Title: A Big Guy Took My Ball!
Author: Mo Willems
Illustrator: Mo Willems
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Year of Publication: 2013
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Reviews Rating: Horn Book- 3
Summary: The Piggie is playing with a small ball when all of a sudden a big mean guy takes it. Piggie becomes sad, but the big guy (the whale) is sad that no one ever wants to play with him.
Summary of Professional Reviews: The Horn Book Guide enjoyed the humorous features and the expressive text throughout the book. The Piggie and Gerald learn about different sizes and how to accept them. The book ends with the Piggie, Gerald and the whale playing happily together.
Review By Lauren Miller: The illustrations in this book are so simple, yet reveal so much meaning. The pictures throughout the book consist of the elephant, the pig and the whale. However, their facial expressions give the reader an idea of how the characters are feeling. The book could be used with young readers because it has many sight words and there is a repetition of words. The text changes in size throughout the story to show if the character is screaming or if they are being quiet. I think children would enjoy making predictions about this story because the ending is unpredictable. The book ends with a good moral that children can think about later.
This book would be useful when teaching:
Author: Mo Willems
Illustrator: Mo Willems
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Year of Publication: 2013
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Reviews Rating: Horn Book- 3
Summary: The Piggie is playing with a small ball when all of a sudden a big mean guy takes it. Piggie becomes sad, but the big guy (the whale) is sad that no one ever wants to play with him.
Summary of Professional Reviews: The Horn Book Guide enjoyed the humorous features and the expressive text throughout the book. The Piggie and Gerald learn about different sizes and how to accept them. The book ends with the Piggie, Gerald and the whale playing happily together.
Review By Lauren Miller: The illustrations in this book are so simple, yet reveal so much meaning. The pictures throughout the book consist of the elephant, the pig and the whale. However, their facial expressions give the reader an idea of how the characters are feeling. The book could be used with young readers because it has many sight words and there is a repetition of words. The text changes in size throughout the story to show if the character is screaming or if they are being quiet. I think children would enjoy making predictions about this story because the ending is unpredictable. The book ends with a good moral that children can think about later.
This book would be useful when teaching:
- about feelings. The book explains how the pig feels sad when he loses his ball or when the whale feels sad when no one wants to play.
- about friendship and equality. This is a great way to explain to children that everyone can be friends no matter what size or color.