I AM GOING!

Mo Willems

MSRP $8.99, 64 Pages.

Published by Hyperion.

Gerald and Piggie, contrary pals, work out their comings and goings.

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.

Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can

Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends.

In I Am Going! Piggie ruins a perfectly good day

by telling Gerald he is going. But if Piggie goes, who will

Gerald play ping-pong and wear silly hats with?

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Customer Reviews

GREAT book!

Rating

Mo Willems has done it again, in this adorable elephant & piggie book. His illustrations are simple, but incredibly expressive. This book is great, not for children who can not yet read, but also entertaining for older siblings to read to little brothers or sisters.

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I am going

Rating

I love the Elephant and Piggy books. The simple art style conveys all the emotions with minimal details. I love how it is an easy read and no contractions in the sentences. Repeated word patterns are great for early readers.

Over the series of books Gerald has been more emotionally attached to Piggy.

In this book, Piggy announces that she is going. Gerald begs her to stay. Who will he play with if she's gone? But she sticks to her statement that she is leaving, completely unmoved by his cries. He even fakes his own departure. She tells him "Have fun."
The best part was when he yell at her "why?"

It was like reading every break up movie ever made.

Poor guy never saw it coming.

I won't ruin the twist ending, but it was perfect Mo Willems humor.

I liked this one as much as "I will Surprise my Friend" and "Pigs Make Me Sneeze"

Thank you Mo for making books that are funny for adults as well as children.

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Wow.

Rating

I love Mo Willems. I really, really do.

And you know what? I love Elephant and Piggie. These books work on so many levels. First and foremost, they work well in their job, which is "easy reader". They ARE easy to read... but not too easy. And while the illustrations do illustrate the plot (and very funnily, I might add), they don't give away the plot. Children have to actually read the words to know what the book says instead of guessing from the context of the pictures. And best of all, the books are SO funny and SO over the top that even the most reluctant reader has to ham it up when reading, they can't help it! So when reading, kids are avoiding that terrible, horrible drone-of-boredom so many of them cultivate.

These books also function well as read alouds because they're so funny. Try reading Dick and Jane aloud. You can't do it. (If you're going to buy reprints of Dick and Jane, do so, but don't read them to your kid. They don't work for that.)

And, really, they're funny for grown-ups too. Don't tell my nieces, but I buy these books for ME, even if I store them on THEIR bookcase!

So, this particular book, I am Going!. Everybody reading the title knows that Piggie is not really going away for good. Gerald will still have somebody to skip and play pingpong in a funny hat with. But Gerald reacts in an incredibly melodramatic fashion (we all saw THAT coming too) until he finds out: Piggie is GOING to have LUNCH. (Punchline: They eat together. "Just like yesterday!")

Best part? Has to be Gerald's forlorn pleas that Piggie should go "next month" or "next year", said while holding a Piggie-themed calendar.

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A teacher's view

Rating

I shall begin this review by telling why I love the Elephant and Piggie books in general: They are the perfect combination of silly storytelling and easy sight words/decodable text. The illustrations are adorable and hilarious in their charming simplicity. And while many people like to think that the only "good" readers among children are those who pop from the womb reading Tolstoy, the fact remains that kids need easy text upon which to build their skills.

And oh, does Mo Willems win with these books. Beginning readers are given more than meaningless, plotless text; they get the adventures of best friend duo Elephant and Piggie! The stories are simple and quick, but thoroughly entertaining (I once read I Will Surprise My Friend! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) to a group with ages ranging from 14 to 30 and they are all enchanted.) The illustrations take on a major load of the story-telling, making a mere picture walk enough to help figure out the story, leaving more mental power to the actual reading process. Even more advanced readers can use these books for practicing expression (I'm sorry, but anyone reads aloud these books without some degree of screamig is reading them wrong).

Now, onto this particular book. Elephant and Piggie are enjoying a nice day when, out of the blue, Piggie announces she is going. Poor Elephant is devastated, and shows it through his typical drama and over-reacting. It's hilarious and kids will love it. This wasn't quite my favorite of the bunch, but then again I don't think any of these can be truly terrible. Heck, it brought a smile to my face and my studenrs were charmed. The surprise ending and aftermath is certainly worth a laugh. It is presently the in-demand book for personal reading time, and I will go ahead and let them be the judge of its entertainment value.

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