| Elephant and Piggie: Should I Share My Ice Cream? |
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What You Need to Know:
• Should I Share My Ice Cream? could be my new found favorite Elephant & Piggie! Gerald's neuroses are on full,
delightful display in this newest volume.
• The Elephant and Piggie books simultaneously do so many things well, including: teaching children to read, to
socialize, to be a good friend, to empathize, to laugh and so much more. And they are enormously entertaining.
• If you have young children, you should buy these books in bulk and have the entire canon on your young readers'
bookshelf. They would make for a brilliant gift when a child is born.
• The way Willems' deft illustrations convey exactly what the character is feeling, without the need for words, is really
nothing short of genius.
• In a few short pages, with spare prose, Willems has created a suspenseful story that will have you and your young
reader hooked from start to finish.
• Your young reader should be able to read it by themselves after only a few shared readings.
• For all those pigeon fans out there, check out the end-papers (the inside, back cover of the books). Pigeon makes a
guest appearance! |
Sweet Series Background:
Should I Share My Ice Cream? is another wonderful addition in the learn-to-read series by Mo Willems. Think of it in the same vein as a Dr. Seuss book, similar in size and feel, with a bit less text than the longer-winded Seuss books. In the Elephant and Piggie books, Willems effortlessly combines elements required for this learning-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 still create a great story. Willems does it effortlessly with Elephant & Piggie. |
Sweet Book Summary:
In Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Piggie and Gerald take on their usual (hilarious) roles. Gerald is about to tuck into a delicious ice cream cone when we realizes that perhaps Piggie would like some ice cream. Gerald proceeds to deliberate about this notion, comically, until the ice cream actually melts and suddenly there is no ice cream to share. Gerald is distraught. What about PIGGIE!!?!! But then, in walks Piggie with an ice cream cone and Gerald and Piggie are able to share after all.
Trying to summarize an Elephant and Piggie book is next to impossible, no summary can do these books justice, they just have to be experienced. With just a slight touch in the illustration or change in text size, Willems is able to produce a laugh out loud moment. I never noticed the product description for this series, but it is so apt, I am going to copy it here. Methinks Mr. Willems' wrote it himself:
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
I love that over the span of the 15 books that make up this series, children will get to know Piggie and Gerald and their friendship. My little guy already knows that Gerald will worry and Piggie won't and it's always going to be funny! Let me repeat one more time, you cannot lose with this series! |
Author: Mo Willems Illustrator: Mo Willems Published: 2011, 64 pages
Themes: Friendship, Animals, Excellent Read-Aloud, Humor, Sharing |
Sweet Discussion Questions:
• How would you describe Piggie? How would you describe Gerald?
• Who are you most like, Elephant or Piggie? How or why?
• Did the ending surprise you? Did you ever think Gerald was going to be able to eat ice cream?
• What did you think was the funniest part of the story?
• Do you have a friendship in your life like Elephant and Piggie's friendship? Tell me about it. |
| This recommendation was written by: Melissa Y. |
| Support Independent Book Shops: Click Here to Buy this Book on IndieBound |
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