The vocabulary is controlled without feeling repetitious, and the conceptual simplicity-the stories consist entirely of character dialogue and action, no setting, background, description-allows young readers to really focus. There is something decidedly Bert-and-Ernie-esque about the friendship dynamic in these two short tales: Piggie possesses unfettered enthusiasm, confidence, and spirit whereas Gerald offers a despondent, wet-blanket take on the world that is lifted by the joyful input of his friend.
When Piggie arrives as Piggie, Gerald recalls the wonderful series of visitors he had, explaining that while he loves cowboys, clowns, and robots, it only made him sadder because his "best friend was not there to see it" with him. In My Friend, Piggie executes a series of heartfelt attempts to cheer up sad Gerald, dressing up as a cowboy, a clown, and a robot. "My friend can fly! She can fly!" That's when Piggie reveals that she is merely hanging from the flying bird. After a misfired attempt, she accepts help from a bird, and several spreads later, Gerald spots Piggie in mid-air: "You. In Today, Piggie decides, despite Gerald's sardonic skepticism, that she is going to fly. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.Willems has already proven himself a master at expressing much with great economy of line, color, and text, and this is truer than ever in these two easy readers featuring good friends Gerald the Elephant and Piggie the Piggie. Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door. Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation. The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's." In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91. #1 New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems is best known for his Caldecott Honor winning picture books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale.
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