Can I Play Too?

I am always delighted to introduce Mo Willems to a new parent!

In Can I Play Too? Elephant and Piggie set off to play catch, when a new friend comes along...snake. But, can snake play catch? The seemingly simple illustrations beautifully capture Elephant and Piggie's concern over snake's feelings, and their determination in including him in their fun. After all, they don't want ANYONE to feel left out!

Not only is this a fun book to read aloud, but my son is at an age where he pretty much has this one memorized after only a few readings and asks me to read it over and over again. This truly is one of the best of the best picture books! You can never go wrong with Mo Willems!

We love Mo Willems in our house, and I'm always amazed when I show more meet parents who haven't yet discovered his books. If you haven't read Mo Willems to your little ones yet, go forth and introduce your family to Pigeon, Elephant and Piggie, Knuffle Bunny, and the rest of the gang - you won't be disappointed!

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting, albeit briefly, Mo Willems at The Book Expo (BEA). He was signing a few of his newer books, including Can I Play Too? He was kind and gracious, even with hundreds of people on line. He personalized a book to my younger son, who is an even bigger fan of Willems's work than my older son was at his age. What a special keepsake to have in our library - many thanks to Mo Willems and Hyperion! show less

Elephant and Piggie is one of THE best early-reader series out there.

It's simple. The pictures are helpful, but not TOO helpful. Most importantly - it's not boring! The books are short, containing few words, but the repetition is FUNNY and not too intrusive. ("You do not have arms." "I DO NOT HAVE ARMS?!?!?") It's got to be HARD to write funny books for kids this young. Honestly, I don't think I could do it! And to write one that the kid will want to read over and over again - well! I don't know how Mo Willems does it, frankly.

My favorite part of this book? Hm. Has to be either Snake's (pretend) freakout upon being told that he has no arms OR Piggie's idea, after Snake fails to catch the ball several times, that maaaaaybe what they show more really need is MORE BALLS! (This works exactly as well as you'd expect.)

Please - check out a copy of this, and other Elephant and Piggie books at your local library. Your resident early reader will thank you for it later :) show less

This excellent Elephant and Piggie book would be extremely useful to use to teach children to accept all students at all times. The elephant and piggie want to play catch together when they hear a voice asking whether they could join them. This new character is a snake. Immediately the elephant and piggie are uncomfortable because they do not know how to tell the snake that he does not have any arms, therefore he cannot play catch. However, the snake says that he wants to give it a try, so elephant and piggie allow him to play. When it doesn't work, the snake wants to quit, but piggie wants to come up with a way for their new friend to be included. Piggie comes up with a great idea that allows them all to enjoy playing catch together, show more and shows children how important it is to include everyone, regardless of whether or not they are different than you, and also that it is important to be open to having new friends. show less

6. Personal Response: I got to meet Mo Willems and get this book signed. This book seriously cracked me up, but also made me cringe. It reminds me of how kids lack the fear of embarrassment that adults have and are willing to try anything. They also see the basics of their differences and not the complex background knowledge baggage that adults see.
7. Connections: This would be an excellent model for elementary aged writers. Students could construct books in a similar simple format using anthropomorphism as well.

This adorable book is a great way to teach children to be inclusive. Elephant and Piggie are playing catch when their friend snake asks to join. They initially struggle to find a way to include snake because he has no arms, but eventually find a way. This would be a great book to have on hand in the classroom. I would consider reading it at the beginning of every year and having a discussion with students about not excluding children.

This book would be good for primary students. This book is "Can I Play Too?" written and illustrated by Mo Willems and published in 2010. I absolutely love Elephant and Piggie books. They are so lighthearted and fun to read. The illustrations are so simple yet the characters are so animated in their expressions. This one is about a snake that wants to play catch with elephant and Piggie, but they can't figure out how to because the snake doesn't have arms. They come up with a solution that they throw the snake back and forth instead of the ball. I would for sure use this in my future classroom because it teaches kids to be imaginative when it comes to figuring out solutions and it shows them that everyone should be allowed to play with show more everyone, even if they are different than them. show less

In Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems, Gerald and Piggie make a new friend who wants to play with them. They want to play ball. The problem, though, is that their new friend is a snake.

Snake ends up enduring the brunt of this book's slap stick comedy. There's a lot of physical humor which will either make you and your children giggle, or it won't. There's not much else keeping it going beyond the physicality.

I've read negative reviews of the book because of the humor directed at Snake who is physically in capable of playing ball. I have to admit I didn't see that potential reaction when my children read the book to me. We were too drawn up in the Warner Bros, Tex Avery, style violent humor.

I think though, that this book can be used in a show more positive way. After reading the book, discuss with the child (or class) better ways that Gerald and Piggie could have approached Snake's request to play with them. What are some games Snake could play with them that didn't involve either being hit in the head with a ball or actually being thrown instead of the ball? show less