WE ARE IN A BOOK by Mo Willems

Willems, Mo. WE ARE IN A BOOK!  New York:  Hyperion Books for Children. 2010. ISBN 978-1-4231-3308-7

Let me catch my breath and wipe my tears of laughter and I will tell you about this hilariously funny masterpiece by literary genius, Mo Willems.  I love every  Piggie and Elephant book, but this one tickles my funny bone, turns over giggle boxes by the dozens, and arouses a deafening “read it again!!!!” from my pre-K and kindergarten audiences.  Piggie and Elephant discover that they are in a book and proceed to try and make the reader say a word.  They find this power incredibly funny and we all laugh with abandon right along with them.  When the book is about to end, Elephant is distraught, so Piggie comes up with an ingenious idea to extend their time with the reader; a win for us as well as Piggie and Elephant. 

Simple, uncluttered, clear line drawings and word bubbles with few words and big print draw the young reader in as easily as Harold with a purple crayon.  Willems pairs the ultra sensitive worrier, Elephant Gerald, with the more relaxed risk taker, Piggie, and creates a charming friendship as endearing as Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad or Jim Henson’s Bert and Ernie.  The discovery of the readers looking into the world of Piggie and Gerald is reminiscent of the same genius in David Wiesner’s The Three Pigs.

This book is just so much fun to read aloud.  Willems’ style of simple text is so full of emotion, that it lends itself to drama.  Glee, fear, sadness, panic, intrigue, mischief, surprise, all in less than 100 different words make this a well deserved Geisel Honor Book.  Quoting the Horn Book Guide, “Willems successfully and humorously deconstructs the concept of a book for the youngest readers.”   As I said, Mo Willems is a genius.