From the very start, I was impressed by the narrative voice the author established. Flora, the main character, is a pig. For the first quarter of the book, she's stuck in a pig pen. Yet, it works! It does not drag at all because Flora's enthusiasm and zest are extremely engaging. There's not much going on in a pig pen, but Flora possesses all the curiosity of a young child and she engages with the outside as much as possible from within the very small confines of her world. 
 Chris Kurtz conveys all this with fantastic writing. Nothing goes to waste. He weaves a perfect balance of images, thoughts and actions. Otherwise, how could it work? Other reviewers have noted that this is a homage to Charlotte's Web and I suppose that's true, but it is an extremely successful one. Kurtz manages to portray his animals as animals. Much of what happens, if you were to watch the scenes, coexists with our observational knowledge of these animals - they could easily just be pigs, cats and dogs doing what pigs, cats and dogs do, yet they are characters who understand English and speak with each other while the humans in the story are mostly clueless about it. Kurtz really nailed it. The animals' adventure takes place simultaneously with the humans, but it is distinct too, theirs. It gave the story a verisimilitude because the animals were not just cardboard stand-ins for people. 
 Flora gets her wish for adventure and ends up on a ship going to the South Pole. She does not get the adventure she expects. On the way, she is locked up in the hold of the ship. When they arrive, well, circumstances are dire and the South Pole is a huge place that is not necessarily more stimulating, in many ways, than a pig pen. Also, she is so focused on adventure, she never considers the humans' reasons for bringing her along. 
 There are some inconsistencies here and there, but I was surprised to see that they overwhelmed some readers because they did not blunt my experience of this story at all, probably because the themes are heart-breaking, wonderful and classic: the importance of friendship/companionship and the necessity and pain of loss when striking out on your own. 
 I read this to my daughter. We loved it.