love this book. The little pig definitely catches little ones attention. We all enjoy the illustrations, which are extremely cute and colorful. This is a great addition to any children's library. ( )

Mr. and Mrs. Watson live a very ordinary, quiet life. Some might even say boring. But all that begins to change when a tiny piglet shows up on their doorstep and wiggles her way into their hearts.

A Piglet Named Mercy is, to my understanding, a picture-book prequel to DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series (which I believe are written for a slightly older demographic, although I haven’t read them yet). As such, a certain amount of the story’s appeal is directly linked to its relation to the other books–which, again, I haven’t read. So do please take that bias into consideration while reading this review. The story itself is cute, although extremely simple. I honestly expect more from DiCamillo’s writing, though, even just for a picture book. She typically makes so much magic, regardless of the story or the reading level. Still, though, a cute story about a lonely couple, a couple nosy neighbors, and an adorably spunky piglet. I would expect this to be popular with preschoolers, perhaps even into kindergarten or first grade. And yes, it’s a nice set-up that leaves the reader expecting great things of the actual series; we’ll see how well those expectations are fulfilled. The other aspect of this book that I haven’t really addressed yet–but which plays a significant role, since this is a picture book–is the art. I don’t love it. Yes, it has a fitting country-kitchen sort of feel that works with the story . . . but the edges are too sharp, the colors too brash, the facial expressions too odd. It just doesn’t work for me. Yet for all the negatives mentioned above, I do still rate this a 3/5 (which is a positive rating for me); the story is sweet and funny enough that I would recommend it for younger readers. ( )

Mercy Watson started out as a beginning chapter book series for grades 1 plus. I am happy to see a picture book version for read alouds. This tells how a piglet came to live with the Watson’s and get her name Mercy. It’s really cute and I love how Van Dusen illustrated Baby and Eugene. ( )