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The Knuffle Bunny trilogy was my introduction to Mo Willems. All three are really good. This first one is reminiscent of A Pocket for Corduroy. But because Trixie is a toddler (and Lisa a young girl of 6-8), the story is more urgent (and funnier).

The illustrations are a mix of black-and-white photography with cartoon illustrations overlaid. It is a fantastic way to anchor a plausible story (the cartoon) to reality (the photos). It is also visually interesting. The photos make a great background that doesn’t distract from the elements Willems illustrates. I know that I have run across another one or two books like this, but it is telling that I don’t remember them.

I think if this were the only Knuffle Bunny on the shelves, I would have fond memories of having read it a few times to my daughter. But as a prequel to the second book, it is at the top of my gifts to new parents.

The second book has a fun twist and touches a higher concept than just “baby Trixie needs her Knuffle Bunny.” I think the second book (Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity) is genius.

The third book is good. I think it may try to do too much in a short space by bringing in the grandparents and the foreign country. But the story’s resolution and epilogue is so touching that it may be my favorite book of the three. It may be my favorite, but I rarely read it to my daughter because I can’t handle the emotions that it stirs up.

The strength of this trilogy bolstered my interest in Willems’ other books. Of those, my favorites are Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct. The humor and the messages are classics.

Although I really liked That Is Not a Good Idea!, it is a joke that is funny the first time. Once you are in on the joke, it is interesting the second and third time. Then I found myself hoping my daughter wouldn’t want me to read it again before I had to take it back to the library.

His pigeon series that starts with Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was great when my daughter was two to three years old. I liked that it is an interactive book where the reader is supposed to tell the pigeon “no,” regardless of how he pleads. Although some of the humor sailed over the head of my toddler, the books just don’t interest her much any more.

We are now starting with Willems’ early readers with Gerald (the elephant) and Piggie (e.g. Today I Will Fly!). As early readers there are lots of repeated words that change meaning with the punctuation. I really wasn’t expecting to have to explain punctuation to my three year old. These books, like Not a Good Idea, are first time funny. There are no backgrounds to be distracting, which is good for my daughter. Also, there are no backgrounds to be distracting, which is bad for me. In any case, the jury is still out on elephant and piggie for my three and a half year old.

 

The repetition is great for practice and familiarity and self confidence. The punctuation is crucial to the meaning of the story, and I think my daughter is a little young to get it in the context of a sentence. Also, in all of these elephant and piggie children’s books, there are always stretch words of several syllables that I think are too advanced for my daughter. That is not a complaint about the books, it is just an observation of where the books might fit in scaffolding reading. Dr. Seuss is going to be our go-to until Isabel is a little older.

Back to Knuffle Bunny, these three books are Willems’ best. I think you’d be cheating yourself if you don’t read the second one.

About the rest of the rest of Willems’ oeuvre, all of his books are much better than most of the other picture books published in the past ten years. But you should go in with your eyes open–Willems is a versatile author and artist, so don’t expect one book to be like the others.

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