| Elephant and Piggie: Watch Me Throw the Ball |
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What You Need to Know:
• This is a brilliantly conceived new learn to read series by the author of the Pigeon books (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive
the Bus).
• Willem's deft illustrations, the way they convey exactly what the character is feeling without need for words, really,
are nothing short of genius.
• Your young reader should be able to read it by themselves after only a few shared readings, the picture clues and
vocabulary choice and repetition are that good.
• Watch Me Throw the Ball! imparts a simple and clear message that we can all make mistakes and even have a whole
lot of fun making them. Something a pre-schooler will understand and "get" easily and benefit greatly from.
• This book has been nomintated for a 2009 Cybil Award. Please click the Cybils link on the left side of the page to learn more
about the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards (Cybils).
• For all those pigeons fans out there, check out the endpapers (the inside, back cover of the books). |
Sweet Series Background:
Watch Me Throw the Ball! is a hilarious addition in the new 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, all the while creating a great story. Willems does it effortlessly with Elephant and Piggie. |
Sweet Book Summary:
The main characters are a little, optimisic, free-spirited pig named Piggie and a rather pessimistic, droll, rule-following elephant named Gerald. In Watch Me Throw the Ball, Piggie decides she is going to throw Gerald's ball. This causes great distress to the aforementioned rule-following Gerald. He wants Piggie to understand all that goes into throwing the ball; the practice , the hard work, the precision. While he is banging on about all that, Piggie grabs the ball and proceeds to throw it as hard as she can. She is thrilled! Gerald points out that perhaps Piggie should pay him some mind, as the ball has landed behind her. Piggie incredulously explains to Gerald, over the course of this very entertaining book, that it doesn't matter where the ball landed, she "had fun!". |
Author: Mo Willems Illustrator: Mo Willems Published: 2009, 64 pages
Themes: Friendship, Animals, Humor, Excellent Read-Aloud, Individuality |
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