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My Friend Is Sad

AUTHOR: Mo Willems

ILLUSTRATOR: Mo Willems 

ISBN#: 978-1423102977

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Hyperion (March 13, 2007) 

SUBJECTS: Friendship, Feelings, Animals: Pigs, Animals, Elephants

READER LEVEL: Learn To Read, JR

RATING: *****

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

My Friend is Sad is the second installment in the Elephant & Piggie series by award-winning author Mo Willems.  This Learn to Read series just continues to delight both adults and children.  Piggie and Gerald the Elephant are back to their roles:  Piggie as the somewhat naive, optimistic little pig that she is and Gerald as more of the glass is half empty kinda guy (and comically melodramatic to boot).

In this story, Piggie happens upon a sad Gerald and goes about trying to cheer him up. After dressing up as a cowboy, clown and robot, Gerald still isn't happy.  When Piggie comes out as herself, Gerald is finally happy:  his friend is here!  Gerald then begins to recount how he saw a clown, a coowboy and a robot!  But none of these made him happy because Piggie wasn't there to share it with him.

Piggie little confused face is worth the price of admission!  This is such a sweet story of friendship and feelings.  As well as a terrific primer for your young reader, who will be reading it on his/her own after only a few shared readings.  Pigeon fans:  don't forget to check the end papers!

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: 

Today I Will Fly, Mo Willems

I Am Invited to a Party, Mo Willems

There Is A Bird On Your Head!, Mo Willems

I Love My New Toy!, Mo Willems

I Will Surprise My Friend, Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Mo Willems

Pigeon Wants a Hot Dog, Mo Willems

Pigeon Wants a Puppy, Mo Willems

Today I Will Fly!

AUTHOR: Mo Willems

ILLUSTRATOR: Mo Willems 

ISBN#: 978-1423102953

PUBLISHER/YEAR: Hyperion (March 13, 2007) 

SUBJECTS: Friendship, Cooperation, Animals: Pigs, Animals, Elephants

READER LEVEL: Learn To Read, JR

RATING: *****

Review Highlights:

Laugh Meter	not a comedy	giggles	laugh out loud	can’t stop laughing
Fear Factor	no fear	needs explanation	cover the eyes	bad dreams
Subject Matter	light : “G”	mild concerns	caution ahead	needs supervision

Today I Will Fly is the first in this adorable series by Mo Willems, author of the also-adorable Pigeon books, among others.  In this new series, Willems effortlessly combines elements required for the learn to read genre, like word repetition and sight word inclusion, with comedy, terrific illustrations and a great story-line. The last is what makes this series so special.  So many of the learn to read books are dreadfully boring, because it is hard to repeat words, keep the vocabulary simple and create a great story.  Willems does it effortlessly with Piggie and Elephant and has created a winning series.

The main characters are, as mentioned, a little, optimisic pig and a rather seasoned, droll elephant named Gerald.  In this first installment, Piggie comes along and announces she will fly today!  Gerald immediately tells her that impossible, and perhaps she ought to have her head examined.  The story moves along with Piggie trying to fly and Gerald wondering when his little friend will smarten up.  The story wraps up with a sweet, suprising resolution that includes compromise for both of these sweet characters.

This book is a very good read-aloud as well, which is so rare for this type of early reader.  Your young reader will be able to read it to themselves after only a couple of shared readings.  Adults will enjoy the shared reading, though.  Luckily there are, at present, six Piggie and Elephant stories.  Alert for the Pigeon Fans out there, check out the endpapers at the end of the book (all six!)

IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: 

My Friend Is Sad, Mo Willems

I Am Invited to a Party, Mo Willems

There Is A Bird On Your Head!, Mo Willems

I Love My New Toy!, Mo Willems

I Will Surprise My Friend, Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Mo Willems

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Mo Willems

Pigeon Wants A Puppy, Mo Willems