Trunkload: I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems

GERALD! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR TRUNK?

I BROKE MY TRUNK.

HOW DID YOU BREAK YOUR TRUNK?

IT IS A LONG AND CRAZY STORY.

And Gerald, Piggie's worrywart best friend, is all too happy to tell it.

It seems that Gerald the elephant has had an uncharacteristic daredevil moment in which he responded to the challenge to hoist, first Hippo, then Rhino, and finally Hippo's big (really BIG) sister AND her piano, not just singly, but all at one time with his trunk. His trunk wavers like a wet noodle, but Gerald's proboscis proudly performs as desired.

IS THAT HOW YOU BROKE YOUR TRUNK?

NO.

No, it was another uncharacteristically impetuous moment that led to Gerald's, er, downfall, and albeit with a bit of persistent prodding, the embarrassed elephant does come up with the less-than-heroic story of an ordinary trip-and-fall event--one to which, we soon learn, Piggie's own snout is not immune either.

Three-time Caldecott winner Mo Willems' just published I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion, 2011) is another fine and funny entry in the award-winning Elephant and Piggie series of beginning early reader books. And watch for the prolific Mr. Willems' next installment, Should I Share My Ice Cream? (An Elephant and Piggie Book), forthcoming in June. As his several Theodore Seuss Geisel Awards show, Mo Willems is the worthy successor to Dr. Seuss's wonderful skill in creating classic beginning reader books--sprightly but controlled humorous text, and memorably drawn characters whose personalities are universal and engaging.