A Gosling, a Piggie, a Mole Rat… oh, my!
By lucky coincidence I picked up two terrifically fun books the other day at the bookstore: 
Gossie by Olivier Dunrea and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
by Mo Willems; later the same day I happened upon another Mo Willems at the library - 
I Am Invited to a Party!
Though I’m not at all surprised that I fell in love with each of these books, I often amaze myself with how I feel compelled to have my *very own copy.*
I know I’m not alone in this.
In any case, “it was decided” (by me!) that Gossie, originally destined for my granddaughter’s house, would have to live with me. (With a promise to share when darling K. visits…)
In the meantime, I’ll be typing up Gossie and making a dummy (see Uri Schulevitz’s Writing with Pictures) so that I can study this match of text and illustration, repetition, and what author Ann Whitford Paul likes to refer to as the perfect “second” (last page) ending.
There are others in the Gossie and Gertie series. I highly recommend them.
More on Naked Mole Rat and Elephant and Piggie later in the week! In the meantime, here’s a teaser- a Q & A with Mo Willems originally published on 12/18/08 in Children’s Bookshelf, by John A. Sellers.
