A-N-T-I-C-I-P-A-T-I-O-N! Waiting Is NOT Easy! by Mo Willems

Piggie enters, page right, with a pronouncement.

"I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!"

"WHAT IS IT?" GERALD ASKS.

"A SURPRISE IS A SURPRISE!" SAYS PIGGIE.

Piggie is exuberantly smug about her secret, only hinting that it is big, it is pretty, and it can be shared.

At first Gerald the elephant declares that he can wait, but as Piggie keeps that maddening smile on her face, Gerald begins to get antsy.

"WAITING IS NOT EASY."

Piggie is sorry, she says, but they must keep waiting.

Now Gerald is really curious. His forehead wrinkles, his mouth is pressed tight, and now all he can think about is the surprise. He wants his surprise NOW.

GROAN!

Piggie is unbearably calm about it all. She sits, legs criss-crossed and pretends to meditate. But Gerald squirms, his face contorted with the effort, and twists his trunk and his legs into pretzels as he tries to contain himself.

Piggie tries a little teaser.

"IT'LL BE WORTH IT!"

Of course, that only makes Gerald's wait worse.

"GROAN!!

Gerald's elephant-sized moan almost bowls Piggie over. Still the two must wait.

Finally Gerald pitches a little fit. He points out that the day is almost over. It's actually growing darker and darker. They've wasted the entire day waiting, and soon it is going to be too dark to even SEE a surprise. All that for what?

But actually, Piggie's surprise requires the dark, in Mo Willems' latest in series, Waiting Is Not Easy! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion Books, 2014). At last Piggie's big reveal shows Gerald the Milky Way in all its glory, and Gerald has to agree it was worth waiting for.

And as for Piggie's next BIG surprise? Just wait till Gerald sees tomorrow's sunrise!

"I CAN WAIT," GERALD SAYS.

Mo Willems' odd-couple super stars of beginner books never fail to show how their differences--Piggie ebullient and excitable, Gerald anxious but stodgy--make for pure comedy, all in basic emergent reader vocabulary. Although the interplay between their contrasting personalities is actually quite complex, Willems has a magical way of showing that graphically in his simple but artistically sophisticated line drawings rarely matched in this genre. Good things are worth waiting for is Willems' theme here, but as the all too-human Gerald protests and every reader understands, waiting is not easy! He's right! Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books are such a treat that it is hard for readers (and reviewers) to wait for the next one.

Blowing Your Own Horn! Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems

LISTEN... GERALD!

I HAVE A TRUMPET!"

Piggie plunks down a little three-legged stool for her friend Gerald the Elephant. Gerald is not sure what to expect from his exuberant friend. A trumpet? Piggie plays a trumpet? It's news to him.

KL-ACK! GR-ELP! GR-ICK!

"YIKES!" Gerald involuntarily yelps. Piggie can't play the trumpet! This is awful! What in the world can he say to his best friend, eagerly waiting for his reaction?

Piggie redoubles her efforts to impress her consternated friend.

"Blap- BLONK!"

Gerald is speechless. His best friend is waiting for his approval, but how can he give it when her notes are so unspeakably painful? He decides to open by accentuating the positive.

"YOUR TRUMPET IS SHINY!" HE OFFERS.

"AND....?" PIGGY ASKS.

Gerald struggles with his conscience. Finally he decides to tell his friend the truth, however unpleasant.

BUT THAT WAS NOT MUSIC!"

Gerald waits fearfully for his friend's reaction. Will she cry! Get angry? All his fears play across Gerald's face as Piggie just stares at him, a bit baffled.

"I AM TRYING TO SPEAK ELEPHANT." SHE POINTS OUT PATIENTLY.

Oh. That's different.

Mo Willems' latest in his award-winning early reader books, Listen to My Trumpet! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (Hyperion, 2012), continues this deservedly best-selling series, combining easy vocabulary, irresistible characterizations done in seemingly simple line drawings, surprise endings, and thoughtful insights into the nature of friendship between these unlikely comrades. Elephant and Piggie rock and rule!