Mo Willems...More Mo Willems...and Even More Mo Willems!

The Green Room began a study of Mo Willems by exploring the Elephant and Piggie series. These books immediately captivated the children’s interest not only because of the friendship between the two main characters, Gerald and Piggie, but also because Willems uses short and often repetitive words and phrases. The way in which these books are written empowers the children to read along or even begin to read on their own! These books also gave us the opportunity to introduce the idea of punctuation, speech and thought bubbles, as well as to notice the relationship between the way the font is styled and the tone of what the character is saying.  

By using these books we were able to explore important social-emotional themes through the lens of Gerald and Piggie’s friendship. Some of the topics that were discussed were what to do when a friend feels sad, how hard waiting can be, and including others in play. 

Following Elephant and Piggie, we read all of the books that have stemmed from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! In these books we were introduced to new characters such as Pigeon, the bus driver, and Duckling. While reading we noticed many moral dilemmas, such as, should we let the pigeon drive the bus? Can pigeon skip the bath? Can the duckling have a cookie? Through group discussion the children weighed the pros and cons of each scenario.

We ended our Mo Willems unit by reading Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Knuffle Bunny Free. The main character in these books is Trixie (based on Mo Willems’ daughter) and we follow her adventures. From losing her beloved stuffed animal at the laundromat, accidentally switching Knuffle Bunny with another child’s stuffed animal at preschool, and misplacing Knuffle Bunny on a plane trip to visit her grandparents, the children could easily relate to Trixie. These stories became some of our class favorites. For more Mo Willems, check out his website!