The Monster and Puppet Show!

PreS-Gr 1–This latest installment of the “Elephant & Piggie Like Reading” series is a tale of well-intentioned frenemies, Monster and Puppet. At first, all is well when both Monster and Puppet are eager to perform a show for their reading audience. But commandeering Puppet makes Monster feel increasingly uncomfortable as they ask for more jokes, more dancing, and more singing. Because this story is couched between small excerpts of Elephant and Piggie dialoging, readers are left comparing the relationships between the respective pairs—one feels genuinely silly and good-intentioned, the other feels a bit maniacal and ominous. The Monster/Puppet dynamic is further complicated as they point out that Puppet is being voiced by Monster itself. Young readers will appreciate the silly jokes, but this eccentric duo might feel more off-putting than entertaining. Monster and Puppet aren’t going to dethrone early-reader icons Elephant and Piggie any time soon.