描述
开 本: 32开纸 张: 胶版纸包 装: 精装是否套装: 否国际标准书号ISBN: 9781423102977
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 My Friend is Sad, elephant Gerald is
down in the dumps. Piggie is determined to cheer him up by dressing
as a cowboy, a clown, and even a robot! But what does it take to
make a sad elephant happy? The answer will make even pessimistic
elephants smile.
Kindergarten-Grade 3–In these two easy-to-read books, Willems
introduces two best friends. Gerald is a slightly stodgy,
bespectacled elephant with a stumpy, downturned trunk. Piggie is
more daring and whimsical, and, like many friends, the two
complement one another. In My Friend Is Sad, Piggie tries hard to
cheer her dejected friend. She disguises herself as a cowboy,
clown, and a robot, but Gerald doesn’t recognize her and is sad
because she isn’t there to enjoy the fun. Without missing a beat,
Piggie points out that he needs new glasses. In Today I Will Fly,
Piggie announces her intention to do so to her skeptical pal. In
the end, though, Gerald is making adventurous plans of his own.
With just a few tweaks of his expressive lines, Willems creates
engaging characters. The stories move briskly, with a minimal word
count and touches of whimsy throughout. Fans of the author’s
previous books should check the endpapers for a cameo appearance of
his familiar pigeon. These simple, humorous stories will sound just
the right note for beginning readers.
——Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Graphic-novel influences have reached into most areas of
children’s book publishing; here, they crop up in a classic
genre–the friendship-duo easy reader–and chalk up yet another
success for two-time Caldecott Honor winner Willems. The basic
approach is familiar from Willems’ previous books, especially Don’t
Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003). It’s as if each page were one
frame of a comic strip: characters zip in and out of white space,
proffer speech-bubble remarks, and express emotion through spot-on
body language. In My Friend Is Sad, upbeat, outgoing Piggie cavorts
to cheer up depressed Elephant, whose doldrums are obvious from his
furrowed brow and drooping, stovepipelike trunk. Not having
recognized his costumed pal, the myopic elephant remains sad
because Piggie missed out on the fun. Accessible, appealing, and
full of authentic emotions about what makes friendships tick, this
will put a contemporary shine on easy-reader collections and give
Willems’ many fans–whatever their age or reading level–two more
characters to love. (Vying for their affections is that
irrepressible pigeon, who, still utterly in character, finds his
way onto the endpapers.)
——Jennifer Mattson
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