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Books of Mo Willems
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:57:01 -0500
Thanks to all who contributed to our discussion of the Printz Award at thirteen.
For the rest of the month, we're going to turn our attention to an author/illustrator whose books are for a much younger audience (though who's to say teens don't enjoy them, too?)
*Don't Let the Pigeon Say a Word: The Books of Mo Willems.*
From picture books to easy readers, Mo Willems's body of work to-date showcases an outrageous sense of humor. He's a masterful funnymany in children's literature, but also creates books that show keen insight into world of young children.
I find Willems's funny books pure delight, and his expressive line drawings in the Elephant and PIggie books seem to me primers in visual literacy (look at everything a line can do!), but my personal favorite among his titles is "City Dog, Country Frog" (illustrated by Jon J Muth). It's eloquent and honest, with terrific moments of humor, but also space in the narrative for contemplation, reflection and discovery.
In 2011, "City Dog, Country Frog" was an honor book for the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding picture book writing Part of the Zolotow committee process (the award is administered by the CCBC) is sharing the books with children, and at the point in the story when it's Fall, and Country Frog tells City Dog he doesn't want to play jumping and splashing and running and fetching games because "I'm a tired frog today," a young boy in the first-grade audience piped up, "Oh oh."
Foreshadowing for first-graders. I love it.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Tue 21 Aug 2012 03:57:01 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:57:01 -0500
Thanks to all who contributed to our discussion of the Printz Award at thirteen.
For the rest of the month, we're going to turn our attention to an author/illustrator whose books are for a much younger audience (though who's to say teens don't enjoy them, too?)
*Don't Let the Pigeon Say a Word: The Books of Mo Willems.*
From picture books to easy readers, Mo Willems's body of work to-date showcases an outrageous sense of humor. He's a masterful funnymany in children's literature, but also creates books that show keen insight into world of young children.
I find Willems's funny books pure delight, and his expressive line drawings in the Elephant and PIggie books seem to me primers in visual literacy (look at everything a line can do!), but my personal favorite among his titles is "City Dog, Country Frog" (illustrated by Jon J Muth). It's eloquent and honest, with terrific moments of humor, but also space in the narrative for contemplation, reflection and discovery.
In 2011, "City Dog, Country Frog" was an honor book for the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding picture book writing Part of the Zolotow committee process (the award is administered by the CCBC) is sharing the books with children, and at the point in the story when it's Fall, and Country Frog tells City Dog he doesn't want to play jumping and splashing and running and fetching games because "I'm a tired frog today," a young boy in the first-grade audience piped up, "Oh oh."
Foreshadowing for first-graders. I love it.
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
Received on Tue 21 Aug 2012 03:57:01 PM CDT
