children's book review: I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems

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Welcome to day five of my assessment of the 2008 Easy Readers Cybils awards. Today features I Love My New Toy! by Mo Willems, which one the award. Tomorrow I'll present my wrap-up and vote for my winner.

I documented my love for Mo Willems in Monday's review of I Will Surprise My Friend!, so I won't repeat myself. I love the Elephant and Piggie books, and despite being hilarious and clever, they don't need to be read in any particular order.

In I Love My New Toy!, Piggie has a new toy. Elephant, of course, wants to play with Piggie's toy. He promptly breaks it. Squirrel pops up to diffuse the situation in his own blissfully ignorant way. Once again, the characters are simple and complex; most importantly, they're nuances but true to their attributes. The focus is humor, and the "lesson" is secondary and tongue-in-cheek. As always, Mo Willems' drawings mimic his story: they're remarkable simple yet nuanced and complex.

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Pages: 57
Publication date: 2008
Source: my local public library

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