For example, note that the central problem in THE COOKIE FIASCO is identified very early on page 5–“SOMEONE WILL NOT GET A COOKIE!” while its withheld from the reader in WE ARE GROWING clear until page 27–“I do not know WHAT I am!” Characters are well drawn (given the pithy text) and their desires and actions drive the plot forward in believable ways. The plot-character arcs in these books are so well delineated, but each has a distinct variation. (Some people will want to credit this to Mo Willems, but it really doesn’t matter since the award goes to the book the ALSC office can figure out afterwards who gets what.) Let’s take a closer look, shall we?īoth of these books feature a story within a story: Gerald and Piggie introduce each book and then discuss it briefly afterward it’s a nice bit of intertextuality in addition to earning bonus points for plot. Indeed, I think you can build cases for each book in terms of plot, style, and theme as being among the most distinguished books for children, especially when you take the age of the very young audience into consideration.

The first two entries–WE ARE GROWING by Laurie Keller and THE COOKIE FIASCO by Dan Santat–were published this past year, and while I think very highly of THE THANK YOU BOOK, these books are for a slightly more advanced audience and both have a lot to recommend themselves to the Newbery committee as well. Leveraging the Elephant & Piggie brand, Mo Willems has extended the reach of the magical spell that he has cast over emergent readers with Elephant & Piggie Like Reading.

Elephant and piggie like reading