Review by New York Times Review
UNLESS you've been living in a cave (and maybe even then), you've probably heard that "On the Road" turned 50 last month. But Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady weren't the only literary outlaws of 1957, or even the most influential: in March of that year, children got their first look at "The Cat in the Hat," and the world of Dick and Jane has never been the same. The spirit of today's most popular picture books - sassy, silly, playful, irreverent - shows that, half a century later, we're still living in the house that Seuss built. Mo Willems is supremely comfortable there. Willems, for all you cave-dwellers, is the author-illustrator of "Knuffle Bunny" and the Pigeon series - "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" is still a favorite with my 4-year-old son - and in those books he displayed an uncanny knack for speaking to children and their parents at the same time. In "Knuffle Bunny," a preverbal toddler tries to make her father understand that she's lost a beloved toy, while in the Pigeon books kids get a chance to lay down the law for once, as a manic bird begs and wheedles for favors that would make the Cat in the Hat proud. The stories unfold mostly in dialogue, accompanied by the kind of doodle-like sketches you might see if Saul Steinberg had ever illustrated a borscht belt comedy routine. Now Willems has created an early-reader series, starring an elephant named Gerald and a pig named Piggie. The first two books in the series appeared this spring, but Willems works quickly, and here come the next two already: simple stories that develop the pairs' inexplicable friendship and confirm their essential natures. "Gerald is careful," the back covers tell us. "Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to." Be that as it may, it turns out that the careful, frowning, worrying elephant is the one who knows a little something about partying. That's the gag, anyway, in "I Am Invited to a Party!" When Piggie receives an invitation in the mail, she worries she won't know the right way to behave. "Will you go with me?" she asks Gerald. "I have never been to a party." The elephant reassures her: "I will go with you. I fenow parties." Over the course of the book, as the friends prepare for an ever more elaborate (and ever more unlikely) bash, Piggie's skepticism mounts. "A fancy pool costume party?" she asks, crossing her gloved arms and squinting through swim goggles. Gerald replies with a bellow: "We must be ready!!!" It's a cute concept, and an impressively economical one, managing in the space of a joke to tap into children's social anxieties, dress-up fetishes and love of parties - all with a simple, repeated vocabulary of about 50 words that makes it effective for beginning readers. But it's still just a joke. I have a similar complaint about the other new Elephant & Piggie book, which also relies on a visual punch line and is pretty much summed up by its title: "There Is a Bird on Your Head!" These are cheerful, charming little stories, and Willems is a genuinely funny guy, but in the early going this series lacks the depth of its peer group - the fablelike whimsy of Arnold Lobel's "Frog and Toad" books, the wry complexity of Russell Hoban's "Frances" stories. One of the lessons of the Cat in the Hat's total world domination was that character counts, and in his earlier books Willems proved he had absorbed that lesson. But it says something about the Elephant & Piggie books, I think, that what my son most looks forward to in them is trying to find the Pigeon hidden in the endpapers. Gregory Cowles is an editor at the Book Review.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 27, 2009]
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-Beginning readers familiar with Willems's books will recognize his distinctive humor and illustrative style in these stories. When Piggie receives her first invitation to a party, she asks Gerald to join her and relies on his advice-because he "knows" parties-in order to prepare for the big event. The elephant, however, has a tendency to overanalyze, so he prepares them both for any contingency-a fancy/pool/costume party. Piggie's expressive features show her questions about their attire, but the friends set off bedecked in flippers, masks, top hat, pearl earrings, cowboy hat, and evening dress. Imagine her surprise when they find all the other guests as lavishly overdressed as they are. In the second title, Gerald learns that there are worse things than a bird on your head, namely, two love birds, a nest, and three hatchlings. With the help of Piggie, he is finally able to ask them to move, but, as the final page reveals, they have become her problem. Both books use speech bubbles-gray ones for Gerald, pink for Piggie-to tell the entire story. This feature is a nice touch that facilitates paired/choral readings. The conversation between the friends flows smoothly and allows beginning readers to practice expression as they read. These appealing titles will tickle the funny bones of children and are sure to become favorites.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Mo Willems There Is a Bird on Your Head!; illus. by the author (Preschool, Primary)It helps to have a best friend when you run into trouble, whether it's the what-to-wear-to-a-party kind or the wildlife-on-your-head variety. Like the first two entries in this beginning reader series (My Friend Is Sad and Today I Will Fly!, rev. 5/07), each of these books features a simple story told entirely through speech balloons and Willems's emotive pig and elephant characters. The animated illustrations will help new readers decode tone and meaning while the spare dialogue enhances the pictures' slapstick humor. High-spirited Piggie has never been to a party; when she receives her first invitation, neurotic Gerald takes charge of their attire. "I know parties," he claims, but Piggie and young readers may have doubts about that when Gerald insists they dress for "a fancy pool costume party." In the end, Gerald proves to be savvier than he and Piggie look. In the second book, two "love birds" make a nest on Gerald's head. Cause enough for panic, but when their three eggs hatch (in record gestation time), hysteria ensues. Luckily, Piggie has a good head on her shoulders. The minimalism of both the text and the uncluttered pictures focuses readers' attention and moves the stories forward. Party on, Elephant & Piggie! From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
