Waltur is a very literal bear. When he sets out to buy a pet pig, his friend Matilda warns him not to buy a pig in a “poke,” another name for a bag. She explains that he shouldn’t buy what he cannot see. Enlightened, Waltur carefully steers clear of a skunk’s offer to sell him a pig in a bag, but doesn’t see any problem when a fox advertises a pig in a box—after all, a box is not a bag. Waltur’s new pet pig is a handful, and Waltur learns his consumer lesson the hard way. In the following two chapters Waltur counts his chickens before they are hatched and leads a horse to water (but can’t make it drink!). A final note titled “Funny English Sayings” explains more about the origin of these three idioms. The author packs a humorous punch into carefully structured short sentences on well-designed pages scattered with colorful illustrations. (Ages 5–8)

These funny, clever, easy-to-read stories play with three common idioms, revealing how Waltur the bear eventually discovers the wisdom in each. Full color.