Are You Ready to Play Outside?

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Title: Are You Ready to Play Outside?
Author: Mo Willems
Genre: Fiction- humor and fantasy
Grade level(s) appropriateness: PreK-2
A brief synopsis/review: Elephant and Piggie are best friends. Piggy is really excited to go play outside. When it begins to rain, Piggie becomes upset that he cannot go outside. However, Elephant and Piggie soon realize that playing in the rain is fun.
Theme(s): Friendship, caring, problem-solving
Noteworthy features or issues with text: Large size font, all cap words: "I DO NOT LIKE RAIN!" (p. 18-19) and repetition of exclamation marks (Run! Run! Run!) shows significance/emphasis. The use of onomatopoeia's ("Splash," "Grrrrr") imitates the sounds of the characters' thoughts and motions.
Teaching ideas: Students could write about friendship by completing an acrostic poem using the letters in the word FRIEND. Reader's Theater could also be implemented to act out the story in class. To experiment with thought bubbles (as shown in the story), students could create their own Elephant and Piggie mini story.
Curriculum tie-ins and/or related activities: For art, students could draw a picture of their favorite rainy day activity. For science, we could discuss weather and how rain affects our daily lives whether it's wearing rain jackets, rain boots, using an umbrella, or staying inside to avoid the rain and getting wet. This activity could be integrated when it's raining outside so that students make the connection between the storyline and the weather.
Read aloud suitability: Yes, is read aloud suitable.
Connections to other texts/content areas: Are You Ready to Play Outside? is part of the Elephant and Piggie series which includes such books as, We Are in a Book!, I Love My New Toy!, and My Friend is Sad. Along with Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss and P.D. Eastman are classics in the beginning-reader genre. 
Other additional comments: The book is a 2009 winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award.   

Mo Willems talks about Elephant and Piggie here:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyUfnccxdnY