12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great new book with great new characters!, March 22, 2007
This review is from: My Friend is Sad (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hardcover)
Mo Willems has worked his magic yet again. In two new books, "Today I will Fly" And "My Friend is Sad" he introduces two new characters to his cast--Piggie, an upbeat and optomistic pig and her best friend, Gerald a more melancholy, 'realistic' elephant who wears glasses.
Piggie enters the pages of the book to find, Gerald, her best friend in a very glum mood--he's so wrapped up in it that he does not even notice her. She then goes about trying ways to cheer him up--dressing up as a clown and a cowboy for example. Each new attempt, inspite of Gerald loving clowns and cowboys, makes the elephant even more miserable.
The illustrations are classic Willems, super expressive but very simple at the same time. Fantastic!
Its a sweet book about friendship and is great for a younger audience. Its on a similar level as "Green Eggs and Ham" and clearly the publisher realised this as it is very similar in shape, size and general physical design to the smaller Dr. Seuss books.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Elephant Gets His Groove Back, November 20, 2007
This review is from: My Friend is Sad (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hardcover)
Mo Willems is a master illustrator and storyteller. He's also somewhat of an illusionist. I'll explain.
Out of the simplest elements: Just two characters, a minimal plot, a few words per page, and uncluttered illustrations that must average over 80% "white space" (i.e., the un-illustrated parts of the page), Willems constructs amazingly rich scenes that surprise us with their enormous humor, subtle understanding, and underlying complexity.
Here, Gerard the elephant tells his pal Piggie that he feels sad. Elephant's labeling of this emotion begins with a frown, and then an apparently surprised recognition that he feels blue. Piggie looks out at the reader with concern, stating, "My friend is sad." Later, we see that Elephant seems frightened of his feelings. Piggie declares confidently, "I will make him happy." These six pages of relative gravity set the scene for the entertaining frivolity that follows.
Piggie pulls out all the stops to cheer up his friend: He wear a 10 (at least!) gallon hat, "Yeehawing" about on a pretend horse,, he juggles 5 balls in the air, and wears a faux high tech costume that Gerard figures out is a robot. Piggie is thoughtful, Gerard loves cowboys, clowns, and robots, and he cheers up temporarily. However, each time, his delighted surprise doesn't last, and he is sad again. Piggie, for all his careful planning and attention to detail feels like he has failed his friend. We soon learn, however, that Piggie's disguises were perhaps a little TOO successful...!
Willems, you see, performs a neat little trick here, midway through the book; a clever twist for which we're totally unprepared. Elephant may have been sad, but apparently he's even sadder that Piggy missed all the things which cheered him up....the cowboy, the clown, and the robot! There's more, of course: Willems relishes the opportunity to capture all of Elephant's outrageous, wrenching melodrama. As Gerard recounts how happy he was seeing these characters, he becomes more and more distraught, as he recalls that Piggie was not there with him. When Gerard excitedly shouts, "THERE WAS MORE!" he's so loud that Piggy is thrown several feet away.
Toddlers and others (especially parents and adult caregivers) will recognize and appreciate these extreme of emotion. Within this simple story, Willems gives us all a chance to see the humor of Elephant's histrionics. Moreover, the plot twist is itself hilarious, because we're in on the secret that Piggie--of course--WAS there. At the conclusion, the elephant hugs Piggie, happily declaring, "My friend is here now," and, after quietly and happily sitting near him, blushingly admits, "I need my friends." Piggy looks out at us, and whispers a little zinger, "You need new glasses." Gerard looks confused--but not unhappy.
BY equal measure droll and unsparingly funny, but full of action, emotion, and surprise, "My Friend is Sad" is another gem in Mo Willems' humor and insight in simple situations. It's a great companion to "Today I Will Fly" (also released in March 2007); I recommend both books very highly.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for 3 yr old, May 25, 2007
This review is from: My Friend is Sad (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hardcover)
My three year old son loves this series. This one is a lot of fun to read to him. We learn about emotions, pretend play, and interpersonal relationships. And there's robots, cowboys, and juggling clowns.
The artwork is expressive and uncomplicated. The dialogue allows for imaginative performance by the reader-- by changing the nuances, you can make it a different experience each time. Which is not to say you have to be a great actor.
These books are different from the pigeon books (also by Mo Willems), in that having two characters allows room for plot and story development on a greater scale. The pigeon books (such as _Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus_) are much more appropriate for a younger child.
The only reason I did not give this particular book a full five stars is that the dialogue in the end of the story is a little flat compared to the excellence of his other books. This book is still a must have.
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