In September, when the school principal promises to kiss a pig if the students read 10,000 books, a girl volunteers Hamlet, her unwilling, Shakespeare-quoting pet pig. But poor Hamlet wants nothing to do with such foolishness.

Kalli Dakos is the best-selling author of over two thousand poems about elementary school life. Her books include If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand, Don't Read This Book, Whatever You Do!; The Goof Who Invented Homework; and The Bug in Teacher's Coffee. She lives in Canada and writes in New York. Carl DiRocco's's illustrations have been published in twelve children's books, including: Cooper and Packrat: Mystery on Pine Lake, and Cooper and Packrat: Mystery of the Eagle's Nest, (both Junior Library Guild winners), Dear Big, Mean, Ugly Monster, and Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig (a Children's Choice Selection). He is a graduate of the New England School of Art & Design in Boston and lives in Massachusetts.