Mo Willems: so many to choose from!
Mo Willems might be the new Dr. Seuss, simply the most prolific and best known picture book author of this generation. With 70 (or so) children's titles to his name, there's always another Mo Willems book to read. Some of them are, of course, better than others, but even when we just pick the very best, we're left with almost 50 to choose from!
Willems has garnered three Caldecott Honors, two of them for his Knuffle Bunny series, and one for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, but those might not even be his best books! The favorites in our house, by far, are his many Elephant and Piggie books.
I've ordered his books from our family's most, to least, favorite in three categories: Recommended, Take It or Leave It, and Don't Bother.
RECOMMENDED (51)
Today I Will Fly (25)
2007 / 64 pages
In this, the first of Willems' 25-book Elephant and Piggie series, Piggie decides she is going to fly. The ever practical Gerald the Elephant takes it upon himself to explain that Piggie will not fly. "You will not fly today. You will not fly tomorrow. You will not fly next week. YOU WILL NEVER FLY!" To which an unflustered Piggie replies, "I will try." First she just pretends to fly, flapping as she goes. But Gerald, killjoy Gerald, informs her that "You need help." She refuses to even hear the discouragement, and actually recruits help: she gets a dog to scare her into flying, and leaps all the way up to the top of Gerald's head. But again, Gerald puts a damper on her accomplishment. "You did not fly. You jumped." But Piggie keeps trying. And eventually, with a little help indeed – a pelican hoists her up on a string – she does fly, much to Gerald's amazement: "You are flying!" But this time it is Piggie's turn to do the correcting: "I am not flying. I am getting help." And the perfect conclusion to the book: a still astonished Gerald decides, "Tomorrow, I will fly!" Piggie's reply? To give a blank stare right at the reader because she knows, and we know, that unless a pterodactyl shows up, that ain't happening! Then she wishes Gerald, "Good luck."
It's quiet comic genius that, from about the time my first girl was about three years old, our whole family has just loved. I think Willems was inspired by the classic comic duo of Abbott and Costello. Piggie is the more exuberant, expressive Costello-like of the two friends. Gerald the Elephant is more strait-laced and even uptight at times (though he can get bouncy and loud, too) like Abbott. It's the perfect combo!
When I’d bring a new Elephant and Piggie book home from the library, oftentimes my littlest would squeal with delight – before having kids, I always thought "squeal with delight" was just an expression, but now I know better.
There's so much to love here that I'm going to resort to bullet points:
The drawings are attractive and energetic, but also simple. Young artists inspired to attempt to copy them will be able to do so with some success.
With only a half dozen or so words per page, they make for great early readers, with dad or mom taking one of the duo's lines, and your First Grader reading the other's.
Most teach simple moral lessons without being obvious about it. For example, in Listen to My Trumpet, Piggie’s performance is so bad that Elephant doesn’t know quite how to tell her. So he praises her for what he can: her trumpet is shiny, and she can play it loud, and she holds it very well. But when Piggie insists on hearing his opinion of her playing, he is honest. Fortunately, it turns out that Piggie wasn’t trying to play music, but was instead trying to sound like an elephant, so it all works out in the end. What a great example of honesty and tactfulness!
With mostly just two main characters, dads will be able to do the voices easily enough.
With 25 titles in the series, dad won't have to go batty reading the same beloved book again and again.
Each book can serve as a script for your kids to do Piggie and Gerald plays!
They are recommended for 3-9, but nostalgia has even our tween and teen kids looking at them now and again. For short reviews of each individual title you can click here but otherwise, all you need is a list of the titles to start checking them out from your local library. They are all equally as good as any other, so I've listed them here in the order they were published: Today I Will Fly!, My Friend is Sad, I Am Invited to a Party!, There Is a Bird On Your Head!, I Love My New Toy!, I Will Surprise My Friend!, Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Watch Me Throw the Ball!, Elephants Cannot Dance!, Pigs Make Me Sneeze!,I Am Going!, Can I Play Too?, We Are in a Book!, I Broke My Trunk!, Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Happy Pig Day!, Listen to My Trumpet!, Let’s Go for a Drive!, A Big Guy Took My Ball!, I’m a Frog!, My New Friend Is So Fun!, Waiting Is Not Easy!, I Will Take a Nap!, I Really Like Slop! and The Thank You Book.
Each story is 50+ pages, and while they come in softcover, if you are buying them I'd go for more durable hardcovers, because these will be read again and again. And the whole series has now been collected in 5 “biggie” books for a pretty thrifty price. These really are fantastic!
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (8)
2003 / 40 pages
In the very first of Mo Willems' Pigeon books, a bus driver asks readers not to let Pigeon drive his bus. The problem is, Pigeon isn't going to make it easy on us. He begs and pleads and sulks – turns out driving a bus is something he's always been desperate to do! Now, a sulky main character might not seem like the best ingredient for a great book, but what makes this a keeper is the role child readers have to take on. They have to tell him "no!" again and again!
While the Pigeon is drawn with only a few simple lines, Willems manages to make him incredibly expressive – this is one excitable bird. Dad and mom will have a fun time mimicking Pigeon's angst. And his bargaining is going to strike most kids as pretty familiar:
“I never get to do anything!”
“What’s the big deal?”
“I’ll be your best friend!”
“No fair!”
“I bet your mom would let me.”
While Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is the first in the series, my own favorite, and the one I think will be most appreciated by all parents, is Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late. The bus driver is back, asking us for our help to make sure Pigeon goes to bed on time. And Pigeon is back, pleading for "just five more minutes." And the readers are back, telling Pigeon no, no, no!
That’s an important lesson for any child to learn – that pleading isn't going to get them anywhere – and this is a fun way for them to learn it. It also gives parents some useful shorthand when your kids start their own can’t-we-stay-up-5-more-minutes? pleas. I've told my girls: "Hold on now, you're starting to sound like Pigeon."
There are 8 Pigeon books really worth reading, and if you want a short review of each you can click here. I'll list them here in the order of my most to least favorite: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!, The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, The Pigeon Needs a Bath!, The Pigeon Has to Go to School!, and The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!
With all these sequels comes a warning. While Willems’ Elephant & Piggie series can be enjoyed with or without mom and dad’s involvement, there is a real sense in which these Pigeon books should be rated PG for Parental Guidance. A somewhat bratty bird teaching kids how not to behave is quite the useful tool so long as a parent is alongside to make sure their kids understand we are actually laughing at Pigeon’s ridiculous behavior, and are not looking to copy it.
There are four other Pigeon books that didn't make the recommended list, for reason you can read about further on.
Knuffle Bunny: a Cautionary Tale (3)
2004 / 36 pages
When a toddler who can’t talk yet loses her stuffed “knuffle bunny” at the laundromat, she tries whatever she can to explain it to dad. Kids will love the silly, loud baby talk. Dutch parents will appreciate the Netherlands as a setting for book three. The books’ striking look comes from Willems’ choice to use sepia-toned photographs for the backgrounds, and colorful cartoons for the characters. If the baby seems a bit bratty in the first book, the girl she grows up to be by book three is thoughtful indeed. In Knuffle Bunny Too, Trixie has grown up some and takes her bunny to school only to discover another girl has one too. And when they argue over how to say “knuffle” (is the “k” silent or not?), the teacher confiscates both bunnies, returning them only when they head for home. But what do both girls discover that night? They have the wrong bunny! But they both have pretty special dads, who ride to the rescue. A great sequel to the original, and a third in the series, Knuffle Bunny Free, brings together one of the most satisfying conclusions you’ll find to any trilogy!
The Frustrating Book! (3)
2022 / 82 pages
This is a very large, very fun book starring a host of squirrels and one duck (though he is called “Flappy Squirrel”). Lots of goofy puns, and 4 separate stories loosely strung together make this an easier read for Grade 1, but the sheer size of the book will make them feel a sense of accomplishment too. Funniest bit is when Zoom Squirrel goes to a booth offering feelings, and he asks the two squirrels there to give him a feeling he’s never felt before. The pair ask him if he’s ever felt disappointment before. No, he answers, and he’s quite excited to give it a try. But then they tell him they can’t disappoint him now. He’ll need to book a “disappointment appointment” for later. That leaves Zoom Squirrel feeling something he can’t quite put a finger on, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. That same sort of goofy humor continues on to the end. Very fun. A couple more in this Unlimited Squirrels series are also quite fun – Guess What (2021), and I Lost My Tooth (2018).
But not every title is as good. Who is the Mystery Reader? and I Want to Sleep under the Stars have been demoted down below to the "Take It or Leave It" and "Not Recommended" categories, respectively.
Edwina: the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct
2006 / 36 pages
Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie is a little boy with a big name who is angry that no one will admit that their town’s favorite dinosaur, Edwina, isn’t actually real, because, after all, dinosaurs are extinct! Goofy story, with an indeterminate moral: is it that the facts don’t care about Reginald’s feelings? I don’t know that the book is that deep. It might just be goofy. But it is fun. With a dinosaur featured, I was wondering if there would be evolutionary propaganda, and thankfully there is not.
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
2012 / 36 pages
In this retelling of the classic, the three dinosaurs totally aren’t trying to get Goldilocks to stuff herself full of chocolate pudding “like one of those delicious chocolate-filled-little-girl-bonbons (which, by the way, are totally not the favorite thing in the whole world for hungry Dinosaurs).” A clever take that kids familiar with the original will love!
Time to Say “Please”!
2005 / 36 pages
A helpful narrator, and a throng of mice, help the reader learn that if you “really really want something, don’t just grab it” but instead find a “big person” and “please say please.” Children will learn other polite terms like “Excuse me,” “Sorry” and “thank you.”
Because
2019 / 36 pages
Co-authored with Amber Ren, this is a celebration of all that’s involved in playing orchestral music. Because Ludwig van Beethoven made his music, Franz Schubert was inspired to make his own. Each two-page spread has another “because” moment like that, including the girl herself heading to the concert only because her uncle had a cold so the girl’s aunt took her instead. And, because of what she heard, she went on to write her own music. A wonderful circle of becauses!
Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator
2011 / 70 pages
When Amanda is away at the library getting books, her alligator is not all that patient about waiting. He paces. He fiddles with his tail. But Amanda is worth the wait! When Amanda surprises him with a big “Boo!” he wants to surprise her too, but realizes it can’t be a “Boo!” too. So the cute little guy puts on his literal thinking cap, eventually thinking up a tickle attack. It’s a cute book, with 6.5 “surprising stories” within!
City Dog, Country Frog
2010 / 56 pages
An energetic city hound finds freedom when, at the start of Spring, he’s taken out to the wide open spaces of the country. There he meets a frog who tells the dog that he was just waiting around for a friend, and with a playful smile, he adds, “But you’ll do.” Together they play Country Frog games. When Summer arrives, it is now the dog’s turn, and they play City Dog games. Come Fall, frog is tuckered, and instead of running around, he asks if they could just hang out together remembering the fun they’ve had. As the snow ushers in Winter, the dog can’t find his flippered friend. Adult readers will know why – how long do frogs live? – though I was rather hoping he was just hibernating somewhere under the snow. Come Spring, dog sets out after him to find frog again, waiting on their rock for his friend's arrival. No frog. But a squirrel comes by and asks what dog is doing. “Waiting for a friend” he replies sadly. The book's last line reads: “Then he smiled a froggy smile and said… But you’ll do.” A little melancholy, but also just a reminder of the impact of friendship and of being friendly.
Leonardo the Terrible Monster (2)
2005 / 42 pages
This is a goofy story about a monster that couldn’t scare anyone, not even the most scaredy-cat kid in the world, Sam. But maybe, if Leonardo couldn’t be a terrible monster, he could become a wonderful friend. The sequel, Sam and the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World, has Sam scared by everything… except his friend Leonardo the Terrible Monster. What a quirk! But then he meets Kerry, who is also a scaredy-cat and both of them are terrified of each other. Until they get over it. Ridiculous and fun.
The Story of Diva and Flea
2017 / 70 pages
What we have here is an adventurous Parisian boy cat, who has been everywhere except inside a home, meeting a homebound girl dog who never gets out at all. Encouragement from one to the other has them both trying new things. Fun and sweet.
Are You Small? (2)
2024 / 30 pages
The child reading this might be small, but the book is smaller still. And you know what's really small? A hamster. It's way smaller than this book. And a baby tooth is smaller still, though, as Mo Willems notes, "it's a BIG deal when it comes out). Smaller and smaller we go, to hydrogen atoms, electrons, and even quarks. An intriguing look at size and the minuscule. The perfect compliment is Willems' Are You Big? which goes all the way through storms, to continents, to the moon, then the Earth, and onward and bigger until it reaches galaxy clusters!
Big Frog Can’t Fit In: A Pop-Out Book
2009 / 12 pages
Frog is “sad” so what can her friends do? It turns out they can stand by her. This is a super fun pop-up book about Frog who is so big she doesn't even fit in this book – she pops right out as you turn the first page! Not fitting in makes Frog sad, so what can she do? Can she make herself smaller? Or more bendable? Nope, of course not. But her friends have an idea. How about making the book bigger, and on the last page, the whole thing pops out, twice as big as before, leaving plenty of room for a happy Frog. Pop-out books don't last in any sort of library setting, so this isn't one to buy for your school. But if you have a careful child, it will be a wonder to them to see how all this origami-paper folding works out!
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
These are books you may not want to buy, but might still want to check out from the library.
Nanette’s Baguette
2016 / 36 pages
Nanette is a little froggy girl sent for the very first time to bring home the family’s baguette. On the way to the bakery she passes her friends Georgette, Suzette, and Bret (with his clarinet), but neither they, nor all the wonderful rhymes throughout, will stop Nanette from getting her baguette. There is a problem though: on the way home Nanette samples her baguette! And before she knows it, there isn’t any baguette left. She feels very bad, and what comes next is why this could be a great book for parents or a teacher to read with children, but it’s also why this wouldn’t be a great one for them to read on their own. Nanette begins to fret at how her mom will be upset, so she considers running away to Tibet, by jet. But when she returns home her mom gives her a hug, and they try again, though this time with mom holding the baguette. So, repentance and forgiveness, which parents can highlight and explore. But also a child considering running away rather than facing the music. Yes, Nanette doesn’t choose the jet to Tibet, but the young target audience will need a little more than that to understand what a bad idea running away really is. So two thumbs up for adults to read to kids, and two thumbs down for kids to read on their own.
Who Is the Mystery Reader?
2019 / 96 pages
Who Is the Mystery Reader? is another fun "Unlimited Squirrels" title. This time the squirrels are struggling to figure out what a sign says. Fortunately “the Mystery Reader” arrives just in time to help – it’s Wink Squirrel, but now wearing a red mask, cape, and underpants to hide his identity. It’s good silly fun, but the four uses of the word “underpants” it’s going to get kids tittering for the wrong reasons, and that got this demoted. In addition, the squirrels investigate the origin of writing for a couple of pages and I suspect their info might have some old earth dating assumptions.
Be the Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of The Pigeon
2023 / 80 pages
This is intended more for adults, and only worth a borrow from the library. There are a few laughs, like “You only get one chance to make a twenty-third impression.”
Pigeon Loves Things That Go (2)
2005 / 12 pages
This is one of Willems' “smidgen of Pigeon” board books, and the problem I have with it, and the other, The Pigeon Has Feelings Too, is that I just don’t get the target audience. The stories are too short to stand on their own – you'd have to have read the other full-size Pigeon books to know what's going on here. But if a kid is old enough to appreciate the picture book versions, are they really going to want to read an abridged board book?
Cat the Cat, Who is that? (4)
2010 / 24 pages
The simple rhythms of Mo Willems’ "Cat the Cat" series might really appeal to some kids. But the repetition – Cat the Cat meets Mouse the Mouse, then Duck the Duck, and Fish the Fish – will drive some parents a little batty, especially if this becomes a regular request. The repetition continues in three sequels: Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly (which might be the most interesting book in the series, but that is not high praise), What’s Your Sound, Hound the Hound? and Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep!
DON’T BOTHER
These are better left on the library or store shelf.
Done in the style of an old silent movie with title cards, That is NOT a Good Idea! has a fox inviting a goose to dinner. And as they head towards his house, with the soup pot already furiously boiling, a half dozen chicks repeatedly interject, “That is not a good idea!” And as the innocent and decidedly plump goose’s peril becomes ever more urgent, so too do the chicks' warnings… until finally it happens! But there is a twist, the chicks weren't actually warning the goose – they were warning the fox! He gets bonked on the head and put in the pot and fed to the chicks, who, it turns out, are goose chicks. It's a fun turnabout, but a little too grim for such a cutesy book.
A Busy Creature’s Day Eating! is an alphabet book, with a little creature eating through the alphabet. He starts with apples, berries, cereal, doughnuts, and eggs, but has some problems with F. But as a creature, eating furniture is an option. Could have been a cute one, but the midway point, P is for potty, because, of course, he has eaten himself sick, which eventually leads on to V for “vomit.”
Wilbur is a Naked Mole Rat who doesn’t like being naked - he likes to wear clothes. And that bothers all the other naked mole rats who declare “Naked Mole Rats don’t wear clothes!” Willems thinks this is funny, because naked mole rats are a real creature. But they are not a real creature that the tittering children this book is intended for need to find out about at their age. That's why Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed ranks right up there with “Captain Underpants” for my least favorite children’s books.
Our kids benefited from a book about going potty, so I am not principally opposed to a title like Time to Pee. But I do think it could be done without the naked backside pictures (albeit in cartoon style) that occur here.
A board book of sorts, Welcome: A Mo Willems Guide for New Arrivals is meant to be read by a parent to their very small child. It struck me as a book that is too childish for adults – they’ll be bored – and with not enough interesting pictures for babies who I think will be bored too. Add to that Willems’ line that a baby is a result of luck, and it's easy to give this a miss.
Kind of like a shapes book for babies, Opposites Abstract is instead a series of abstract paintings about concepts like “mechanical” vs. “organic” and “intentional” vs. “accidental.” I don't get the intended audience: this is too abstract for little kids, and too boring for older kids.
I Want to Sleep Under the Stars is yet another fun "Unlimited Squirrels" book, but it has a mention of how stars can be billions of years old. It’s a brief bit, and if this was for older kids I might have recommended it and just noted there was a need for discernment on this point. But because it is for Grade 1, and there are so many other great books (even so many other great Mo Willems books) we might as well give this one a miss.
Parents can give a miss to Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, which pretends that Christmas is all about Santa and, just to make it even easier to bypass, that Easter is about eggs and bunnies.
I'll also mention that Mo Willems authored a couple of books that he didn't intend for children but which a kid with a library card might think to check out. Don’t Pigeonhole Me! Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook includes both preliminary sketches for his many children’s books, and cartoon nudity and drunkenness. You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons, about his one-year travel odyssey, depicted with one cartoon a day, is also completely unsuitable for children....
