"Let's Go for a Drive"

Willems, M. (2012). Let's go for a drive! New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

Readability Lexile: 240L

Intended Audience: Ages 5-6

Setting: Two buddies just hanging out.

Theme: Making plans that go awry.

Characters: An elephant and a pig.

Summary: Let's Go for a Drive by Mo Willems is a cute children's book about an elephant and a pig that decide to go for a drive one day. They plan out their trip to make certain that they are able to be prepared for whatever may come up. They prepare for sunny conditions, rainy conditions, and they even pack a map to confidently navigate their way around, but all the planning of elephants and pigs sometimes go awry. Especially when the realize they do not have a car. 

While the book is cute and funny, the only lesson you can glean from the pages is to thoroughly think things through before you get excited about an idea. The illustrations are craftily exhibited. There is no moral to the story and an elephant and a pig are funny characters, but the book lacks any real diversity or life lessons. The two friends end up using all the things they packed to play pirates. 

I doubt that Ms. Norton would call this a book that meets the standards of high quality literature set fourth by Norton (2011) Neither would I.