Family Fridays – Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems

Genre: Children’s General

Ages: 4-8

Review:

I have yet to read a book by Mo Willems that I haven’t absolutely adored. His Elephant and Piggie Series was created for early readers, with lots of short, repeated words, no contractions, life lessons appropriate for the age group – and it still manages to be fun. The stories are cute, the characters are likeable, and the drawings are simple but powerful. My two favorites in the series (so far, at least!) are We Are in a Book! and Today I Will Fly! I especially love the We Are in a Book! because it reminds me a little of The Monster At the End of the Book, which was one of my husband’s favorite books growing up. I like both of these because they draw attention to the idea of the book itself and the interaction between the child (or adult) and the physical book. A sort of meta reading experience if you will.

I think the age range is about right, though you can obviously read these books to your younger children as well. There isn’t anything remotely scary about them (at least not any of the ones I’ve read). I can easily see a four year old reading the book by his or herself, especially after a little coaching.

Side note: The elephant is name Gerald after the author’s favorite singer. Elephant Gerald. Say it out loud quickly a couple of times. The piggie’s name is Piggie. I can respect that.