Elephant and Piggie

Elephant and Piggie Series
Mo Willems
200--'s (still in process!)
Geisel Award (several)

How in the world have we managed to ignore these guys on our blog???? Megan told me of them a while ago, and we have read EVERY ONE multiple times (well, all the ones in our local library--they are still being published and not all have trickled down yet). We LOVE Elephant and Piggie around here. I must have written this post a thousand times mentally, but, since I can't seem to locate it on our blog, I must not have actually typed it up. Shame on me.

Elephant and Piggie are best friends along the lines of Frog and Toad. Truly, they represent one of the best literary friendships. Elephant is a boy (Gerald) and Piggie is a girl (Piggie), and their personalities are very distinct (and oh, so lovable).


Told in graphic novel/cartoon style, Willems uses speech bubbles only; no other narrative is needed. The color of the speech bubble matches the color of the animal in these deceptively simple illustrations. I don't know how he manages to capture such genuine emotion in these seemingly simple stories, but he hits the nail on the head every time. Unlike some early readers, these work well as toddler read alouds all the way up to those learning to read at an older age than kindergarten. Such genuine human emotions and situations regarding friendship come across that all ages resonate with them. Parents will appreciate such existential titles as We Are In A Book! while kids will feel Piggie's pain deeply in I Love My New Toy. These are a must read. Check out Mo Willems' website for complete list of books (with covers pictured).

List of titles:
Should I Share My Ice Cream?*
We Are In a Book!*
Can I Play Too?*
I Will Surprise My Friend
I Broke My Trunk*
Happy Pig Day!
Pigs Make Me Sneeze*
Elephants Cannot Dance
I Am Going?
I Love My New Toy
Today I Will Fly
Watch Me Throw the Ball
There is a Bird on Your Head
I Am Invited to a Party
My Friend is Sad
Are You Ready to Play Outside?*

*family favorites
books we haven't read yet