Arianna Loves Mo Willems
In honor of Read Across America Day:
Okay, at first I was against the pigeon books by Mo Willems. They just seemed so... simple. And really, doesn't everyone hate pigeons? Despite my feelings, Arianna had received two books by Mo Willems when she was born: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
One day she discovered Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in her collection and asked me to read it to her. She completely fell in love with it. I think I must have read it twenty times that week. I even started to enjoy it. I acted it out, she acted it out, she picked out the words she knew, she laughed hysterically. It became our favorite.
Something I always stress with Arianna are the different authors and illustrators of the books we read. Because of this, she has learned that authors tend to write more then one book.
After about a week of reading about the bus, I told Arianna that we had another Mo Willems book - The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! Same deal with the hot dog book - she loves it. In fact, she adores the Duckling and we read it together - me as the Pigeon, her as the Duckling. She even uses a high pitched voice and "reads" the words. (I'll try to get a video up for you guys soon.)
No surprise, a week after discovering the second Mo Willems book in our collection, Arianna asked me to take her to Barnes and Noble. Which of course, I did.
Walking into the children's section of Barnes and Noble Arianna asked me where the Mo Willems books are. She pulled a few off the shelves, asked me to read them, and informed me that she was ready to pay - having selected The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!
Let me tell you a little bit about Mo Willems. He is a former writer/animator for Sesame Street having won several Emmy's. He's won 2 Geisel Medals (this is the Dr. Seuss award) and 3 Caldecott Honors. So he's obviously an expert in his field. (This info was taken from his website: http://www.mowillems.com/)
Out of the books we have my favorite is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Your job as the reader is to not let the pigeon drive the bus. But that damn pigeon really really wants too. He begs you, he pleads, he rationalizes, he cries, he screams. But you have to say no. Which I think is really good practice for the little ones - sticking to what you know is the right thing to do and not giving into peer pressure. So I highly recommend it.
They sell the dolls for the books so your child can even put on plays and practice re-telling the story (excellent for emergent literacy.) Since we literally have hundreds of stuffed animals, we won't be buying them - but I think we'll make our own - maybe out of sock puppets? (Follow me on Pinterest - I'll post some ideas! http://pinterest.com/amytav/)
More fun still - there are YouTube videos that have animated the stories. So you can check them out before purchasing the book, or let your little one watch the videos after hearing the stories. Here's a good one for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
I'd love to hear your comments!
Okay, at first I was against the pigeon books by Mo Willems. They just seemed so... simple. And really, doesn't everyone hate pigeons? Despite my feelings, Arianna had received two books by Mo Willems when she was born: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
One day she discovered Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in her collection and asked me to read it to her. She completely fell in love with it. I think I must have read it twenty times that week. I even started to enjoy it. I acted it out, she acted it out, she picked out the words she knew, she laughed hysterically. It became our favorite.
Something I always stress with Arianna are the different authors and illustrators of the books we read. Because of this, she has learned that authors tend to write more then one book.
After about a week of reading about the bus, I told Arianna that we had another Mo Willems book - The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! Same deal with the hot dog book - she loves it. In fact, she adores the Duckling and we read it together - me as the Pigeon, her as the Duckling. She even uses a high pitched voice and "reads" the words. (I'll try to get a video up for you guys soon.)
No surprise, a week after discovering the second Mo Willems book in our collection, Arianna asked me to take her to Barnes and Noble. Which of course, I did.
Walking into the children's section of Barnes and Noble Arianna asked me where the Mo Willems books are. She pulled a few off the shelves, asked me to read them, and informed me that she was ready to pay - having selected The Duckling Gets a Cookie?!
Let me tell you a little bit about Mo Willems. He is a former writer/animator for Sesame Street having won several Emmy's. He's won 2 Geisel Medals (this is the Dr. Seuss award) and 3 Caldecott Honors. So he's obviously an expert in his field. (This info was taken from his website: http://www.mowillems.com/)
Out of the books we have my favorite is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Your job as the reader is to not let the pigeon drive the bus. But that damn pigeon really really wants too. He begs you, he pleads, he rationalizes, he cries, he screams. But you have to say no. Which I think is really good practice for the little ones - sticking to what you know is the right thing to do and not giving into peer pressure. So I highly recommend it.
They sell the dolls for the books so your child can even put on plays and practice re-telling the story (excellent for emergent literacy.) Since we literally have hundreds of stuffed animals, we won't be buying them - but I think we'll make our own - maybe out of sock puppets? (Follow me on Pinterest - I'll post some ideas! http://pinterest.com/amytav/)
More fun still - there are YouTube videos that have animated the stories. So you can check them out before purchasing the book, or let your little one watch the videos after hearing the stories. Here's a good one for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
I'd love to hear your comments!
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/4377452
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