Pooh and Piglet in Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. The Bear and Mouse books by Bonny Becker, ill. Mabel and Me - Best of Friends by Mark Sperring, ill. Other comic double acts that make me laughĬharlie and Lola - various titles by Lauren Child (Orchard Books)

Because getting to read funny books with your kids while teaching them some essential life lessons is a win-win situation! They get a great start to their reading journey - and you might find a long-lost funny bone. So do yourself a favour and get your hands on a copy of Elephant and Piggie. How Reading with Your Children Can Help Them Develop a ‘Yes Brain’ The more children practice this skill, the more their brains get wired with this capacity. This increases our ability to understand others’ minds and internal experiences so that we can better empathize with them. ‘Don’t do it.’ So while they think you’re just reading a funny book about two friends, you are actually setting them up for life - and helping to shape everyone’s future:Īs we read about the minds, experiences, and feelings of another, we feel with them. ‘Kids can sniff out a lesson in a book a mile away and chances are it will feel pretty patronizing,’ warns Nathan Bransford. That’s the added benefit of sharing Elephant and Piggie with your kids - without them realising it, you’re teaching them to empathise. It’s, “Do you like my hat?” “No.” “Screw you.” They’re friends and they damage their friendship in some way, and then they have to find a way to undamage it.

Even as a 7-year-old, I remember saying, “If I were the Poodle, I’d say, ‘Well, screw you! I’ve worn three hats! Do you know how expensive they are? Do you know how much time I spent on them? You know, these hats don’t just grow on trees! You can’t just blow me off and walk away.’” And to me, that’s what the Elephant and Piggie books are.

When the Poodle says, “Do you like my hat?” the Hound says, “No.” The Poodle comes back, “Do you like my hat?” Hound says, “No.” Poodle comes back, “Do you like my hat?” The Hound says no. … Go, Dog, Go … is my favorite book but it has a huge flaw. While many picture books skirt around the potential pitfalls, Willems throws us in at the deep end. Behind the humour of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie books, lurks an often unspoken reality: friendships are complicated.ĭespite this, ‘Gerald and Piggie are best friends.’įor all of us (perhaps kids more so) friendships can be flawed.

Elephant and piggie i can fly