New Books by Mo Willems

I was flipping through the Hyperion 2009 spring children's catalog today and noticed this:

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: Coming January 6, 2009.

It's about a naked mole rat named Wilbur who likes to wear clothes. I saw a sample page in the catalog... it was pure Mo. I'm hoping to get my hands on an advance copy in the near future.

Also, two new Elephant and Piggie books are being published soon.

Are You Ready to Play Outside? Coming October 28, 2008.

Watch Me Throw the Ball!: Coming March 17, 2009.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm a big Mo Willems fan. (For a goofy picture of me standing next to Mo, see this post). And I've noticed that I get two kinds of reactions to Mo at the toy/book store where I work. About half the customers are huge fans of Mo, and the other half haven't heard of him.

Why are so many people not aware of him? Because he's so new to the children's book scene.

His first book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus was published in March, 2003. That was only five years ago. Take a quick look at his complete bibliography, and see what he's published since.

2003

• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2004 Caldecott Honor book)
• Time to Pee!
  

2004

• Knuffle Bunny (2005 Caldecott Honor book)
• The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
  

2005

• Leonardo the Terrible Monster
• Time to Say Please!
• The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! board book
• The Pigeon Has Feelings Too! board book
  

2006

• Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct
• Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!
• Knuffle Bunny video (2007 Carnegie Medal Winner)
• You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons (illustrated travel journal for adults)
  

2007

• Knuffle Bunny Too (2008 Caldecott Honor book)
• Elephant and Piggie: Today I Will Fly!
• Elephant and Piggie: My Friend is Sad!
• Elephant and Piggie: There is a Bird on Your Head! (2008 Geisel Award winner)
• Elephant and Piggie: I Am Invited to a Party!
  

2008

• The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!
• Elephant and Piggie: I Will Surprise My Friend!
• Elephant and Piggie: I Love My New Toy!
• Elephant and Piggie: Are You Ready to Play Outside?

2009 (through March 2009)

• Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
• Elephant and Piggie: Watch Me Throw the Ball!

Mo loves to use exclamation points! 14 of the books listed above (or nearly 3/4) have exclamation points in the titles!!!

By the spring of 2009, Mo will have published twenty one books. And, he's won five major awards along the way: 3 Caldecott honors, 1 Gesiel, and 1 Carnegie. Plus, the majority of his books are bestsellers. It takes many writers and illustrators a lifetime to do what he's done in five years. And let's not dismiss the six Emmys he won as an animator for Sesame Street.

Pretty unbelievable, isn't it?

Which of his books do you like? See the poll in the sidebar.

Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy!

What a wonderful book. I love Sandra Boynton's books- but I think this one is particularly special. What's so great about this 26-word book, you ask? I'm not sure everyone would think that "rough rough rough" makes engaging text... but the book isn't written for everyone... it's written for babies. And they're the ones who it really works for.

There's approximately three words a page, almost all of which repeat (which is perfect for a little, impatient listener), the book is over-sized (so it's easier for kids to see and turn the pages), the pictures are simple and not overly complicated.... and.... best of all.... there's an activity for the baby to do on every page. Touch and feel books, especially simple ones like this one, are a HUGE hit with babies.

By the way the "rough rough rough" line is on the same page as a picture of a dog, who has a "rough" paw... but when you read it aloud it sounds like "ruff ruff ruff" which is a pun even a baby can get.

It's funny to look at the publisher's picture of this book.... because the version I own has most of the cover ripped off, a sticky brown substance somewhere in the middle, and the egg shells are completely torn off the birds on the last page. Which goes to show you, even board books can't withstand the love and rough handling of a baby.

This book is of my favorites (and more importantly, one of my son's favorites) and it works every time with every baby I've met.

Board books for babies

I'm sure this will be the first post of many on this topic.... because I'm very opinionated about it.
Why? Because when I had a baby, I got lots and lots of board books (from friends, from the library, from the bookstore, from the library bookstore etc.) Which can be wonderful.
But my baby wasn't really interested in them.... they were mostly repackaged versions of other books that are incredibly popular such as Guess How Much I Love You and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. They were too long (sometimes more than a sentence per page... which asks a lot of a baby's attention span) and neither of us were enjoying the reading experience very much. Which broke my heart, because I had always heard you should read to your child from a young age- and I always wanted to read to my child- and here I had a child who couldn't care less about books.

Then, my friend Danielle recommended Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy! a touch, skritch, & tickle book by Sandra Boynton. It was the first time my son was actually independently interested in a book... he crawled over to feel the cover. And suddenly... I realized that I needed to find books written for babies. And so began a quest... and I ended up writing a rather longish paper about board books for library school. I'll post the board books in the links section that I think really work for babies (I've field tested them all carefully).