Mo Willems is a beloved children's book author and illustrator who has captured the hearts of young readers around the world. His picture books are known for their simple, yet powerful messages, lovable characters, and unique artistic style. In this article, we'll take a closer look at what makes Mo Willems picture books so appealing for young children.

Humor

Mo Willems is also known for his humorous approach to storytelling. His books are full of witty and silly moments that make children laugh out loud. The humor in his books is often based on everyday situations that children can relate to, such as sharing toys or wanting to do something that they're not supposed to. Elephant and Piggie humor in the books is often based on the characters' personalities and their interactions with each other, which makes it easy for young readers to understand and appreciate. This humor is a big part of what makes his books so enjoyable for young children. In addition, adults can often enjoy the humor too. For example, in the Elephant and Piggie series, Elephant's cautious and logical personality often contrasts with Piggie's carefree and adventurous spirit, leading to humorous situations that can be appreciated by both children and adults. In Knuffle Bunny the exasperated parents dialogue often has jokes that might go over young children’s heads but be relatable to the adults reading the books.

Simple Messages

Despite the humor and silliness, Mo Willems books also contain simple, yet powerful messages that resonate with young children. Whether it's the importance of sharing, the value of persistence, or the joys of friendship, Willems' messages are often conveyed through relatable situations and characters. These messages help children understand important concepts and learn valuable life lessons in a fun and engaging way.

Characters

One of the things that sets Mo Willems picture books apart is the lovable characters that he creates. From the mischievous Pigeon to the endearing Knuffle Bunny, Willems' characters are relatable and memorable. They have distinct personalities and traits that children can easily connect with and often find hilarious. For example, the Pigeon is known for his persistent pleas for things he wants, which young readers can relate to as they often have their own desires and wants that they try to get their parents to fulfill.

Repetitive Language

The Elephant and Piggie books are also known for their repetitive language, which helps children follow along with the story and feel like they are part of the action. The books often include repeated phrases or questions that children can anticipate and join in on, which makes the reading experience even more engaging and enjoyable.

Artistic Style

Mo Willems' artistic style is another aspect of his picture books that appeals to young readers. His illustrations are simple, colorful, and full of personality. The characters are often drawn with exaggerated facial expressions and body language, which make them easy to understand and empathize with. The illustrations in the Elephant and Piggie books are simple but effective. Mo Willems uses bold lines and bright colors to bring his characters to life, and the illustrations are always in sync with the text. The simplicity of the illustrations makes it easy for young readers to follow along with the story and focus on the characters and the dialogue. In the Knuffle Bunny books, Mo Willems uses a combination of photographs and cartoon drawings to create a unique and captivating visual style. The photographs are of real-world locations and objects, which gives the illustrations a sense of authenticity and grounding. The cartoon drawings are colorful and expressive, bringing the characters and their emotions to life. The combination of these two elements creates a rich and immersive visual experience that young readers will love.

Themes

Mo Willems' books often deal with important themes such as friendship, acceptance, and perseverance. These themes are presented in a way that is accessible to young readers, but also resonates with adults. Adults can appreciate the message behind the story and see the value in sharing these important life lessons with their own children. The book Leonardo The Terrible Monster is particularly special is the way it approaches fear. The book shows that even monsters can be afraid of something, and that it's important to face our fears and help others do the same

Emotional Impact

The Knuffle Bunny books are known for their emotional impact. The stories are heartwarming and relatable, and they often elicit strong emotions from young readers. Whether it's the joy of being reunited with a cherished possession or the sadness of saying goodbye to a beloved friend, the stories in the Knuffle Bunny series are sure to touch the hearts of young readers. Similar, Elephant and Piggie and The Pigeon are able to demonstrate a wide range of emotions that mirror the emotional lives of young children. Moreover, many of adults can relate to Trixie’s parents in Knuffle Bunny and the emotions related to the struggles of raising a young child into adulthood with the finally Knuffle Bunny book’s epilogue often hitting an emotional chord with adults who are reading it.

Helping Young Children Learn How To Read and Other Academic Concepts

Mo Willems books are often designed to help young children build their reading skills. For instance, Cat the Cat helps children learn to read is through its use of repetition. The book follows the adventures of Cat the Cat and her animal friends, who are introduced using simple phrases such as "Cat the Cat, meet... Bat the Bat." These simple phrases are repeated throughout the book, which helps children remember them and become familiar with them. As they read along, they'll begin to recognize these phrases and associate them with the corresponding animal characters.

Another way the book helps children learn to read is through its use of basic vocabulary. The words used in Cat the Cat are simple and easy to understand, which helps children build their confidence and encourages them to read independently. The words are also accompanied by colorful illustrations, which make it easier for children to understand their meanings. Similarly, Elephant and Piggie and The Pigeon use repetition to help children build their sight word vocabularies and to understand the basics of punctuation.

The Unlimited Squirrels books is their educational value. Each book teaches children important lessons about topics like science, math, and language arts. For example, in the book "I Lost My Tooth!", the squirrels learn about teeth and dentistry, while in "Who Is the Mystery Reader?", they explore the world of literature and storytelling.

The books also feature interactive elements, such as quizzes, games, and puzzles, that encourage children to engage with the material and become active participants in the story. These elements not only make the books more fun and engaging, but they also help children develop important critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

These books are helpful for teachers to help teach these concepts and others. In my past job as a Pre-K Teacher, I incorporated Mo Willems books into the curriculum to teach specific concepts in the following ways.

1. We are learning about exclamation points!!!!! Mo Willems uses a lot of exclamation points in his books. While reading his books we are discussing with the children what exclamation points mean. We then often play a game where as we read the books, we ask the children if they see any exclamation points on the page; when they find one, the kids help us scream out whatever the sentence with the exclamation point is. For example, in the Mo Willems book Pigeon Wants A Puppy the Pigeon frequently says “I Want A Puppy!” The children love yelling along with the book when they see the exclamation point. In addition, to the concept of exclamation point, this activity teaches a basic version of the literary concept of reading with “stress and intonation.”  This is the concept of changing ones pitch and tone of voice when reading based on the context of the text; studies have shown that students who have an understanding of this concept do better at comprehending text that is read to them or text that they read themselves when they are older.

2. We use these books to teach “sight word” vocabulary. “Sight Words” are short words that are used at a hi frequency in text like Hi, I, The, A, up, and, or.  Many “sight words” can’t really be learned via pictures or via sounding out and thus have to be memorized by frequent exposure. Mo Willems books often have large print with short sentences of only a couple of words on each page. These words are often “site words.” When we read the Mo Willems books we will often point to each individual word we are reading in order for the children to get the correlation between the word we are speaking and how it is written on the page. Often times, this leads to the children memorizing many of the Elephant and Piggie Books and Pigeon books by Mo Willems because they have simple repeated texts. His Cat The Cat series is especially repetitive and great for learning to read words. 

3. We will read the Knuffle Bunny books a few times during the month. In these books the main character "Trixie" grows from being a toddler into a preschooler. As we read the books we will discuss the concept of  sequels and that stories can continue with the same characters. We will also have a discussion with the children relating the story to their own lives asking them questions if they have any stuffed animals that are special to them in the same way knuffle bunny is special to Trixie. We may also ask them how they are different now as a big preschooler vs how they were like when they were toddlers. 

4. We will discuss and try to emulate Mo Willems’ art. Mo Willems has a unique illustration style. One of his techniques which he uses in the “Knuffle Bunny series” is to use actual photos of location such a Laundromat and draw his characters over the actual photo which gives the appearance of having a cartoon style character living in the real world. We will try to emulate this style of art but having the children draw characters over photos of parts of the Pre-K classroom and playdeck. In addition, we will have the children attempt to draw their own version of Pigeon and Elephant and Piggie Books. 

5. We will also read and begin to learn to compare and contrast Mo Willems' parody versions of classic fairy tales such as Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs and That is Not A Good Idea 

6. Mo Willems books are great for labeling and and discussing emotions. Mo Willems characters experience big emotions. Sometimes it might be Trixie upset she lost Knuffle Bunny, or The Pigeon angry about not being able to drive the bus, or Elephant and Piggie worrying when their friend is sad or when their friend wants to play with someone else. While reading the stories, we can ask children to identify the emotions these characters are experiencing and also to spark discussions about times the children have been in similar situations and how they handled it.

 7. Character study: Characters like Elephant, Piggie, The Pigeon, and The Trixie have a lot of depth. We can use them as part of a character study. In a character study, the children can help to describe all the personality and physical traits of these characters they know and love. These character study descriptions can be kept hanging in the class and updated with new ideas the more we learn about the characters.

8. These Books can help us understand how books work. The Elephant and Piggie books titled “We Are In A Book” is especially good for this. n this book, Elephant and Piggie discover that they are in fact in a book and go on to explain how books work in a myriad of funny scenes. For example, Piggie informs Elephant that “a reader is reading us” which leads to the two characters trying to get the reader to say random silly words like “banana.” Concepts like page numbers and that all books end are also learned via the plot line.

The Mo WillemsVerse

You might have heard of the Marvel Cinematic Universe where the storylines are interconnected, but did you know Mo Willems books appear to be interconnected too? Often you will find The Pigeon hiding in Elephant and Piggie books or on someone’s t-shirt in Knuffle Bunny. Keen readers will pick up on subtle references to other stories in the Mo Willems oeuvre that add depth to the experience of reading his books.

Overall, Mo Willems' picture books are appealing to young children for a number of reasons. From lovable characters to humorous storytelling, simple messages, and unique artistic style, Willems has a knack for capturing the attention and imagination of young readers. His books are not only entertaining but also help children learn important life lessons in a fun and engaging way. Whether you're a parent, teacher, or caregiver, Mo Willems' picture books are a must-read for young children.