It initially seems that Gerald is the one Piggie is forgetting, but Gerald was actually referring to the reader. Piggie is thanking as many people as possible, but Gerald is convinced that there's someone she's forgetting to thank. Aren't You Forgetting Someone?: This is the essential premise of 'The Thank You Book'.Animals Not to Scale: A real elephant would be five times the size of a real pig, yet Gerald is only about twice as big as Piggie.

When Piggie tries to teach Gerald to dance, he quotes from 'What Elephants Can Do', pointing out the clause that says elephants can't dance. All There in the Manual: Done in-story in 'Elephants Cannot Dance'.All Just a Dream: The majority of 'I Will Take a Nap' turns out to just be a surreal dream that Gerald was having.Alliterative Name: One character is named Brian Bat.An Aesop: Many of the books have morals, though usually in a very subtle way.Accidental Art: In 'Elephants Cannot Dance', Gerald's frustrated tantrum at his failure to learn how to dance is interpreted by a pair of passing squirrels as a hot new dance move, 'The Elephant.'.Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Gerald wears nothing but glasses.Abnormal Allergy: Subverted in 'Pigs Make Me Sneeze!', where Gerald thinks he's allergic to pigs but he actually has a cold.Other books in the series demonstrate the following tropes: The idea is that the Elephant & Piggie characters are presented as Book Ends, appearing at the beginning to say how great the story is going to be, and then gushing about the story after the ending.Įlephant and Piggie books with their own page: The popularity of the series has resulted in a traveling stage production beginning in 2013: ' We Are in a Play! ' The play is based on material from several of the books.Īlthough the series apparently ended in 2016 with The Thank You Book, Elephant & Piggie have gone on to appear in a series titled Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! These new titles are illustrated by Willems but authored by others. The books have won the Geisel Medal in 20, and have been listed twice on Time magazine's Top 10 Children's Books of the Year. While Gerald is a down-to-earth realist, Piggie is an eternal optimist, and the difference between the two personalities often drives the dialog. Each book tends to center on everyday activities, often addressing issues of friendship along the way. The books center on two Funny Animal friends, Gerald the elephant and Piggie the pig.

They are written and drawn by Mo Willems (best known for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the Cartoon Network series Sheep in the Big City), and debuted in 2007. Elephant & Piggie is a series of children's books for early readers.

Elephant and piggie the thank you book