I Am Invited to a Party!-An Elephant and Piggie Book

This is a great addition to the collection my daughter has started.

My youngest (3rd) child discovered the Elephant & Piggie books and we just love them! They are all cleverly written. They're a guaranteed laugh and smile. We would travel the city going to different libraries to find them all. Then we started searching for anything else written by Mo Willems. And now it's my go-to gift when buying books for other young children.

My family was first introduced to the talented Mo Willems when we happened to pick up a copy of Knuffle Bunny at the library. We were hooked from that moment on and have been huge fans of the pigeon books ever since. My daughter usually tends toward Sponge Bob or Scooby Doo books, which I absolutely hate, and finding Willems has been a wonderful reprieve for me and my husband. Naturally, I was thrilled when I was able to coax my daughter toward Elephant and Piggie by enticing her with the revelation that they were by the same person who'd written the pigeon books, which she adores.The Elephant and Piggie series, in general, is more simplistic than the Pigeon books. This is a good thing because they are appropriate for very early readers and I know my daughter will be able to pick these up and read them on her own long before she'll be able to tackle the pigeon. However, this by no means is meant to imply that they are inferior. Like the pigeon, these books have very simple but cute and endearing drawings as well as funny and interesting stories.I Am Invited to a Party is a book with which my daughter can easily relate. Piggie is elated when she receives her invitation and celebrates in the style of most pre-schoolers. However, Gerald feels that he needs to educate her in party etiquette and this is where the story really takes off. Gerald poses several party-style scenarios to Piggie and helps her to dress appropriately for each one. My daughter has a lot of fun looking at Piggie's formal party outfit, her beach party outfit, etc. Though the drawings are basically simple, there are also fun details such as the dangling earrings that Piggie is wearing with her evening gown. We have a lot of fun pointing out these details and giggling over them.The silliness of the story continues to build until the climax in which Gerald and Piggie's seemingly ridiculous outfits end up making a lot of sense. This adds an extra level of silliness to the story and was a good conversation starter for my daughter. After we'd laughed over how absurd the ending seemed, we talked about whether we'd like to attend such a party and my daughter animatedly described what she would wear.This is really what makes Willems so great. He has a real knowledge of children and their thought processes and his stories appeal to them. They encourage a love of reading and, at the same time, are so clever and funny that adults will enjoy them as well--even after multiple readings. I often find my daughter paging through the books on her own and "reading" through them. Willems is one of our family's favorite authors.

Piggie is thrilled. She is invited to her very first party. Her best friend Gerald the Elephant is going to go, too, which is a good thing since he knows parties. In fact, he’s trying to guess just what kind of party it might be. As each idea gets crazier, Piggie begins to wonder if Gerald could possibly be right. Is he guessing correctly, or will there be some other kind of party?If there is a moral to this book, I sure haven’t found it. However, there is plenty of humor, and I’ve laughed every time I’ve read it. Yes, even with knowing the ending is coming, I still laugh and enjoy. The expressions on Piggie’s face as the story unfolds are priceless. As always, the language is easy enough that beginning readers can figure it out.Mo Willems has once again found that perfect mix of pictures and words to give us a delightful picture book. Young readers, and their parents, will enjoy this one for a long time to come.

Book arrived quickly and as usual, we love reading Elephant and Piggy stories.

I sent one copy to my 6 year old granddaughter and one copy to me so she could read it as I follow along. She already knew the story and now she can confidently read it to me. There are few words per page and many words and phrases are repeated throughout the book which makes it an easy read.

My girls love these books. We are collecting and they make my girls laugh and there easy to read.

Everyone knows the pressures of getting ready for a party so this is totally relatable in an adorable way! You really can’t go wrong with these books and they are particularly good gifts too. Silly and yet speaks to all of our insecurities about wanting to be dressed appropriately for an event. The ending is adorable. :)

Working with an 8yr old who had missed much of school I found this series in the KS1 library. He was not keen to read "baby" books but the humour in these grabed him and he worked his way through them keeping some by his desk for weeks. Sometimes the humour is in the expression managed in the faces of these basically drawn characters. So good I bought some for my granddaughter aged 5.

I have purchased a number of Mo Willems books and have never been disappointed. They create many smiles and laughter follows on and young ones love the illustrations and the lack of prose!!!I truly recommend this individual title 'I am Invited to a Party' we are using the two copies to invite our grandchildren (all three of them) to a family party as part of the invitation.

Further young teader

My kid, 6 yo loves the whole serious and asked to buy it. She is happy with the book. Thank you!

My grandson read these books that we took out on loan at the library while in America and he loved them.