The best Mo Willems kids books

When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place – a pigeon! But you’ve never met one like this before. As he pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate. While this book is arguably more suitable for slightly older children (2 yrs+)… you’ll enjoy reading it so much that it’s worth introducing into your repertoire as soon as you can! A perfect introduction to the genius of Mo Willems.

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In There Is a Bird On My Head!, Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head – two birds on your head! Can Piggie help her best friend? You’ll delight in the subtle grown-up humour… and how much the kids enjoy this hugely entertaining and laugh inducing story. Mo Willems has created two very adorable friends that children (and adults) can really relate to.

Merging expressive cartoon network-esque illustrations with beautiful black and white photographs of Brooklyn, this riotous story tells how Trixie and Knuffle Bunny’s trip to the laundromat with Dad goes terribly wrong. When Trixie realizes her bunny’s been left behind, her attempts to alert Dad all the way home are unsuccessful… until Mum points out that Knuffel Bunny is missing and the family hotfoot it back to the laundromat. This stunning book tells a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong. Better still, the ending is a pearler.

When Piggie discovers that she and Gerald are in a book and she can make the reader say a funny word out loud, Gerald is tickled pink. But then Gerald realizes that the book is going to end soon – ace! What will happen then? Using vocabulary perfect for beginning readers (and vetted by an early-learning specialist), Mo Willems has crafted a mind-bending story that is even more interactive than previous Elephant & Piggie adventures. Fans of the Geisel Award-winning duo won’t be able to put this book down – literally!

Everyone’s favorite Pigeon is back for this interactive bedtime romp, in which he tries to escape his inevitable bedtime. Youngsters are thrust into the role of caregiver, as the pigeon attempts to talk his way out of the inevitable bedtime. Coming up with requests that range from manipulative (I hear there’s a good show about birds on TV tonight. Should be very educational.) to cajoling (Y’know, we never get to talk anymore. Tell me about your day!) to the classic (Can I have a glass of water?). Defying drowsiness to the last, he finally falls asleep, clutching his stuffed bunny tightly under his wing. Children will be charmed by this bedtime treat, which will have them laughing (and you) out loud at the pigeon – and at themselves. Mo Willems will have you laughing all the way to bedtime.

Gerald the elephant is stunned when Piggie announces he is a frog. “You look like a pig. And your name is Piggie.” So Piggie explains the concept of pretending, which Gerald doesn’t understand at all. When Piggie tells Gerald he can pretend too, he says that he can’t. While this book is even slighter than most of the series’ previous books, it does have a very funny surprise ending. And kids get to consider just what it means to pretend. The familiar pictures get their action from Piggie hopping around and their humor from the droll expression on the elephant’s face. Ribbit!

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs is a new take on the fairy-tale classic Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so funny and so original — it could only come from the brilliant mind of Mo Willems.

Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.

One day — for no particular reason — they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then — for no particular reason — they decided to go… someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl.

Definitely not!