The Books

Portly McSwine

by James Marshall

Hardcover, 32 pages

Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (2002-08-26)

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Amazon Description

Portly McSwine, eternal pessimist and constant worrywart, is planning a party to celebrate National Snout Day. But Portly is concerned. What if his party is not a success? What if his guests don’t have fun? Portly imagines disaster upon disaster. “Stop worrying,” says a friend. “Quit fussing,” counsels another. But you can’t keep a good worrywart down, and Portly is true to his nature to the very last minute . . .

One Potato Review

A well-dressed pig considers everything that is likely to go wrong when he tests himself against the momentum of a community’s expectations. National Snout Day approaches. “Quit fussing,” he is admonished by the pig at the bakery, still this turns out to be constitutional in Portly’s case, and arguably a source of success. (His party comes off so exceptionally well he ends up worrying about the unlikelihood of replicating its success in three hundred and sixty-four days). Dread as a powerful motivator. By the always irreverent James Marshall, who can take even the thinnest of premises and turn it into something resembling a classic.

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