50 Top 10 Lists of 2007

Top 10 Children's Books

#2. Today I Will Fly
Written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Kid book humor is a very unstable breed. To be funny to kids, it has to be broader than a schoolbus; to be funny to parents (who after all have to do most of the reading) it needs to be subtle, quirky and sophisticated. This tale of an overly optimistic pig and his downer elephant friend has very few words per page — and probably not more than 50 different ones in the entire book — so much of the wit is carried in the repetition and the expressions of the two creatures and their friends. This also makes it a great book for struggling readers.

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