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Summary
Summary
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.
Today, I Will Fly! is the funny introduction to the characters. Piggie is determined to fly. But Gerald the elephant knows that's impossible--isn't it?
Author Notes
Mo Willems was born on February 11, 1968. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School for the Arts, he spent a year traveling around the world drawing a cartoon every day, which were published in the book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons. For nine seasons, he worked as a writer and animator for PBS' Sesame Street, where he received 6 Emmy Awards for his writing. During this time, he also served as a weekly commentator for BBC Radio and created two animated series, Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats and Cartoon Network's Sheep in the Big City.
While working as head writer for Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door, he began writing and drawing books for children. He received three Caldecott Honor Awards for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in 2004; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale in 2005; and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity in 2008. He also created the Elephant and Piggie series for Easy Readers, which were awarded the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009.
His drawings, wire sculptures, and ceramics have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums across the nation. Occasionally he serves as the Radio Cartoonist for NPR's All Things Considered. He voices and produces animated cartoons based on his books with Weston Woods studios. The animated Knuffle Bunny was awarded Best Film during the New York International Children's Film Festival in 2008 and received the Andrew Carnegie Medal in 2007. His title Happy Pig Day made Publisher's Weekly Best Seller List for 2011. In 2012 his title Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs made The New York Times Best Seller List. In 2013 his titles: That is Not a Good Idea!, Let's Go for a Drive! and I'm a Frog! made the New York Times Best Seller List. In 2014 The Pigeons Need a Bath! and Waiting Is Not Easy! made the New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!) introduces two best friends in the paper-over-board Elephant & Piggie books: a naysaying gray bespectacled pachyderm and an optimistic pink porker, whose opposing temperaments serve as the bases for sparring and mutual understanding alike. When Piggie declares, Today I Will Fly!, Elephant responds, in Green Eggs and Ham fashion: You will not fly today./ You will not fly tomorrow./ .../ You will never fly! I will try! Piggie asserts. She gets assistance from a mock-ferocious bulldog, whose barking does help her to jump (but not fly), and an amiable pelican who demonstrates how friends can lend a hand (er, wing). Energetic Piggie dons a series of costumes (cowboy, clown, robot) to boost sulky Elephant's spirits in My Friend Is Sad. Elephant does not cheer up until Piggie shows up sans disguise: I saw a cowboy!... But you were not there to see him! Elephant laments. I need my friends! You need new glasses.... Piggie whispers in an aside to readers, ending on a sly note. Willems treats each page (or spread) as one panel, so the action unfolds briskly against white backgrounds. He provides the emphatic dialogue in varying font sizes and keeps the design details simple but effective: Piggie's words appear in powdery rose-colored voice bubbles, Elephant's in pale blue-gray. Nevertheless, even inexperienced readers will not be busy long, whether or not they pause to chuckle at the dueling characters' changing facial expressions. Compared to Willems's more nuanced character studies, these episodes feel all too brief. Still, readers will likely clamor for more. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Preschool, Primary) In this new beginning reader series, Mo Willems adds two characters to his repertoire: gloomy elephant Gerald and his upbeat best friend, Piggie. Each book combines an easy-to-follow story; helpful, uncluttered illustrations on white backgrounds; and spare speech-balloon text with lots of useful repetition. The plots are simple but not simplistic: Willems respects his audience's ability to grasp subtlety and tone from his expressively lined pictures and dramatically timed page turns. In My Friend Is Sad, Piggie dresses up in various costumes to try to lift her pal's spirits, but Gerald (not recognizing his friend) isn't cheered by the cowboy, clown, and robot that parade past him. When Piggie gives up and appears without a costume, Gerald is finally happy: ""I am happy because you are here!"" In Today I Will Fly!, Piggie's titular announcement is summarily dismissed by Gerald -- ""YOU WILL NEVER FLY!"" -- but Piggie doesn't let Gerald's negativity ground her. Gerald continues to be a wet blanket (""Yes, it was a big jump. But you did not fly"") until Piggie's various attempts eventually pay off...thanks to the help of a friendly pelican. Piggie's success then inspires the nay-saying elephant: ""Tomorrow I will fly!"" Willems conveys volumes with an expertly placed eyebrow or down-turned mouth, giving new readers valuable experience interpreting context clues in illustrations and even through varying type sizes; and the color-coded speech balloons suggest shared-reading opportunities for pals of any age or disposition. Copryight 2007 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Graphic novel influences have reached into most areas of children's book publishing; here, they crop up in a classic genre-the friendship--duo easy reader-and chalk up yet another success for two-time Caldecott Honor winner Willems. The basic approach is familiar from Willems' previous books, especially Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003). It's as if each page were one frame of a comic strip, characters zip in and out of white space, proffer speech-bubble remarks, and express emotion through spot-on body language. Today I Will Fly juxtaposes Piggie's optimistic ambitions with stodgier Elephant's naysaying. There are also plenty of quirky details to reward repeated readings, including the charmingly incongruous mystery of Piggie's real name (Elephant's, we learn, is Gerald). Accessible, appealing, and full of authentic emotions about what makes friendships tick, this will put a contemporary shine on easy reader collections. Vying for their affections is that irrepressible pigeon, who, still utterly in character, finds his way onto the endpapers. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2007 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-In these two easy-to-read books, Willems introduces two best friends. Gerald is a slightly stodgy, bespectacled elephant with a stumpy, downturned trunk. Piggie is more daring and whimsical, and, like many friends, the two complement one another. In My Friend Is Sad, Piggie tries hard to cheer her dejected friend. She disguises herself as a cowboy, clown, and a robot, but Gerald doesn't recognize her and is sad because she isn't there to enjoy the fun. Without missing a beat, Piggie points out that he needs new glasses. In Today I Will Fly, Piggie announces her intention to do so to her skeptical pal. In the end, though, Gerald is making adventurous plans of his own. With just a few tweaks of his expressive lines, Willems creates engaging characters. The stories move briskly, with a minimal word count and touches of whimsy throughout. Fans of the author's previous books should check the endpapers for a cameo appearance of his familiar pigeon. These simple, humorous stories will sound just the right note for beginning readers.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
