An Elephant & Piggie Book (I Love My New Toy!)

by Mo Willems

Book Overview

Book

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0545232627
• ISBN13: 9780545232623
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: SCHOLASTIC
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.

Customer Reviews

4 1/2* This Little Piggie Got a New Toy

Mo Willems, the master of simplicity, conveys the gamut of porcine and elephant emotion with eyeball placement, stance, and just a few lines to suggest motion. With those simple elements, Willems has created one of the most memorable series in little kids' books. Each book is a small little gem, enjoyable by both children and adults (although adults will enjoy Willems primarily for his wry sense of humor, and ability to elicit laughter from simple situations, and an economy of language. Here, Piggie (full of wide-eyed enthusiasm) shows Elephant his new toy, a kind of ball and stick contraption that resembles something you'd make out of tinkertoys. As usual, the problem--not knowing what how to play with the toy--really isn't that big, unless you're an excitable youngster with a new but puzzling toy. Elephant, without a clue, suggests it might be a flying toy, and hurls it into the air. The toy crash lands and breaks. Piggie looks out at us without speaking; his heartbreak is evident. Elephant is crestfallen, sorry about what he has done. This unhappy state of affairs is turned about by a squirrel, obviously up on his toy trends, who informs them that it's one the new snap-together toys. In other words, it's supposed to break into pieces, because you can snap them right back together again! They both still seem puzzled, especially elephant. In fact, in a rare departure for Willems, elephant's emotions are a little obscure. I'm not sure if this was intentional ("so, how do you think the elephant feels?") or not, but the lack of clarity lasts a couple pages too long. After surviving this test of trust (elephant is truly sorry, and never leaves his friend's side), Piggie is reassured, and perhaps realizes that while (some toys) may break, a good friendship lasts much longer. Willems captures all of this in a style that follows Poe's dictum that every element in a story should be there for a reason. Perhaps like no one else working in kids' picture books, Willems speaks directly to small kids, and bring a twinkle of recognition to adults. They're clever, knowing, and extremely funny. By the way, Willems' extraordinary talent has not gone unnoticed, his books have won two Caldecott honors, and his writing for "Sesame Street" earned him six Emmys. He's an all-time favorite, and your young toddler to kindergarten-age kid will love any and all of Willems' work.

Very cute book! Great message!

This was a great book! There are a lot of pages, but don't let that stop you. There is only about one sentence per page, if that, and it keeps the story flowing. And the story is really cute and at the end has a nice message for kids. I liked the illustrations, too, even though they are simple. Just a great book for kids!

I Love "I Love My New Toy"

This is one of the best of the Elephant & Piggie Books, because it shows such strong emotion that young children can really relate to. Though they are excellent first readers because the stories and artwork are excellent, they are also great books to read to young children. Mo Willems should be a part of every child's library!!

Love it

Another great Piggie and Elephant book. My 1st grader love this book and I love to act it out!

great early reader series

My son loves the whole Elephant & Piggie series. In fact, these books are what taught him to read at age 4. They are repetitive and use short, easy words. Plus, they are hilarious. My son wants to read them each night. "I Love My New Toy" was just as funny as the rest of the ones we have. Mo Willems is the best children's author out there, in my opinion. We have all of his books, and they get read repeatedly. The whole family enjoys them when they are read aloud.