Review by Booklist Review
Pigsticks and Harold are back for another chuckleworthy adventure. The Tuptown Science Fair starts in an hour, but Pigsticks hasn't finished his rather pathetic spaceship. While racking his brain to figure out how to transform his junky invention into a winner, he realizes the solution has been in the room the entire time: his great-aunt Ada Lovepig's time machine! Now he can zip into the future, learn how to make a real spaceship, and have his ship ready in time for the science fair. After enticing Harold to come along (Think of the cakes! . . . Imagine all the future cakes that no one's invented yet), the friends climb aboard the time machine but accidentally send themselves into the past. They streak through time, visiting the age of the dinopigs, ancient Egypt's Cleopigtra, and Rome's Julius Squealer; but the Viking chief Hamfrida takes them prisoner. Will Pigsticks and Harold be able to escape? Milway's witty writing and delightful wordplay combine with his digitally-colored ink drawings to create suspense and humor in this accessible early reader.--Petty, J. B. Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The baking skills of Pigsticks' timorous buddy, Harold, come in handy when an out-of-control time machine sends the two careening through history and prehistory.The mismatched pair's fourth outing takes a not-entirely-unexpected turn when Pigsticks, impulsive as ever, breaks the handle off a time machine invented by his brilliant great-aunt Ada Lovepig. Suddenly the two find themselves surrounded by glowering dinopigs. They escape for quick, nonchronological encounters with Cleopigtra, Julius Squealer, London in flames ("What's so great about this fire?"), and builders constructing the Statue of Pigerty before they are seized by Hamfrida the hamster's Viking minions, whose frightening cries"GLOOM! DOOM! DENTISTS!"portend permanent exile in the past. With a simplicity that stands in droll contrast to the narrative's sophisticated cast, Milway illustrates these misadventures with thick-lined cartoon views of the animal cast in assorted historical dress and settings. Happily, a taste of Harold's delicious Battenburg cake converts the Vikings from foes to friends. Better yet, a final twist brings the time travelers a spaceship from the futureso it's interplanetary party time! More inspired silliness, even if some of the more oblique references do go over the heads of younger chapter-book readers. (Adventure. 7-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
