 This Elephant and Piggie series is one of our favorites of all time. There aren't many words, but they are awesome! And the pictures to go along with them are just as great. Willems's series about the friendship between an optimistic--and sometimes reckless--pig and a cautious, pessimistic elephant named Gerald continues. Piggie can't wait to show Gerald her new toy, but will an accidentally broken toy break a friendship? Full color. Book age range is 4-8, but I think that's really in order to get the humor. We've read them to kids as young as 2.5, and it was way fun (for the adult, too!) Children's Literature Review: Elephant and Piggie are good friends. Piggie gets a wonderful new toy and shows it to Elephant, who is not quite sure what the toy is. Actually, Piggie doesn't know what the toy is either. After deciding that it must be a throwing toy, Elephant gives it a nice toss into the air. The friends watch it come back down to earth, where it breaks. Both friends are horrified, and Piggie gets mad. Elephant apologizes, Piggie stays mad, and both friends cry. As all hope seems lost, a squirrel comes over and wants to play with the break-and-snap toy. Piggie tries breaking and snapping her new toy over and over. Forgiven, Elephant declines to play with the new toy. He says that he would rather play with his friend than a toy. The friends abandon the toy and play tag together. Children's friendships are perfectly expressed in this series of early reader books. With careful word selections and pitch-perfect illustrations, Willems captures the lightning fast shifts between humor and pathos in the world of young children. The illustrations are Willems' characteristic style of line drawings in a limited color palette. His simple style belies the complexity of emotion and action his characters convey with their body language. Children will find much familiar in the plots, and Willems' sly humor will delight. Elephant and Piggie stories are terrific for early readers, but they can also be enjoyed by younger children when read to them or by older children who will continue to enjoy Willems' trademark humor. |
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