Starring Me and You by Geneviève Côté (Kids Can Press, March 2014) and Goodnight, You by Geneviève Côté (September 2014) are the two most recent books in the adorable Piggy and Bunny series, this time focusing on putting on a play and having a nighttime camp out, respectively.
In all the books in this series, Piggy and Bunny have a disagreement about something, but ultimately, they come to a resolution together. The author writes only in the dialogue of the two animals (each animal’s words are shown in a different font). The illustrations also tell the story, giving emotions to animals that appear simply drawn.
I like the simplicity of these stories and feel they are just right for the preschool or younger crowd. In Starring Me and You, for example, Bunny and Piggy explain how they express themselves differently for different emotions. My two-year-old daughter can really relate to emotions right now because she too has difficulty understanding the extremes she feels. She begged to read this one over and over. I don’t know which aspects most appealed to her: seeing the animals fight and then resolve their differences, or seeing the cute illustrations. At any rate, it was definitely interesting to her.
Likewise, in Goodnight, You, Bunny is afraid of all the shadows, but loves turning off the light to see the stars; Piggy has no fears when the lights are on, but becomes scared when they are off. Again, the friends come to understand that, although they are different, it’s okay. They can work together to have a lot of fun on their campout! Once again, I really enjoyed seeing the interaction between Piggy and Bunny.
It’s always good to see how others act in different situations. Although I’m not sure how much my 2-year-old daughter will remember of these particular books, it’s the frequent reading of books like these that portray emotions (and discuss emotions) so appropriately that help her learn to deal with her own explosive emotions as she grows.
Which of these have you read?
Note: I received a digital review copy of Starring Me and You and Goodnight, You.
