For most of us, when you say the name "Mo Willems," you think of his Knuffle Bunny and Pigeon stories.  Toddlers and preschoolers everywhere know the "cautionary tale" and the antics of a pale blue bird that tries to drive the bus, eat a hot dog, and more.  These are stories adults read to their children.  But did you know that Mo Willems also writes books for kids who are learning to read?

In 2007, Mo introduced Elephant and Piggie, two friends who explore life and friendship with stories new readers can read for themselves.  Now, three years later, the series includes eleven titles, with two sets for release this year.  One of the great things about the Elephant and Piggie books is the simplicity of their presentation.  The elephant's name is Gerald, though you don't see it a lot; Piggie is just Piggie.  The story is told completely in dialogue, and the author uses visual queues -- like large, bold type or small italic type, to help readers add feeling to their reading.  Every story has its own little twist, which also adds to the fun.

New this year, Willems has released his Cat the Cat series.  Like Elephant and Piggie, these books are easy readers.  Fans of the Pigeon will love this series because they will find him (and some of the other characters) lurking in the background.  Having the familiar characters around will let emergent readers feel like they are among friends, even when new characters are around.  Like Elephant and Piggie, the story moves forward by conversation, though it is mostly Cat the Cat doing the talking.  Unlike Elephant and Piggie, there is a lot more word repetition per page, offering emergent readers even more opportunities to practice sight words, particularly three-letter words, like cat, dog, the, are, etc.  You can also expect to find cute endings to these stories too. 

My memories of learning to read go back to the Dick and Jane books -- stilted, repetitive text that made reading very mechanical.  These weren't stories -- they were exercises to help us practice our word recognition and vocabulary.  Thankfully, Dr. Seuss was there for reading outside of school.  The Cat in the Hat, Sam I Am, and the Fox in Socks helped us learn to read, but with stories and rhymes to engage our minds.  I read those books over and over.

When my daughter (now eight years old) was learning to read, she was less interested in the Cat and Sam and more interested in Elephant and Piggie.  Even though she now reads at a third grade level, when she sees a new Elephant and Piggie book, she wants to catch up with her old friends.  In watching her reaction, I realized that Mo Willems is for today's kids what Dr. Seuss was for us.  Some kids will love both Willems and Dr. Seuss, and some will like one over the other.  The great news is that kids today have a choice when it comes to the fun of learning to read.