1. Bibliography
Willems, Mo. 2007. Today I will Fly!. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.
ISBN 9781423102953
2. Plot Summary
Elephant and Piggie have done it again! Today I Will Fly! is a story where the negative and pessimistic Elephant Gerald tells the positive and optimistic Piggie she cannot fly. This book is a basic conversation back and forth between the two main characters. Piggie begins by telling Elephant she will fly and without skipping a beat he tells her multiple times in many different ways that she will not fly. Inadvertently, Elephant gives Piggie advice to “get help”. With help from a dog and a pelican, Piggie is able to fly -- sort of!
3. Critical Analysis
Very few words in this book make it move along quickly but with no complaints. The most important part of this story is the characters – animals are personified through speaking which adds an element that children can really connect with. Elephant and Piggie both get their messages to the reader in just a few words per page.
There are two themes in this story. First, being strong-willed and never giving up on something that you believe you can do. In this situation, we learn that Piggie may not have been ‘flying’ but she found a way to feel/look like she was flying. Next, getting help can be a good thing. It’s important for children to learn that they do not have to do everything on their own and help may be a good thing.
The setting is minimal – plain white pages with very few details aside from the characters themselves. The illustrations really focus on the characters and their words. The only colors on the pages are on the characters and their caption bubbles.
4. Awards & Review Excerpts
Awards: Garden State Children’s Book Award
School Library Journal - “With just a few tweaks of his expressive lines, Willems creates engaging characters. The stories move briskly, with a minimal word count and touches of whimsy throughout.”
Publishers Weekly – “Willems treats each page (or spread) as one panel, so the action unfolds briskly against white backgrounds. He provides the emphatic dialogue in varying font sizes and keeps the design details simple but effective: Piggie's words appear in powdery rose-colored voice bubbles, Elephant's in pale blue-gray.”
5. Connections
-Use the corresponding colors in the caption bubbles to interact during reading aloud with children. Give each child a color/character to read with you.
-Read this in a series of other books about Piggie and Elephant by Mo Willems including I am invited to a Party!, My Friend is Sad, and I will Surprise my Friend!
