Mo Willems is the author of groundbreaking picture books, including; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Caldecott Honor winner 2004); Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Caldecott Honor winner 2003); Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!; The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!; Time to Say "Please"!; Leonardo, the Terrible Monster; Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct. He also wrote Today I will Fly!, My Friend Is Sad, There Is a Bird on Your Head, and I Am Invited to a Party!, the first books in this series.
In his previous life, Mo was a six-time Emmy Award-winning
writer and animator for Sesame Streetand the creator of Cartoon
Network's Sheep in the Big City. He lives with his family in
Brooklyn, New York.
same as above
BFFs Gerald and Piggie (I Am Invited to a Party! and There Is a
Bird on Your Head!, rev. 1/08) are back in their fifth and sixth
easy-reader episodes. The pair's friendship is put to the test in
My New Toy when elephant Gerald accidentally breaks Piggie's prized
possession. Their spat follows a familiar arc: anger and sadness,
tears and regret; all ends well, thanks to a squirrel's
intervention, and the two conclude: "Friends are more fun than
toys." In the companion volume, Piggie and Gerald watch as a
squirrel surprises an unsuspecting pal; it looks like fun, so they
give it a go. The game doesn't work too well, however, if both
players lie in wait for each other. While Gerald panics-"Where is
Piggie?...Maybe a giant bird...flew off with her!"-Piggie gets
sidetracked ("I am hungry for lunch"); their silly overreactions
are classic-cartoon funny. The simple speech-balloon text uses a
fair amount of repetition to encourage new readers, and Willems
skillfully conveys mood and tone through type size and his
characters' expressive body language. This series' broadly
sketched, satisfying dramas are just right for readers beginning to
venture out on their own. Horn Book"
In classic Willems style, the characters' expressions and body
language carry both stories, with the deceptively simple line art
saying far more than the slight, though whimsical, texts. When
Gerald accidentally breaks Piggie's new toy, he is by turns
ashamed, chagrined, and apologetic. Piggie is mad, sad, and finally
embarrassed (a squirrel shows them that the "broken toy" is of the
"break-and-snap" variety). The pals then decide that playing
together is more fun than playing with a toy anyway. In the second
title, the two watch a squirrel surprise a friend by jumping out
from behind a rock. Mischievous Gerald and Piggie then plan
together how to "surprise" one another in the same way. They sit
behind opposite sides of a large stone and wait to be surprised.
And wait. And wait. And worry. Savvy readers will know exactly what
happens when each friend thinks that the other has left. These
masterful mini-dramas will delight and amuse easy-reader and
picture-book audiences, alike. SLJ"
Two new additions to the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winning
Elephant and Piggie series. In I Love My New Toy!, Piggie has a
great new toy, although she's not exactly sure what it does.
Elephant thinks that perhaps it's a throwing toy. And throw it he
does, right up in the air, and then it smashes in two pieces.
Uh-oh. At first it seems as though there will be a break in the
friendship as well as a broken toy. Elephant's "sorry" is not
accepted by Piggie, though they do share a few tears. When Squirrel
comes around and spots the toy as one of the "break-and-snap"
variety, showing it's as good as new, the friends soon realize that
playing together is more fun than any old toy. This offers plenty
of opportunity for new readers to learn useful words like sad and
mad, but the charm comes in the way Willems captures the emotions
of young children, sometimes with a line of dialogue ("You broke
it!"), and sometimes with an artful drawn line that says as much as
words. Booklist"
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