Customer Reviews

Today I Will Fly! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

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Today I Will Fly! (Elephant and Piggie)

The Elephant and Piggie books FLY out of my classroom for home reading and are in great demand at the reading table~~better than Seuss for high interest. Contains just the right amount of text for beginning readers and lots of high frequency word practice. I've been teaching K-2 for 32 years and haven't seen this kind of excitement over a book series from very young readers. Mo Willems is a teacher's dream come true!

Having a 4 year old on the edge of the autism spectrum is a blessing and a curse -- sure, she taught herself to read at the age of 3, but try finding something she *wants* to read out loud. Even better, find something that helps teach natural speech intonation and provides massive opportunities to explore feelings, emotion and humor -- how great would that be for a kid with significant social and speech delays?

(Oh, wait -- that would be Elephant and Piggie! They act out simple, short and funny stories, full of emotion and humor. The dialog (and it's pretty much all dialog) is also short, fun, repetitive, and presented in color coded speech bubbles, so you always know who's speaking. Basically, an early reader's dream come true. My daughter is in love with the cute little girl pig (did I mention she was *pink*?) and about the second time through said, "I'll be Piggie". So now she reads/acts Piggie's dialog while the rest of us read/act for Gerald the elephant and the various other bit parts.

Her dramatic reading intonation is improving (you can tell questions from exclamations by tone, now) and she enjoys the humor of the stories as well, often incorporating the scripts into her regular speech -- on our way to the airport she started saying, "Today I will fly!" in her Piggie voice. (Needless to say, we replied "You will not fly today. YOU WILL NEVER FLY!" just like Gerald.) Even my 7 year old enjoys them, and will often volunteer to play a small role (like the dog or duck).

The books are just so well written -- so well *crafted* -- that they're just a pleasure to read. After wading through rivers of drek trying to pass for childen's "literature", I just can't recommend these books highly enough. These books feel as classic as Seuss and as humorous as Boynton, and for an asd kid who's also an early reader, they're a double blessing.

(Oh -- about my comment concerning feelings and emotions, I'm referring merely to wonderful illustrations of Gerald and Piggie and the emotions they convey. It provides us with a chance to say things like, "Does Gerald look skeptical? I don't think he believes his friend Piggie can really fly," and "Wow, Gerald really looks surprised! Is he surprised because Piggie is flying?" More humorous twist at the end than touchy-feely ;-)

How on earth can a cartoon elephant look so skeptical, anyway?

Mo Willems is a master illustrator and storyteller. Typically, he uses just a few characters, a simple and somewhat absurd plot, and slight illustrations--basic shapes, lines and arrows. Within this minimalist framework, however, he has no peer."Today I Will Fly," for example, is a smark, sly take on the skeptical expression that something will happen "when pigs fly," i.e., never.

However, "never" is not a given in Willems' twisting of readers' expectations. The elephant, Gerard, who stands in an adult role (complete with professorial glasses), scoffs at young, wide-eyed Piggie's declaration that "Today, I will fly." Gerald's repeated negations reach a crescendo of adult nay-saying:

"You will not fly today.
You will not fly tomorrow.
You will not fly next week.
YOU WILL NEVER FLY!"

Piggy, ever the optimist, says simply, "I will try," as Gerard looks out at the audience with disbelief and frustration. What follows--on an adult level--is a discourse on semantics and boundaries. Kids will just love the hilarious pursuit of flight bu the inexperienced, opimistic pig. First, Piggie runs across the page, flapping her arms (!), and repeats the word, "fly," ten times, as if she could will herself to flight. Elephant replies, "you need help," undoubtedly referring to a porcine psychologist somewhere. Piggie takes this at face value, and thanks Gerard for his advice.

In Piggie's second attempt, she enlists the help of a sharp=toothed dog: Piggy is so scared that she jumps on top of Gerald's head. Her fear of the dog soon turns to pride: "I did it! I flew!" The exasperated (so much so, that Gerald falls off his head) Gerard replies, "You did not fly. YOU JUMPED!" The undaunted pig declares, "I will try again," and on her third attempt, she suspends herself from the beak of a friendly pelican. Gerald has a change of heart--or maybe he's just in a better mood because he just had lunch. Dancing, Gerald sings, "My friend can fly! She can fly!"

Abruptly, as kids often do, Piggie changes her tune: "I am not flying! I am geting help." Willems concludes with a delightful role switch: As if turning over a new leaf and embracing his "inner child," the newly optimistic Gerald says, "Tomorrow, I will fly!" Piggie, cupping his mouth in an aside, utters these parting words to Gerald and the reader:

"Good luck."

Droll, spare, but full of action and emotion, "Today I Will Fly" is another gem in the Mo Willems's never-failing search for humor in simple situations. Very highly recommended.

I am 27 years old, have 0 children, 1 Master's degree in Speech Communication, and love to read books by Mo Willems. I find his books to be inspiring, philosophical, witty, interesting and visually enthralling. This is my current favorite book, although it's hard to claim a favorite when you know that with Willems- the best is yet to come!

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.

In this book, Piggie decides that (as the title indicates) she will fly today. Gerald doesn't think a pig can fly and tells her so, inspite all of her efforts by the end--with help from another friend she teaches Gerald a lesson and he too wants to fly.

This is a great book (though I think the other book in the pair is a little stronger) 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. Definately great for a young audience.

I love all of Mo's writings, but the wittiness of this book puts it in a class by itself. The print on each page is, at most, 7 or 8 words. I thought at first it was "below" my second graders. But the ability for them make inferences was heightened by this well thought-out picture book. The pictures showing the annoyance of the elephant and the hopefulness of the pig only added to its teachable moments. It's a perfect piece for fluency practice and reader's theater as well!

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards))

Today I Will Fly is great fun. All the Piggie and Gerald books are easy on parent to read as they don't get boring. I had lots of fun doing sound effects for a big dog woofing and for Gerald getting worked up (as usual). Another great book from Mo Willems.

This book is about a pig who wants to fly. I like this book because it is funny. I like it because she pretends she can fly! A duck holds Piggie on a string and it is really silly and then Piggie can fly. I also liked when a dog was chasing Piggie. You should this book because it is funny!

Pig and Elephant are a delight to young children. This isn't the best book in the series, but it is fun. Elephant must learn never to doubt Pig's determination.

Our daughter is almost three, and loves to be read to. We do at least 10 stories a day, and more than half of those are usually Gerald and Piggie books. They're hilarious, touching, and perfect for her sensibilities. She walks around the house all day alternately pretending to be both characters, recreating her favorite moments from "Today I Will Fly," "I am Invited to a Party," and "Pigs Make Me Sneeze," (among others.)

The best part about Gerald and Piggie, though, is that - as parents- we never get tired of reading them to her. Like Dr. Seuss before him, Mo Willems has a breezy, whimsical style that beckons for revisitation again and again. In fact, I often leave these books on the top of her pile purposefully, just because I can't wait to see the smile and hear the giggles that these books always conjure up.

Pure magic. If you're not collecting these books yet, and reading them to your children, you're missing out on both a major talent and wonderful opportunities to laugh and share in delight with your kids.