Mo Willems: Elephant & Piggie

 

Mo Willems website

We (my 4 year old and I) only recently found Elephant & Piggie because my mother,  a kindergarten teacher, gave us a copy that her class enjoyed.  We have a copy of Knuffle Bunny as well as a Pigeon book which are also whimsical books by Willems.

 But.  My 4 year old seriously LOVES Piggie and Elephant.  I do too; we’re obsessed.  He heartily laughs at each read we do, as if a buddy had told him a joke.  The books are so simple; yet, they are not simple in the quiet matters that children think. Willems created a series of books about two friends, an elephant (Gerald) and a pig (Piggie).

 I love the illustrations of the characters because my child is able to easily focus on their emotions.  He loves being able to point and distinguish if Piggie is mad or sad.  Plus, he’s easily able to follow along with the dialogue between the two characters.

After reading this book, I realized that many children’s books are cluttered with the language of the dialogue.  For example, many books included the dialogue like Piggie said/Gerald screamed, and this book eliminates that kind of repetitive language.  It’s as if Willems truly stepped in the mind of a four year old and wrote these hilarious characters.

 

 

 

Furthermore, Gerald and Piggie are just plain funny.  We giggle each time we read their stories.  The plots are always simple (young readers can easily follow along) about things like waiting, or playing catch, or sneezing.

 

If you haven’t tried these out, I highly recommend them; I’m positive your children will giggle and enjoy Elephant and Piggie. 

 

I Will Take A Nap! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

Waiting Is Not Easy! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

We Are in a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

 

12 comments

  1. My 5- and almost-3-year-olds love Elephant and Piggie! Their current favorite is Should I Share My Ice Cream? which is perfect going into summer. Found you through the Kid Lit Blog Hop today, thanks for posting!

  2. My kids loved the Elephant and Piggie books. In fact, I couldn’t bring myself to part with them when my kids outgrew them. The humor always had a laughing out loud. Just all around fun reads. Hope you and your 4 year old continue to enjoy them!

  3. Hurrahh we love Elephant and Piggie too, such a great early reader. WE must get them out of the library again, been a while since we have read them. Thanks for joining the Kid Lit Blog Hop

  4. I have not read these Mo Willems books!!! I just wrote a post on the Pigeon series (which I love), but these Piggie and Elephant ones have completely been missed on my radar. I have to check them out! Visiting from the #KidLitBlogHop

  5. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of these books! My daughter is a beginning reader and would probably love to read these books to her younger brother. Getting them from the library today!

    1. I know! I felt the same way, and now, they are our favorites. We ended up getting quite a few from the library -enjoy!

Comments are closed.