

The speech bubbles become so large that they bump into Piggie. The illustrator makes the speech bubbles bigger and bigger each time to show Gerald’s development. As Gerald grows increasingly more impatient, he groans in frustration. The illustrator uses speech bubbles to distinguish the text from the illustrations. This is an easy-to-read book because it uses basic words and short sentences. Gerald is very impatient but the surprise is worth it. Piggie has a surprise for Gerald, but he has to wait all day. This is an easy-to-read book about Gerald the elephant and Piggie the pig. (I'm not good with suspense/anticipation, either.) This book is adorable, and I loved the twist on the usual animation it made the surprise that much more special. And when Gerald comes back because he can't stand not to know, and is blown away by the grandeur of his surprise (don't worry, I won't spoil it for you, but it really is amazing), we all breathed a sigh of relief. So when Gerald gets so impatient waiting to see Piggy's "surprise" that he storms off angrily, my little guy really understood. He keeps asking leading questions, trying to figure it out, and even asked the other day, "Can you show me a little piece?" (That's three-year-old for "Maybe I can sneakily get you to answer my question!") He hates waiting for anything suspense is not his friend.

In fact, my son's birthday is coming up soon, and he's been going insane waiting to find out what his gift is. I *love* the Elephant and Piggie books, and so does my toddler! The topics are ones that kids can relate to, and this volume is no exception. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.

Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door. Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation. The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."

In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91. #1 New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems is best known for his Caldecott Honor winning picture books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale.
