Y-Bling Book Reviews: I Broke My Trunk!

A. Bibliography

Willems, Mo. 2011. I Broke My Trunk. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4231-3309-4

B. Plot Summary

In this Elephant and Piggie book, Willems tells of a funny situation between best friends that are eager to share a crazy, funny story. Piggie is eager to hear the story of how Gerald broke his trunk and at the end finds herself in the exact same predicament as Gerald. This is a cute story that keeps readers engaged all the way to the end.

C. Critical Analysis

The main characters of I Broke My Trunk! are Gerald, an elephant, and Piggie, a pig. From the beginning of the book, the reader knows Piggie and Gerald are close simply because Piggie implies that she sees Gerald everyday. The other minor characters in the story, Rhino, Hippo, Hippo’s Big sister and the little squirrel at the end all help in the developing story of how Gerald broke his trunk.

Towards the middle of the book, Piggie begins to get frustrated with Gerald because after a long crazy story she still doesn’t understand how Gerald broke his trunk. The reader knows Piggie is frustrated because Willems has Piggie speaking in all capital letters and illustrates Piggie waving her arms up and down with her head thrown back. Gerald seems scared of Piggie’s reaction and on the next few pages, Piggie finds out Gerald broke his trunk because he tripped and fell. Piggie thinks this is so “crazy” and so “funny” that she finds herself running off to tell this “crazy, funny” story to someone else. What Piggie doesn’t remember is that it is important to be careful when you are excited and running because you could trip and break something. Piggie ends up running to tell a friend Gerald’s story and she trips and breaks her snout.

Willems doesn’t draw elaborate backgrounds and so the reader has the opportunity to let their imagination come up with the setting of this story. Most might think the setting is somewhere outdoors because of Gerald falling and breaking his trunk. When I asked a child where he thought Gerald and Piggie were talking he immediately stated, outside of course. I asked him why and he replied, “pigs and elephants aren't allowed inside!” Willems' simple illustrations allow even the youngest of readers to be confident in the settings their minds allow them to create.

The lesson portrayed in this story is a simple one, but a lesson none the less in learning from the mistakes of others. If Piggie would have learned from Gerald’s mistake of rushing to tell his friend and not being careful of his surroundings, Piggie would not have broken her snout.

The writing and illustrations of this this book allow the reader to use their imagination to fill-in emotions of the characters. The speech bubbles also allow the reader to understand if Gerald is explaining his experience or talking to Piggie about how he broke his trunk. Gerald’s explanations of his balancing act and how he broke his trunk are all in puffy cloud like bubbles, but when he is talking to Piggie, his words are in a standard speech bubble. Willems does a wonderful job of adding the word very each time Gerald adds a friend to his trunk. Gerald explains that a rhino on his trunk is heavy and by the time he has a rhino, two hippos and a piano, Gerald explains that it is "very, very heavy".

The simple illustrations in I Broke My Trunk! also help young readers focus on the words of the book and readers have the opportunity to easily flow through the story and build fluency within the text of the story. The book has no cultural biases and it would appeal to students of all ethnic backgrounds. This book is a fun and easy read for early readers and it is one that children will return to over and over again.

D. Review Excerpt:

On http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/I-Broke-My-Trunk.htm, Nancy Snyder states, "I Broke My Trunk! is the 14th book in the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems about two unlikely best friends. Gerald, an elephant, tells the “long crazy” story about how he broke his trunk to Piggie very, very slowly, which drives Piggie crazy. Beginning readers eight years and younger will enjoy this humorous adventure with the unlikely but lovable friends."

E. Awards

Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book 2012

F. Connections

-In this story, Piggie talks in all capital letters when she is really mad at Gerald and this would be an excellent opportunity for a mini lesson on internet etiquette and how what we write and how we write it is portrayed.

-I Broke My Trunk! would also be an excellent opportunity for older grades to write about Piggie's crazy, long story of how she broke her trunk. This story could be shared with younger grade levels as well.

-Author's website: http://www.mowillems.com/

-Interviews with Mo Willems http://www.pigeonpresents.com/grownup.aspx

-Lesson Plan from Disney Hyperion http://cdn.dolimg.com/explore/PMPages/DCOM/books/catalog/Printable/Elephant_&_Piggie_TG.pdf

Other Books by Mo Willems: