Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems
Published in a picture book size and format with 66 pages, this is a sort of proto-chapter book that features “6½ surprising stories about 2 surprising friends.” The book is indeed full of jokes and surprises that young readers will love. It is almost like reading a week’s run of some good classic comic strip series in one sitting (think Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes). This is not Willems’ greatest work ever, but it is still above average in general, and it is quite generous considering he could have strung this out into two or three separate books, but instead kept it all together. It gets some extra points for inhabiting a mostly unexplored space where comics, picture books and chapter-books intersect.
Review by Joshua Whiting, Granite Library Media Program
Rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars)
Interest Level: Grades K and Up
Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!
Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems
Balzer + Bray
68 pages
Release Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 9780062004000 (hardcover)
