Can I Play Too?

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.

Elephant and Pig start a game of catch but aren’t sure what to do when snake, who has no arms, wants to play too. This beginning reader uses color and speech bubbles to delineate between characters and the copious amounts of white-space will help the learning reader follow the flow of the story. Using commonly known sight words also lends itself to the beginning reader. The illustrations help show the emotions of the characters as elephant, pig and snake problem solve so everyone can play together. The illustrations also help the reader understand elements of storytelling - such as showing a bright light bulb to show that a character has an idea. If you enjoyed Mo Willems pigeon books or previous elephant and pig books, you will enjoy show more this. show less

Gerald and Peggie have a friend who wants to join them while they play catch. The problem is he is a snake and they both doubt he can play because he has no arms. After some trial and error they finally find a solution! I find with Mo Willems’ picture books they teach kids a lesson and with this book the lesson is to try, try again and don’t judge a book by its cover.

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

Ah, who knew unnamed Piggie's name is Rosie in the French version? Too cute!
I love this story in English and it is even more fun in French.
Lovely story about friendship and inclusion and how Elephant and Piggie solve the playing catch problem with their new friend, Snake. Boing!