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.

Spell-Bound: Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller by Jane O'Connor

I DON'T MEAN TO BRAG, BUT I AM A SPLENDID SPELLER.

Nancy Clancy is never one to hide her candle under a bushel. She is convinced that her spelling is faultless.

Oh, she pays her dues. Nancy studies her weekly word lists and practices spelling with her little sister and her best friend Bree, also a splendid speller. After all, she's even a bilingual speller!

I CAN EVEN SPELL IN FRENCH. C-H-I-E-N MEANS "DOG."

That week Nancy breezes through her spelling words, with the exception of just one: GIGGLE. For some reason, it's hard for Nancy to remember whether it G-I-G-G-L-E or G-I-G-L-E.

And then come test day. The pressure is on. Nancy feels her status as splendid speller is on the line. She does fine until... Ms. Glass comes to that word!

Nancy writes it down carefully: G-I-G-L-E. It doesn't look quite right. Doesn't that word have two Gs in the middle? It's almost time for the next word and Nancy is frozen with indecision.

And then she steals a peek at Bree's paper. She's written G-I-G-G-L-E. Nancy's pencil is poised to add the extra G to her own paper. But should she? Isn't that wicked cheating?

The newest I-Can-Read Fancy Nancy book, Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller (I Can Read Book 1) (Harper, 2011) takes our posh protagonist into the moral arena as she struggles with her conscience. Even though she chooses NOT to copy Bree's correct spelling onto her paper, she still feels worried. Is she a "wicked cheater?" Not only does her spelling test have that ugly red X by the missed word, but she still feels somehow guilty. As always, Ms. Glass intuits Nancy's anxiety and has just the right words of counsel for her intense little scholar.

Jane O'Connor's inexpensive little books in Harper's venerable and much-lauded I-Can-Read series offer more than humdrum practice with a controlled vocabulary for early readers. They are powerful vocabulary builders with engaging story lines that deal with the dilemmas of primary age students, here with the serious subject of intellectual honesty. Ted Enik has become a masterful imitator of Robin Preiss Glasser, the artist who created the image of Nancy & Company in the full-sized picture book series, and his evocative illustrations add a great deal to the appeal of O'Connor's easy reader series.

She may not get a perfect score in spelling, but with her usual appendix of activities with "Nancy's Special Words," in Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller (I Can Read Book 1) Nancy Clancy gets an A+ in reading.

Heart-y Reading: Martha Speaks: Thief of Hearts by Susan Meddaugh

"LET'S MAKE VALENTINE CARDS FOR EACH OTHER!" SAYS CAROLINA.

Martha's family and playmates can't wait to get to work on their original handmade Valentine's Day cards. Everyone but Skits, the family's junior dog, that is. Skits just wants everybody outside to play with him in the snow. But Skit's wishes get no respect.

"NOT NOW, SKITS!!"

The kids spread out for privacy. "No peeking!" Carolina orders, as she takes over the kitchen table to cut out big red hearts. T.D. moves to the living room to make his first card for Martha. Helen finds some fabric and gets started on her cards in her room. Everyone gets down to work and their pile of finished cards begins to grow. Only Truman can't get started.

"I CAN'T DO THIS!" HE SAYS. "I'M NOT GOOD AT CRAFTS."

"ME NEITHER," SAYS MARTHA. "NO THUMBS!"

"DON'T WORRY," SAYS HELEN. "TAKE A BREAK."

But when the group returns to their work, they find that most of their art supplies have disappeared. The kids now have another job--solving the missing Valentines mystery. Everyone looks at Truman, but he pleads not guilty. But the supplies are nowhere to be seen.

If Truman isn't the guilty party, Martha figures, who else had a motive, the desire to bring the crafts session to a quick end?

"I THINK I I KNOW WHO DID IT!" SAYS MARTHA.

It's an open-and-shut case in the latest Martha story, Martha Speaks: Thief of Hearts (Reader) (Houghton-Mifflin, 2011). Martha uses the old (alphabet noodle-powered) noodle and uncovers the missing supplies under the sofa cushion, Skits' favorite hiding place for doggy contraband. Helen suddenly understands that Skits feels left out and moves that the crafts session adjourn for a romp with him in the fresh February snowfall.

As always, Susan Meddaugh's talking dog is on the job here, painlessly leading beginning readers through decoding skills and vocabulary development in her latest in Houghton-Mifflin's Early Reader Level 1 entries in the Martha Speaks series. A spin-off from the popular PBS Kids shows about Martha the talking dog, these inexpensive little paperbacks offer beginning readers a fun experience with familiar characters and, thanks to the book's appendix, a glossary of new words introduced in the text (crafts, decorate, supplies, design, and create) and additional practice using these words. And, as a special holiday bonus, there are eight punch-out Valentine cards for readers to color and send to their own friends. Martha is truly the new reader's best friend.

Ah Choo for Two! Pigs Make Me Sneeze by Mo Willems

aa-CHOOO!

--sneezing.

OH, NO!

Gerald the elephant can't stop sneezing all over his friend Piggie. These serial sneezes can only mean one thing--Gerald must be allergic to his best friend!

With the consequences of that fate too terrible to contemplate, Gerald takes himself off to Dr. Cat for a more definitive diagnosis. Alas, apparently cats make him sneeze, too, even if one of them is his personal physician. But wait! Allergies aren't the only cause of sneezes! Dr. Cat finds that his diagnosis--the common cold--is strangely welcome, and Elephant hurries back to tell his friend that it's all right to visit with him after all, only to find that Piggie is sneezing, too.

Yep! It appears Gerald shared his cold with Piggie, just like good friends do!

Comedy is full of comical odd couples, one dour, conscientious, and methodical, the other carefree, impulsive, and inventive--think Oscar and Felix, Frog and Toad, Desi and Lucy--and Mo Willems' similar characters, Elephant and Piggie, have surely kept their creator busy concocting their new adventures. In Willems' latest, Pigs Make Me Sneeze! (An Elephant and Piggie Book), (Hyperion, 2009) Gerald's sneezes keep bowling little Piggie over, and in his lauded beginning reader series, Elephant and Piggie, Mo Willems keeps bowling over reviewers and young readers alike. Simple but expressive illustrations and a brief text which expresses a world of meaning in few words make these early readers worthy inheritors of the Dr. Seuss tradition.

Forthcoming soon are two more entries from Willems: just out in late January is his I Am Going! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) and in June Can I Play Too? (An Elephant and Piggie Book) to add to this highly collectible set.

Author/illustrator Willems, the recipient of both a Caldecott Honor Award for his Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and Theodore Seuss Geisel Awards for books in the Elephant and Piggy series, is also known for his delightful and best-selling Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)) and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity.

Starry Eyed: Fancy Nancy Sees Stars by Jane O'Connor

"Stars are so fascinating. (That's a fancy word for interesting). I love how they sparkle in the sky."

Nancy and stars are made for each other; she's a girl who just naturally loves things that sparkle and shine. So Nancy can't wait for her class field trip to the planetarium for a nighttime lesson about the stars and planets. Nancy, Robert, and Bree bone up on constellations and planets and how they orbit (that's a fancy word for "circle around") the sun.

But on the big night, the skies don't light up for Ms. G.'s class. In fact, as Nancy and her friends drive over to the planetarium, they are all caught in a thunderstorm and end up stuck in a traffic jam until it's too late for the big show.

But as her family arrives back home, the night sky clears and Nancy is entranced with the brilliant (fancy word for bright) stars in the darkened sky, and she has a brilliant idea--an al fresco (fancy for eating outside) star-gazing party.

And this time Mother Nature suddenly comes through with a even more stellar light show than the museum offers:

"A shooting star!" Dad says. "Make a wish!"

"It's not a star," I tell Dad. "It's a meteor," but I make a wish anyway.

And, of course, Nancy's wish comes true when Ms. G. reschedules the fancy planetarium show for the whole class the very next week.

Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1) is another beginning reader from Jane O'Connor's high-soaring series which provides a star-studded opportunity for emergent readers to practice their skills with their favorite glitter girl.