By Kate DiCamillo
The first Mercy Watson: a pet pig, a bed that falls through the floor, and a rescue that runs on toast.
Mercy the pig loves nothing on earth more than hot buttered toast. When she climbs into the Watsons' bed and the whole thing starts cracking through the bedroom floor, it's her toast-hunting wander through the house that accidentally brings the firefighters. It all works out, and everyone ends up eating toast.
This is the first Mercy Watson, and the first one with real chapters and a story that carries start to finish. There's still a big full-color picture on nearly every other page and a laugh every few lines, so a child stepping up from picture books doesn't feel the jump. Mine wouldn't sit still for a chapter book until this one got her laughing on page one.