I'm On It! (Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!)

by Andrea Tsurumi, Mo Willems

Overview

Goat likes to lead. Goat also likes Frog to follow.
When Goat jumps on it, Frog does, too. Soon Goat and Frog are on it, along it, above it, inside it, beside it, around it, and under it—phew! How can their friendship get through it?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781368066969
Publisher:	Disney Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/11/2021
Series:	Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! Series
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	87,570
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Andrea Tsurumi is the author and illustrator of Accident! and Crab Cake, as well as numerous comics. She illustrated Not Your Nest by Gideon Stere and Girls Who Code by Reshma Saujani. She was born and raised in New York, where she got an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and she now lives in Philadelphia with her spouse and their dog. When she's not inventing croissant-based animals, she likes reading about ordinary and ridiculous history.

Editorial Reviews

03/08/2021

Prepositions pile up to dizzying heights in this early reader extravaganza by Tsurumi (Sharko and Hippo), part of Mo Willems’s Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series. The contest between Frog and Goat, drafted in clean, sure lines, begins as a friendly game. Goat perches theatrically on a stump: “I’m ON it!” Frog, in an adjacent pond, shows interest, finger to frog lips, then leaps onto a rock: “I’m on it, too!” Soon, Goat is posing on the stump with a watering can while wearing an old tire, hula hoop–style (“I’m on it and beside it AND inside it!”). Frog, whose pond produces more challenging objects to work with (a beaver, a crate of swimming toys), shows signs of anxiety. Goat poses with two potted sunflowers (“I’m on it and BETWEEN these!”), while Frog works with two fat, angry-looking fish (“I’m on it... and between these, too!?”). Readers can identify the prepositions and work out how they apply to the growing pile of props, but the story’s also about how to exit gracefully from a situation that’s getting out of control. High energy, punchy sentences, and focused action put this tale right on top. Ages 5–8. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ 06/18/2021

PreS-Gr 2—The newest title in this series explores prepositions in a delightful way. Goat is standing on a log when he grabs Frog's attention. Frog wants to join in, so he stands on a rock. Goat adds a tire beside him while Frog has a bucket. The two continue in this way, adding flower pots, ladders, fishing rods, beavers, hoses, and more to their piles. Goat's excitement grows while Frog gets more anxious as his situation becomes rather dangerous. He finally declares that he's over it. Tsurumi uses brightly colored mixed media to grab readers' attentions. Each item is distinctive and clear and adds to the silliness of the story. Orange speech bubbles are used for Goat and green for Frog, making it easy to tell who is talking. Whimsical lines illustrate all of the movement, including a delightful loop for Goat's handstand and shaky lines to depict Frog's instability. In the style of this series, Gerald and Piggie introduce and conclude the story. VERDICT Highly recommended for all beginning reader collections.—Sara Thomas, New Castle P.L., DE

School Library Journal

★ 2021-03-31
A frog tries to do everything a goat does, too.

Goat asks Frog to look at them before declaring “I’m ON it!” while balancing atop a tree stump near a pond. After an “Oooh!” and a “You know what?” Frog leaps off their lily pad to balance on a rock: “I’m on it, too!” Goat grabs a prop so that they can be both “on it AND beside it.” (It may take young readers a little bit to realize there are two its.) So does Frog. The competition continues as Frog struggles to mimic overconfident Goat’s antics. In addition to on and beside, the pair adds inside, between, under, and more. Eventually, it all gets to be too much for Frog to handle, so Frog falls into the water, resumes position on the lily pad, and declares “I am OVER it” while eating a fly. In an act of solidarity, Goat jumps in, too. In Tsurumi’s first foray into early readers she pares down her energetic, colorful cartoon style to the bare essentials without losing any of the madcap fun. Using fewer than 80 repeated words (over 12 of which are prepositions), the clever text instructs, delights, and revels in its own playfulness. Color-coded speech bubbles (orange for Goat, green for Frog) help match the dialogue with each speaker. Like others in the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading series, Elephant and Piggie metafictively bookend the main narrative with hilariously on-the-nose commentary.

Whether in hand or on shelf, this one’s sure to make a splash anywhere and everywhere. (Early reader. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews