Mama: To all parents: If you haven’t read any Mo Willems books to your child yet, then you should run out and buy some because they are really good.

Luke: Mama, I think we need to tell people why Mo Willems’s books are so good, don’t you?

Mama: You go first, Luke.

Luke: Ok, fine. Here are my top five reasons why Mo Willems’s books have been among my favorites for over two years now:

5. Elephant and Piggie books are all really funny and easy enough to read for a beginning reader, but my favorite is I’m a Frog! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)because the turn of events at the end makes me laugh every time.

4. “1, 2, 3 Peeeeeee!” has become our household mantra during potty training. (Time to Pee!)

3. The pigeon makes a cameo appearance in every Elephant and Piggie book, and I love searching for him.

2. The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? (Pigeon) This book’s main character, the duckling, has an ingenious way of off-loading his nut-laden cookie onto his less-than-mature nemesis, the pigeon.

1. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! perfectly captures the ridiculousness of the escalation that occurs when a toddler wants something he can’t have. It’s stinking hilarious. Even to the toddler reading it who is being mocked.

Your turn, Mama.

Mama: Thanks, Luke. I really like how specific your reasons are. Ok, so here are my top five reasons why Mo Willems books have been a staple in our house since before Luke turned one.

1. There is an inherent appeal to books that are funny, and Mo Willems has a knack for being funny. Even more impressive, however, is the fact that he is so funny in so few words. Therein lies his mad genius and the main reason why I appreciate his books on an adult, literary level…brevity is the soul of wit, etc.

2. The Pigeon books fill a very specific niche in early literacy development: Very simple text written in big type; simple, expressive illustrations; an endearing character; and, as Luke mentioned, simple storylines that are absolutely hilarious. Even to adults.

3. Willems’s Knuffle Bunny books fill another niche in early literacy development. More complex sentences, pictures, and storylines lend these books to read-alouds with the more advanced toddler set. In addition, the pictures/illustrations are interesting and just that: a combination of photography and illustration that a visually interesting to look at for both toddlers and adults. Luke is not as enamored of these books as he is of Willems’s others.

4. The Elephant and Piggie books are our new favorites. Since Luke has started reading simple books on his own, these books’ big type and simple sentences, yet longer, more complex character interactions are the perfect match for his abilities. And they are very funny. Gerald (the elephant) is a serious worry-wart, while his friend Piggie is fun-loving and adventurous, and their exchanges are truly comical.

5. Did I mention that Willems’s books are just plain funny?