Karate Pig by Alan Katz, illustrated by Daniel Moreton Baby-PreK 16 pages Little Simon April 2009 Board book     Concerned that board book authors will run out of innovative ways to make reading board books appealing to young readers? Then you’re probably unfamiliar with children’s book author Alan Katz. Here, he pens a story about a pig who is so excited about karate he chops everything in his sight - and yes, the resulting story is just as amusing as its premise suggests. Karate Pig is an interactive board book that allows readers to watch the character show off his chopping skills. The pages are actually the target of his destruction, which leaves readers on a continuous search for the parts of the book that can be separated from the rest, marking a place where the pig exerted his strength. Some pages are split straight through the center, but other sources of “damage” are more challenging to locate. Many surprises are only revealed after attempts are made to dislodge the corners of some of the pages from their original position. Although the pig initially uses his skills for expected projects such as chopping wood, he quickly moves to less traditional ideas such as chopping a pizza pie, household furniture, a tube of toothpaste and, to the delight of the readers, much of this book. Parents of young readers should head directly to the bookstore to obtain a copy of Karate Pig, which will likely gain popularity at a rampant speed. The only downside to that result is that a large number of trees may need to be chopped down in order to meet the demand.     web reviews   Lori West/2010 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)