Kara Dean of Not Just for Kids is our blogger of the day, as well as a panelist for this year's Easy Readers category. Since August of 2007, Kara–a children's librarian, writer, and reviewer–been posting about her favorite books and other happenings in the children's lit world under the moniker of Children's Literature Guru.
Earlier this month, the Guru reviewed one of the Cybils Easy Reader nominees by an author familiar to and beloved by many: Mo Willems. His recent book I Will Surprise My Friend! features familiar funny faces Elephant and Piggie, who decide to play a game of hide-and-seek which ends up going somewhat awry. The characters' friendship is the central theme of the Elephant and Piggie books, and this installment in the story is no exception. According to Kara:
Willems has taken the same winning combination that he utilizes in his picture books–memorable characters, silly humor, simple wisdom, boundless enthusiasm–and applied it to the easy reader format.
Click here to read the full review.