Mo Willems, I’m a Frog (Elephant and Piggie), Walker Books Australia, August 2023, 64 pp., RRP $15.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781529512366
I’m thrilled to review I’m A Frog, just one brilliant example from Mo Willem’s masterfully crafted Elephant and Piggie series. It is a series that is dear to me and my kids, having read each of the 20+ books dozens of times. It’s pretty rare that I use the label “a must-read”, but Elephant and Piggie is a must-read series for families with preschoolers or children who are learning to read independently.
I’m A Frog showcases the innocence and friendship of best friends: worry-prone, cautious Elephant Fitzgerald and creative, problem-solving Piggie. The story opens with Piggie jumping around, ribbiting and declaring she is a frog. Elephant takes the assertion quite literally and begins to contemplate what life will be like if he suddenly finds himself a frog.
This set up is leading to one of the best punch lines in the series. Piggie explains that she is just pretending to be a frog. Straight-thinking Elephant asks if that is possible, can a person, even a grown up, just pretend to be something they are not? To which Piggie looks directly at the reader and sardonically responds “All the time.”
The whole series is witty, heart-warming, and thoroughly entertaining, for kids and adults. It revels in the innocence of childhood, the give-and-take of friendships, and learning life’s lessons.
Mo Willems, one of the true masters of children’s books, has created such strong characters that they need very few settings or props. Most pages convey their meaning through the body language, eye-placement and speech of the Elephant and Piggie. It might seem simple, but there is so much skill in reducing an interaction to something so clean and pure. The other level of genius is that these books are suitable for children who are starting on their learn-to-read journey. They contain lots of high-frequency words, many words are repeated throughout the book, and the stories are pitched perfectly at the age where children are learning to read.
The children’s book industry has caught on to just how superb this series is, that now there are a slew of other books featuring a pair of equal opposite friendship characters aimed directly at this same age range. Many of these are wonderful, but I’ve not yet seen any other series quite so cleverly conceived and consistently executed across such a large series.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
