Watch Me Throw the Ball (Elephant & Piggie, # 8)
By: Mo Willems
Publication:March 17, 2009 by Hyperion Books for Children
64 pages
Genre: Children's, Level 1, Humor,
Source: Own/Personal Library
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Description--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 Watch Me Throw the Ball! , Gerald is determined to teach Piggie that ball-throwing is serious business... but Piggie is just as determined to have serious fun.
Watch Me Throw the Ball is the second Elephant and Piggie story included in Biggie 1 even though Goodreads lists it as # 8 in the series. Elephant and Piggie books are books that my seven-year-old wants to read. They are lengthy books (64 pages) for this reading level. I love this. Most pages only have a sentence or two at most, so my son doesn't feel overwhelmed and can read through the books quickly. These are all AR Level 1 (a couple of them are 0.5 and 0.6) so the words aren't complex or difficult.
Piggie stumbles upon a ball. He's excited and Gerald tells him that Piggie found his ball. Gerald asks if Piggie knows the secret to throwing, and Pigge declares to have fun. Gerald is incensed. Gerald being matter-of-fact as he is tries to tell Piggie that it is hard work. Piggie's throw is terrible but Piggie is ever the optimistic and sees things his own way. Gerald tries to point out that Piggie didn't throw the ball very far at all, but Piggie doesn't mind because he had fun. Gerald gives the fun thing a try. In essence, a nice moral to the story to boot.
The illustrations for Watch Me Throw the Ball make the series and bring the words to life. Any book that can get my son to enjoy any part of the reading process is a win for me. Watch Me Throw the Ball gets 4 Stars. Have you or your child read Watch Me Throw the Ball? What did you think? Let me know!
