We Are In A Book! by Mo Willems
Reviewed by: Chris Singer
About the author:
Mo Willems earned six Emmy Awards writing for Sesame Street before turning his craft to children’s books in the early 2000s. He’s since won three Caldecott Honors and two Geisel Awards for his books, of which he’s written over 30 since 2003.
Mo lives with his family in Massachusetts. You can find him online at www.mowillems.com.
About the book:
(From Book List) In their latest pairing, Elephant and Piggie are finally ready to get meta. Realizing that their trademark blank background is, in fact, a page, the duo has a blast convincing the reader to say funny things out loud—until Piggie mentions that the book will soon end. Cue Elephant’s existential crisis: “WHEN WILL THE BOOK END!?!” From there on, it’s a cute—but never too heady—play on the physical object that the reader is holding, including a bit where Piggie appears to flip the pages forward to get a sense of how much time they have left. Willems’ satisfying (if self-serving) solution? Read it again!
My take on the book:
My daughter and I have really enjoyed reading Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books over the last several months. Even though my daughter is only 19 months old, these have been some of her favorite books to have read to her. Willems' books make excellent books to read out loud so young toddlers can even enjoy these as well. In We Are In A Book, Elephant (Gerald) & Piggie figure out they are on the pages of a book and decide to have some fun with the readers by making them say whatever word they want to say. This is where the book gets really fun to read out loud as Piggie gets us to say the word "Banana" and Gerald goes hysterical with laughter. The laughs continue as Gerald gets worried and panics about what will happen at the end of the book. Piggie has an idea though and asks us in a very cute and polite way to read the book again.
Willems does it again with another brilliant book for kids (and adults) to read. He's become a favorite in our home and my favorite to read out loud with Tessa. The illustrations, as in all of his books, are very clear and expressive. With the white background toddlers can really focus on what the characters are doing and don't get so distracted like they might while viewing other busier illustrated picture books.
With the holidays upon us, this is a great opportunity to make We Are In A Book! a permanent fixture in your child's library.
Like this review? Purchase a copy for yourself at Powell's
Our family loves all the Mo WIllems books. Somehow Willems has managed to know just how to reach children and make it enjoyable for parents as well. I loved your review of this new one! I'd actually been considering it as a Christmas gift for my son and now I think I will definitely add it to the list! Thank you!
Every Mo Willems book we've gotten from the library has been a hit and I've enjoyed reading them (over and over usually)! We actually don't own any but we're definitely purchasing this one. If I get the courage, I'm going to post a video of me reading it to my daughter Tessa. That's a big if though