Title: The Thank You Book
Author/Illustrator: Mo Willems
Published: Hyperion Books for Children, 2016

I don’t know about you, but I have a list of people I would totally LOVE to have lunch with. They include (but are not limited to) Lin-Manuel Miranda, Idina Menzel, Tina Fey, Dan Santat and, of course, the fabulous Mo Willems. You might say I’m a *bit* of a Mo Willems fan. And by *bit*, I mean *I literally have every single Elephant & Piggie book he’s ever written (all 25), along with about 90% of the rest of his work.*

We read a LOT of Mo in my house, is what I’m saying.

I first discovered Elephant & Piggie at Chapters when Vivi was under a year old. I was looking for a series of books because, well, grandparents and aunts and uncles are generous and it’s easy to say “just pick up the latest blah-blah-blah book.” Which is what we did. (Which is why we have the complete collection.)

The last book Mr. Willems wrote for Elephant & Piggie is The Thank You Book. (Note that this is not including the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading books, which are books not written/illustrated by Mr. Willems that feature the beloved pig and elephant as sort of book reviewers/recommenders.)

It’s also probably number 2 or 3 in my “list of favourite E&P books.” (I have a lot of lists. I’m one of THOSE people.)

Why is The Thank You Book so good?

1. Because it’s funny. In fact, that’s usually part of the reason Mo Willems’ books are so good. At some level, there’s humour in almost all of them. (City Dog, Country Frog kind of bucks this trend, but you should totally buy that book because it’s amazing and will make you feel all the feelings.)

2. ALL of the characters from the past books are featured. It’s like one of those TV shows that has a ton of guest stars on one episode. You’re all like, “OMG, is that Shirley from season 2? WHOA! What’s Doug from season 1 doing here? Man, I love that actor.” (Full disclosure: I don’t watch much TV.)

3. I love the Ice Cream Penguin. And Whale. And Brian Bat. And, well, all of them really. I have specific voices I do for each one when I read them, which makes the entire process far more entertaining. (Pro-tip: Dr. Cat sounds like an actor from a Spanish soap opera. Brian Bat sounds like a high-pitched version of Snake. Piggie kind of sounds like a mellow Miss Piggy and Gerald just has a deep, slightly melancholy voice. But, you know, you do you.)

4. There’s also a genuine sweetness to the book. The last page is *perfect* when Piggie restates that she is, indeed, one lucky pig. I love the idea of thanking your friends for just being the people they are. I also love the fact that Piggie initially forgets Gerald (don’t we always forget to thank those we’re closest to?) and then realizes she also forgot to thank the reader!

5. Mo Willems’ art is gold, period. Elephant & Piggie are deceptively simple characters, but the emotion/motion/little details that Mr. Willems adds just prove what a talented illustrator he is.

If you’ve got a little one, pick up Elephant & Piggie. I promise they will get a LOT of mileage. I promise your kids will memorize them. I promise they will be the type of books that you can read over and over and not lose your dang mind.

And, in case I forgot to mention, thank you for being my reader!

Mama’s review: A+ for the whole darn series.