The following article was submitted by Gerald Elephant, and his friend, Piggie, and was transcribed by Sharon Verbeten. The Youth Services Manager at the Manitowoc Public Library.
Think pigs only hang out on farms? And elephants can only be found in Africa?
Well, if so, you’ve never met us: Elephant and Piggie—the amazingly funny, often hilarious, duo. That guy—you know, children’s author, Mo Willems? He created us years ago and wrote more than two dozen books about our friendship (usually), arguments (gentle ones!), antics (zany!) and best advice (like sharing is good, always, right?)
Let me introduce myself—I’m Elephant, better known (to those in the know, usually first graders) as Gerald. My better half (ha!) is my diminutive porcine pal, Piggie. Together, we make an awesome team (mostly) and we love sharing our advice, stories, and silliness with kids and adults alike.
See, our creator? Mo? He’s been heralded as the next Dr. Seuss—those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Good thing I have big feet!
And because he makes our stories so relatable, all ages will enjoy them. Heck, even adults may laugh when reading our books to their kids (or, SHHH—maybe they even read them to themselves for fun!)
In any case, we’re kind of a big deal in the world of children’s books and GUESS WHAT? Manitowoc Public Library has invited us for a visit! Yippee!
Piggie and Gerald Elephant
That’s right—to kick off their Summer Reading Program, we’ll be visiting Tuesday, June 13, for a 6:30 PM storytime and—yes, it’s true!—ice cream party! I love ice cream, but so does Piggie, and sometime sharing is hard, but maybe we shouldn’t be sharing ice cream anyway? Anyway, come and find out how this whole ice cream thing works out for us.
If it goes well Tuesday night—well, even if it doesn’t—we’ll be coming back Wednesday, June 14, at 10:30 AM and 2 PM for storytimes. Of course, I know, we’re the main draw, but the librarians will be there too—we couldn’t do it without them because, well, we only talk in our books.
We’re excited to visit Manitowoc—we hear you have a lake . . . and a river . . . and a bridge . . . and an ice cream shop! Everything we love—but nothing we love more than sharing our love of reading! Come to one of our events to just say hello or take a picture with us! Sign up for the Library’s Summer Reading Program. Tell us your favorite stories!
One of our books is called Waiting is Not Easy, and that’s so true—we just can’t wait to visit MPL and welcome all of our friends! Happy Summer!
