Review: I love My New Toy

By: Mo Willems

Hyperion Books; 2008; 57 pages

Picture Book. Easy Reader

Grades: Kindergarten- 2nd

ISBN: 978-142310962-4

Piggie and Elephant's friendship is put to the test when Elephant accidentally breaks Piggie's new toy. Luckily, their relationship is not broken forever, and neither is the toy! (It turns out it was supposed to break. Go figure!)

My Thoughts:
I stand in awe of Mo Willems yet again. How he is able to depict such a range of emotions with such minimal artwork and text is beyond me. His use of text balloons makes learning to read more fun. (Reminiscent of comic strips, reading dialog in balloons is less arduous and more straight forward for readers.) Also, rather than using adverbs to express emotions, Willems employs the more direct means of emphasizing text through font size and typeface. (Anger is expressed in large, bold, capital letters. Sadness is small and fine.)

In short, this is a great easy reader book. It has limited vocabulary usage, making it easier for children to practice basic words when they are trying to read. Also, most children were raised on Willem's other work (Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, Leonardo, etc.) and will feel at home with this book. It is comfortable because it is familiar.


The Thoughts of Others:

Hornbook's review from July 2008 agrees with me that the book's limited vocabulary is ideal for young readers. The reviewer states that "the simple speech-balloon text uses a fair amount of repetition to encourage new readers." They also appreciated how "Willems skillfully conveys mood and tone through type size and his characters’ expressive body language."

Ilene Cooper at Booklist also reviewed this book in July 2008. She appreciated expressive nature of the simple illustrations, as well as that the book"offers plenty of opportunity
for new readers to learn useful words."
See, EVERYONE loves Mo Willems! (As well they should!)