Elephant and Piggie

Elephant and Piggie is a book series for early readers created by Mo Willems.[1] The series, which began in 2007 with two books, features two friends: an antsy male elephant named Gerald, and a vivacious female pig named Piggie.[1] The books are written in conversational style with Piggie's words appearing in pink letter bubbles and Gerald's appearing in grey letter bubbles.

The series aims to teach early readers about the importance of friendship, and how to deal with life's problems.[2] The books highlight how friendship is not always easy, but it is very important.[1] The books exhibit simple vocabulary, repetition of phrases, and basic mathematical concepts to facilitate early reading.[1] The series helps readers understand emotion. When the elephant is sad, you can tell on his face. You can also tell through the small font. When a character is happy, the font is larger.[2]

The Elephant and Piggie series includes 25 books.[2] Since then, Willems has developed a series called Elephant and Piggie Like Reading!, which features picture books by other authors.[3] A musical has been produced based on the Elephant and Piggie books. Elephant and Piggie have also made visits to libraries around the world, including Lincoln City Libraries (LCL) so that children can interact with the characters.[4]

The series has sold millions of copies, making it one of the most popular early reader series ever written, which many attribute the sense of humor throughout the series to its rise to fame.[1]There Is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside? received the Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009.[5] Today I Will Fly! (ranked #2 in 2007)[6] and Elephants Cannot Dance! (ranked #5 in 2009)[6] were listed on Time magazine's Top 10 Children's Books of the Year. An Elephant and Piggie Biggie! was named Publishers Weekly's best Children's Picture Book in July 2018.[7]

Plot

[edit]

The series follows the lives of an elephant named Gerald and a pig named Piggie.[1] The two contrasting characters are the best of friends.[1] Gerald the Elephant is antsy and serious, while Piggie is exuberant and lively.[1] Willems aimed to teach his readership about the issues of friendship.[2] Their relationship is very real as Elephant and Piggie, just like any other friendship, have their ups and downs.[8]

The illustrations help the reader interpret emotions.[9] The illustrations are simple, so the reader can easily understand how the characters are feeling based on their expression.[2] Additionally, the word bubbles assist in conveying the character's feelings. The font will be smaller when a character is sad, and when a character is happy, the font will be very large.[2]

The goal of the series is to help readers learn foundational skills to become good friends and people.[1] Elephant and Piggie books often involve basic problems that teach problem solving skills.[2] The series encompasses problem solving skills such as sharing, empathy, acceptance, and overcoming jealousy.[2] At the end of each book, Elephant and Piggie overcome their problems and carry on being best friends.[8]

Books

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  1. Today I Will Fly! (Apr 2007)
  2. My Friend is Sad (Apr 2007)
    1. Elephant is sad. Piggie notices and wants to cheer up her friend. To do this, Piggie dresses up as all of Elephant’s favorite things. Despite Piggie’s best efforts, Elephant is still sad. Piggie realizes Elephant is sad because he needs new glasses. When Piggie was dressing up as Elephant’s favorite characters, Elephant was longing for Piggie to be there to witness the characters, not able to see that Piggie was the one dressing up.[2]
  3. I Am Invited to a Party! (Sep 2007)
  4. There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Sep 2007)
  5. I Love My New Toy! (Jun 2008)
  6. I Will Surprise My Friend! (Jun 2008)
  7. Are You Ready To Play Outside? (Oct 2008)
  8. Watch Me Throw The Ball! (Mar 2009)
  9. Elephants Cannot Dance! (Jun 2009)
  10. Pigs Make Me Sneeze! (Oct 2009)
  11. I Am Going! (Jan 2010)
  12. Can I Play Too? (Jun 2010)
  13. We Are In A Book! (Sep 2010)
  14. I Broke My Trunk! (Feb 2011)
  15. Should I Share My Ice Cream? (Jun 2011)
    1. Elephant contemplates sharing his ice cream with his best friend, Piggie. When Elephant decides that sharing his ice cream is what is right, the ice cream has already melted. Elephant is sad. Later, Piggie comes over to Elephant holding an ice cream cone, and shares it with Elephant.[2]
  16. Happy Pig Day! (Oct 2011)
    1. Pig Day is a day dedicated to pigs. Elephant is sad because he feels as though he cannot celebrate Pig Day, as he is not a pig. Piggie comforts Elephant by telling him that Pig Day can be celebrated by anyone who loves pigs! After being consoled by his friend, Elephant joins in on the celebrations of Pig Day.[2]
  17. Listen To My Trumpet! (Feb 2012)
    1. Piggie has a new trumpet and cannot wait to play it for Elephant. When Piggie plays, she is not the most talented trumpet player. Piggie asks Elephant what he thinks of her trumpet playing, and Elephant does not want to hurt his friend's feelings. Elephant tells Piggie that the trumpet is very loud and pretty.[2]
  18. Let's Go for a Drive! (Oct 2012)
  19. A Big Guy Took My Ball! (May 2013)
  20. I'm a Frog! (Oct 2013)
  21. My New Friend Is So Fun! (Jun 2014)
    1. Snake, Elephant’s friend, tells him that Brian Bat, Snake's friend, is playing with Piggie. Elephant becomes anxious and worried that he will lose Piggie as his best friend to Brian Bat. However, Elephant later realizes that Brian Bat and Piggie were drawing pictures of their best friends, Snake and Elephant. Elephant realizes that he and Piggie will always be friends, and he should not get jealous.[2]
  22. Waiting Is Not Easy! (Nov 2014)
  23. I Will Take a Nap! (Jun 2015)
  24. I Really Like Slop! (Oct 2015)
  25. The Thank You Book (May 2016)

Other editions

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Books in the series Elephant and Piggie Like Reading![10]

  1. We Are Growing! (Sep 2016)
  2. The Cookie Fiasco (Sep 2016)
  3. The Good for Nothing Button! (May 2017)
  4. It's Shoe Time! (Nov 2017)
  5. The Itchy Book (May 2018)
  6. Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! (May 2019)
  7. What About Worms?! (May 2020)
  8. I'm On It! (May 2021)
  9. It's a Sign! (May 2022)

There has been a musical made of Elephant and Piggie. The purpose of their musical is to teach young children about the theater. The title of the play is “We Are In A Play!”[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Galchen, Rivka (6 February 2017). "Fail Funnier". The New Yorker. Vol. 92, no. 48. p. 28. Gale A480202557 ProQuest 1894985208.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kinney, Karen (2019). "Celebrating Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie Books". Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin. 86 (2): 17–18. ProQuest 2456871413.
  3. ^ ASIN B09GRVTKJM Elephant & Piggie (25 books)
  4. ^ "MO WILLEMS' ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE TO VISIT LINCOLN CITY LIBRARIES" (Press release). 27 December 2016. ProQuest 1852990825.
  5. ^ Noble, Barnes &. "Mo Willems, Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Kids' Book Awards". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  6. ^ a b "Top 10 Children's Books - 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007 - TIME". 2007-12-12. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  7. ^ "Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lists". 2018-07-21. Archived from the original on 2018-07-21. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  8. ^ a b Roback |, Diane. "About Our Cover Artist". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  9. ^ Stabell, Ivy Linton (2017). "The Early Reader in Children's Literature and Culture: Theorizing Books for Beginning Readers ed. by Jennifer M. Miskec and Annette Wannamaker". Children's Literature. 45 (1): 260–265. doi:10.1353/chl.2017.0012. Project MUSE 661146 ProQuest 2158205638.
  10. ^ ASIN B09KQPXH4V Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! (8 book series)
  11. ^ "Elephant And Piggie's We Are in a Play". Music Theatre International. 2015-09-16. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
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