Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!

And hooray for Mo Willems! He's done it again, creating another perfect blend of pictures and text for young readers. More than any other children's book author alive today, Willems slips most comfortably into Arnold Lobel's shoes. Both are masters at taking seemingly slight incidents and turning them into stories that resonate.

This beginning reader/picture book is made up of 6 1/2 stories about surprises. Each one features Amanda, an avid reader, and her pet alligator, who as we learn in story #4 was purchased for seven cents from a sale bucket. In the story the illustrations show Alligator becoming increasingly insecure as he learns the truth about his origins. Amanda tells her beloved stuffed toy the truth because, as Willems explains in parentheses, "(When friends ask you to tell the truth, you tell the truth.)" (I love parentheses!) Alligator summons up the courage to ask the question; "Why did no one want to buy me?" And Amanda gives the perfect answer: "No one wanted to buy you because they knew you were meant to be my best friend."

In the final story Alligator is put out when Amanda brings home another stuffed toy, a panda that her grandfather bought for her at the zoo. Panda is everything Alligator isn't. Brand new and fluffy, she definitely doesn't look like she came from a sale bucket. Left alone together, the two friends find that they are more alike than different.

The illustrations are classic Willems. He manages to convey so much in just a few squiggles and lines. Take a look at the illustration of Alligator and notice how his nostrils and mouth resemble a smiley face.

As a review in BCCB states, "This is a perfect stealth early reader, a story that will begin as a chapter-by-chapter readaloud and then get converted by the audience when experience and determination make it time to fly solo." Amen. Reserve a space on your bookshelf for Mo Willems's latest.

Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator
by Mo Willems
Balzer + Bray 72 pages
Published: April 2011

Review: Let's Say HI to Friends Who Fly!

Mo Willems's latest, Let's Say HI to Friends Who Fly, is a great pick for kids in the beginning stage of learning to read. Cat the Cat asks the same question to all her friends, "Can you fly?" Bee the Bee, Bird the Bird, and Bat the Bat reply "Watch me!" and take off. But what happens when Rhino the Rhino is asked if he can fly? Like all of the stories Mo Willems writes and illustrates, there is a humorous surprise ending for young readers to enjoy.

I highly recommend this early reader, not just for the inventive story, but also for the innovative way the author graphically blends the text with the art. For instance, when Bat the Bat, who is hanging from his feet on monkey bars, speaks, the text in his cartoon bubble is upside down.

To read an interview with the talented Mo Willems, click here.