Mo Willems is one of my favorite authors.   I love the pigeon books, Knuffle Bunny, and the Elephant and Piggie books.

There are 25 Elephant and Piggie books, and the most recent one is the last one.  Sigh…  It is no surprise that these good friends are kind and considerate and grateful to the very end.

I read several books by this author in my storytime this week, and ended with this one.

I began with We Are in a Book! There were already a dozen Elephant and Piggie books written when this book was published.  Children had grown to love these two characters, and so kids celebrated with them as these friends discovered they were in a book, and someone was reading their story.

There are not as many books about “the pigeon” as there are about Elephant and Piggie, but children love to hear them over and over because everyone laughs out loud at the pigeon.  Today I chose the original book.  There are only 6 picture books and 2 board books about the pigeon, but he makes an appearance in all of the Elephant and Piggie books.  Try to find them all.  Hint:  the end papers are a good place to check.

Cat the Cat is not a very interesting character.  She is not invited to many storytimes because these books do not have much of a plot.  There are repetitive questions, obvious animal names, and each is shorter than most easy reader books.  But they are terrific for helping children blend sounds to form words.

This next book teaches good manners and does not have many words.  It is also a great book for beginning readers – but not so good for storytime.  Today, however, I thought it was important to say Please before we heard Elephant and Piggie say Thank You.

SPOILER ALERT:   Piggie wants to thank everyone, but Gerald (the elephant) is sure he will forget someone.  With Gerald’s help, Piggie remembers to thank all the characters who have appeared in this series of books – and one more VIP.

With a grateful heart, I ended my spring session of storytime.
~Maureen

Check our Calendar of Events for special programs from now until July.  Here are some highlights:

The Annual Teddy Bear Concert:  Friday, May 20 at 10:30am at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts.  Children are invited to bring a stuffed animal to this free concert with Vanessa Trien.  The Friends of the Library will supply snacks at the end of the concert so, weather permitting, the children can go to the Common for a picnic.  Thank you to the Family Resource Network for their sponsorship.

The Annual Petting Zoo will be held on Thursday, June 9.  You need to come to the Children’s Room for a free ticket.  Each ticket is for a 15 minute visit with the animals.  Tickets are limited, and they will be available beginning Thursday, May 26.

Bubble Dance Parties will return in June.  This time we will meet on Monday mornings at 10:00 for music, dance and bubbles!  Children ages 1-6 are invited to join us.

Summer Storytimes begin in July.