PARTY KIT! Early Readers from Caldecott Honor-Winner Mo Willems
Dear Book lover: Here he goes again. Mo Willems has created two new characters: Elephant, otherwise known as Gerald, and Piggie. These two friends have many exciting adventures. Or so Mo thinks. Fine. The books are sort of hilarious, and, well, charming, and they speak directly to kids. Piggie is an optimistic pig, and Gerald is a cautious, pessimistic elephant. Okay, fine. Like them. Love them! But whatever you do, please don, t let them drive the bus. Sincerely, Pigeon and the busy bees at Hyperion Books for Children PS Don, t forget to check out MY Web site www.pigeonpresents.com (you, ll find them there too....) Table of Contents Elephant & Piggie Story Time Ideas 2 After Reading about Elephant & Piggie 3 Circle Time Activities 4 Fill in the Blanks 5 Draw a Picture of Yourself 6 How Do They Feel? 7 If I Could Fly 8 Word Search 9 Coloring Sheet 10 Answer Key 11 Enjoy our reproducible activity sheets! 1
Elephant & Piggie Story Time Ideas After Reading about Elephant & Piggie... Make Elephant and Piggie name tag stickers. Write the childrens names in block letters as they arrive. Give everyone a chance to participate. Divide your reading group into Elephants and Piggies and have the different groups repeat some of their dialogue out loud as you are reading the story. Pick out an Elephant and Piggie representative to give one pencil to each person in the story time group! Here are some questions for discussion for I Am Invited to a Party! How did Elephant know what to wear to the party? What do you think Elephant and Piggie did at the fancy costume pool party? What did they eat? What games did they play? What kind of parties have you been to? What did you do there? What was the best party you ever attended? Why was it so great? Here are some questions for discussion for There Is a Bird on Your Head! Why doesn t Elephant want those birds to hatch their eggs on his head? How does Piggie s advice help Elephant? How is Piggie going to get birds to leave her head? What do you think Piggie will learn from the experience? If someone does something that bothers you, what are good ways you can get that person to stop doing it? Here is a discussion topic for Today I Will Fly! In Today I Will Fly! Piggie believes she will fly. Have the kids try and fly for thirty seconds. Talk about why they can t fly. Talk about how birds and planes are able to fly. 2 Here is a discussion topic for My Friend Is Sad How do we express how we are feeling with our voice? Have the children use expression in their voices to read sections of the book out loud. Discuss how tone and facial expressions make it clear how we are feeling. 3
Circle Time Activities Fill in the Blanks to create your own Elephant & Piggie Story. Dress Up! Read I Am Invited to a Party! out loud, using props. Store them in a box or sack. As you pull out each of the props, have two children put them on. Props could include Elephant s top hat, a bow tie, cane, giant swimming trunks, inner tube, black mask, cape, boots, gloves, earrings, flippers, water wings, goggles, a cowboy hat, and bandanna. Fill in the blanks below and draw pictures to go along with the story when you are done. One day, Piggie and Elephant went to. When they got there, Piggie found. Then Elephant found. Hats Are Fun Elephant wears a top hat to the party, and Piggie sports a cowboy hat. Make your own hats with foam or paper plates. Poke a hole on either side of each plate and thread a piece of ribbon in each side that can tie under a child s chin to keep the hat in place. Children can decorate their hats, using crayons, and by attaching bows, ribbons, and buttons. Oh, dear! Elephant cried. Look at this! Piggie said, Don t worry Gerald. Now you can! Make Me Laugh, Piggie! The two friends laughed. Elephant asked,? Have your group break into pairs: Elephant and Piggie. When you give the starting signal, Piggie faces Elephant and has one minute to make him laugh. Elephant must keep his serious face and not smile or laugh at all. Piggie may use her hand and facial expressions to make Elephant laugh, and is only allowed to say one thing: Oink, oink. Piggie is not permitted to make any other noises or touch Elephant, or Elephant is the automatic winner. If Elephant laughs, Piggie wins. If not, Elephant wins. Then have the pairs switch roles and do it again.! said Piggie. Oh, dear! 4 5
Draw a Picture of Yourself at the party with ELEPHANT & PIGGIE. How Do They Feel? Underneath each picture below, match the emotion that best shows how Elephant or Piggie is feeling. You can use each emotion more than once, and you can ask a grown-up for help with the words! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 6 9. 10. WORD KEY: Sad Worried Happy Confused Excited Sad Angry 7
If I Could Fly... ELEPHANT & PIGGIE Word Search Draw a picture of what you would do or where you could go if you could fly. Find the following words hidden in the puzzle below. Each word could be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, forward, or backward. Circle or highlight each word you find with a pencil, crayon, or highlighter marker. If I could fly I would. 8 HIDDEN WORDS: AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH BIRD BUILDING CHEEP CHICKS CLOWN COSTUME COWBOY EGGS ELEPHANT FANCY FLYING FRIEND GLASSES HAPPY HATCHING HEAD HELP LOVE NEST PARTY PIGGIE POOL PROBLEM READY ROBOT SOMEWHERE SPLASH SURPRISE TOMORROW 9
Coloring Sheet: Answer Key color ELEPHANT & PIGGIE HOW DO THEY FEEL? page 7 1. SAD 2. WORRIED 3. HAPPY 4. CONFUSED 5. EXCITED 6. WORRIED 7. ANGRY 8. HAPPY 9. HAPPY 10. ANGRY ELEPHANT & PIGGIE word search page 9 10 (Over, Down, Direction) AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH (1,1,E) HATCHING (11,9,NW) BIRD (4,10,E) HEAD (1,2,SE) BUILDING (12,14,W) HELP (14,12,N) CHEEP (1,8,N) LOVE (13,7,S) CHICKS (14,7,N) NEST (13,15,W) CLOWN (8,12,W) PARTY (4,11,E) COSTUME (7,8,NE) PIGGIE (12,5,S) COWBOY (15,14,NW) POOL (10,6,NE) EGGS (12,13,NW) PROBLEM (3,3,SE) ELEPHANT (2,8,S) READY (15,2,S) FANCY (10,10,SE) ROBOT (6,10,NW) FLYING (5,6,NE) SOMEWHERE (1,3,SE) FRIEND (9,15,W) SPLASH (13,4,SW) GLASSES (4,13,E) SURPRISE (11,2,SW) HAPPY (13,1,SW) TOMORROW (3,13,N) Event kit written by Judy Freeman: www.judyreadsbooks.com 11
Mo Willems won six Emmy Awards for his work on Sesame Street. His first book for children, Don t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! won a prestigious Caldecott Honor Award from the American Library Association. The following year, he won another one for Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. The New York Times called Mo the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00 s. Other New York Times best sellers include Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Today I Will Fly! Hyperion Books for Children 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011