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Elephant & Piggie #4
There Is a Bird on Your Head!
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In There Is a Bird On My Head , Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head--two birds on your head Can Piggie help her best friend?
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
In There Is a Bird On My Head , Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head--two birds on your head Can Piggie help her best friend?
64 pages, Paperback
First published July 31, 2007
59 people are currently reading
3718 people want to read
About the author
Mo Willems
231 books4,124 followers#1 New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems is best known for his Caldecott Honor winning picture books Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: a cautionary tale.
In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91.
The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."
Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation.
Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door.
He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.
In addition to such picture books as Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct, and Time to Pee, Mo has created the Elephant and Piggie books, a series of early readers, and published You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons, an annotated cartoon journal sketched during a year-long voyage around the world in 1990-91.
The New York Times Book Review called Mo “the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's."
Mo’s work books have been translated into a myriad of languages, spawned animated shorts and theatrical musical productions, and his illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation.
Mo began his career as a writer and animator for television, garnering 6 Emmy awards for his writing on Sesame Street, creating Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City and head-writing Codename: Kids Next Door.
He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,054 reviews
April 24, 2022
Without a doubt the most absurd of all the Elephant and Piggie books. A bird lands on Gerald's head. He, for obvious reasons, does not want a bird on his head. Things get worse for Gerald as rather than ridding himself of the bird, it seems to decide to start a family.
All these books are designed to make children laugh, but this one is easily the silliest of the books. It goes to increasingly absurd levels which makes my daughter laugh every time. No doubt this is one is a winner for most children who want a silly story.
It's not personally one of my favorites in the series, as I generally prefer the ones focusing on the friendship of the two characters (I find those ones to be genuinely sweet and surprisingly good at getting complex feelings across to young children), but there is certainly an appeal to the weirdness of this one. 3/5 stars
All these books are designed to make children laugh, but this one is easily the silliest of the books. It goes to increasingly absurd levels which makes my daughter laugh every time. No doubt this is one is a winner for most children who want a silly story.
It's not personally one of my favorites in the series, as I generally prefer the ones focusing on the friendship of the two characters (I find those ones to be genuinely sweet and surprisingly good at getting complex feelings across to young children), but there is certainly an appeal to the weirdness of this one. 3/5 stars
August 8, 2021
this book misses a five-star rating because i don't like the art in it, even though i usually love his art. however, i'm glad to see a children's book that recognizes the evil of birds, and how arrogant and cruel they can be. the title alone gives me chills...
come to my blog!
come to my blog!
May 27, 2017
Children just adore Elephant and Piggie. "There is a Bird on Your Head" is a personal favorite, but all Mo Willems books are wonderful. The illustrations are cute and the reading is extremely simple with short sentences in large bold font. Mo Willems is undeniably one of our favorite authors!
5*****
5*****
July 3, 2018
Elephant and Piggie enter yet another wonderful story with much to say and laughs aplenty for the young reader. When Piggie advises her best friend that he has a bird on his head, Gerald is anything but impressed. What begins as a single bird is soon a pair and before he knows it, Gerald has a full-blown nest atop his head. He tries everything he can think of to rid himself of the birds, to no avail. Finally, Piggie has an idea and Gerald is free, if only for a time. New enjoyed this one and told me that he would love to read it again soon. Our tag-team work on this piece brought the story to life.
March 28, 2019
My God my loved this one!
Two birds decide to make their nest on the top of Gerald's head. Piggie informs him that they are in love, so he shouldn't disturb them.
Soon they will have three eggs hutching.
Your little one may start asking you about flowers and bees and how the eggs appeared inside the nest. Be prepared!
Two birds decide to make their nest on the top of Gerald's head. Piggie informs him that they are in love, so he shouldn't disturb them.
Soon they will have three eggs hutching.
Your little one may start asking you about flowers and bees and how the eggs appeared inside the nest. Be prepared!
June 27, 2018
Amiguitos, les tengo una enorme noticia: Mi hija ya esta empezando a leer.
Ok, quizá no es la gran cosa, pero para mi y mi latosa, es un enorme paso en su futuro como bookworm.
Y fue justo con este libro que empezó a hacerlo, obviamente en este momento es más por memorización de palabras que realmente leer como tal, pero verla descubrir la historia por sí sola, es increíble.
Elephant & Piggie, se volverán un clásico se los aseguro.
Una historia muy divertida, con un vocabulario sencillo y repetitivo, además de que los gráficos no están saturados, son sencillos y expresivos.
Ok, quizá no es la gran cosa, pero para mi y mi latosa, es un enorme paso en su futuro como bookworm.
Y fue justo con este libro que empezó a hacerlo, obviamente en este momento es más por memorización de palabras que realmente leer como tal, pero verla descubrir la historia por sí sola, es increíble.
Elephant & Piggie, se volverán un clásico se los aseguro.
Una historia muy divertida, con un vocabulario sencillo y repetitivo, además de que los gráficos no están saturados, son sencillos y expresivos.
December 11, 2012
I don't think you can truly appreciate the genius of this series until you read them with someone between 3-5 years old.
September 14, 2021
short and hilarious
September 14, 2011
Astounding in its portrayal of modern existence, There Is a Bird on Your Head is unparallelled by any other work in the western canon of literature. Willems asks the question "What does it mean to be human?" and answers with singular definitiveness to the extent that the former problem need never be pondered again. In it's shadow, all other canonical works—even those of Milton and Shakespeare—are rendered insignificant by Willems' resonant masterpiece. There Is a Bird on Your Head is a rare watershed accomplishment to be delighted by and reckoned with.
August 20, 2018
Really cute and funny! Amazing pick for kids.
April 28, 2018
The power of asking for something politely.
October 11, 2017
Mo Willems clearly knows how to write a funny and engaging easy reader. There Is a Bird on Your Head! has plenty of repetition, a very limited amount of words, a large type, color-coded speech bubbles instead of dialogue tags, and minimalist yet very expressive cartoon illustrations with plenty of visual clues and ample white space:
The story itself is silly and humorous (and totally improbable, but that is clearly not the point). However, it did feel a little bit stretched out to me… but it might not be so for the young readers. And if they cannot get enough of this book, there are 24 more books in the Elephant & Piggie series.
The story itself is silly and humorous (and totally improbable, but that is clearly not the point). However, it did feel a little bit stretched out to me… but it might not be so for the young readers. And if they cannot get enough of this book, there are 24 more books in the Elephant & Piggie series.
October 7, 2009
Cracks me up! He's the new Dr. Seuss. Not said lightly.
February 5, 2021
We love Elephant and Piggie in our house. Perfect, silly stories for early readers. We always try to spot Pigeon. Mo Willems is terrific.
January 31, 2021
We’ve read this one a few times already since the boys received it as one of their bookish advent tree books, but this was the first time in 2021.
July 20, 2013
Another book by one of our favorite authors, Mo Willems, and a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner as well. Given to the most distinguished American book for beginner readers, the award fits this book, and this author, well. Easy to read (probably a level 1 reader), it is lovable by both young and old alike. Even my 3 yr old twins can follow the story and get a kick out of the exasperated expressions on the characters faces and the fact that there's a bird on the elephant's head. Even though my 5 yr old could read these easily to my twins as part of his homework, freeing up some of my time, I can never quite bring myself to let him. At least whenever we get a new one. I love them so much myself, I want it to be a family event. This book is another favorite for us.
February 8, 2017
For some inexplicable reason my son didn't want me to translate this book back into English, which I'd offered to do and wouldn't have been a stretch. At any rate, the text is not what makes these books so awesome - it's the pictures, which tell the story completely. A child need only have the story read to her once to be able to "read" it by themselves if they can't yet actually read. These simple line drawings are so expressive and fun to read!
May 23, 2022
My granddaughter, who is finishing up kindergarten, loves these elephant & piggie books. She is able to read them herself, and they have been great for her as she has been learning to read.
In this one, Gerald the elephant thinks something has landed on his head. Piggie investigates and reports that there is a bird there. Soon, one bird turns into two, then they lay eggs. Gerald strongly wishes to have nothing on his head, but when Gerald gets his wish, something is on Piggie's head instead. It's adorable.
In this one, Gerald the elephant thinks something has landed on his head. Piggie investigates and reports that there is a bird there. Soon, one bird turns into two, then they lay eggs. Gerald strongly wishes to have nothing on his head, but when Gerald gets his wish, something is on Piggie's head instead. It's adorable.
August 17, 2019
There Is A Bird On Your Head! is a great children's book about confrontation. In this adventure of Elephant and Piggie, the two find themselves in an awkward predicament... there is a bird on Elephant's head! The whole story, Elephant complains about his bird problem, he could've simply asked them to go away. The artwork is very simple yet pleasing. I would definitely recommend this one.
December 24, 2017
Piggy believes she is being helpful by providing Gerald with some advice, but in the end it works against her
October 5, 2018
Oy, vey! What do you do when two birds build a nest on your head?
First of all, Don't panic!
Then . . .
More fun with this fine comedy duo.
First of all, Don't panic!
Then . . .
More fun with this fine comedy duo.
December 10, 2018
Hahaha. Great plot twist. I can see how this won a Geisel Award. Highly entertaining and fun for all ages.
September 7, 2025
Great one to re-enact as a family if you don’t mind toddler feet slamming your eye sockets
January 11, 2019
my reading buddie made me read this at least 50 times
October 7, 2013
This is a story about an Elephant who can not see all that is going on on his head. Two birds build a nest and lay eggs, which hatch, on top of his head.
This is a good book to teach repeition for early readers as well as refreshing counting in everyday situations.
I really like the enthusiasm this book shares through it's words. You can see when the Elephant is not happy and how when he asks for them to leave, and they do, he is so happy. (But the pig is not =) ).
The illustrations are simple, and work well with the amount of words on each page. It is not overwhelming to the student. The cover accurately illustrates the book and can draw interest to readers.
This book would be good for first grade, but may be good at the end of kindergarten.
This is a good book to teach repeition for early readers as well as refreshing counting in everyday situations.
I really like the enthusiasm this book shares through it's words. You can see when the Elephant is not happy and how when he asks for them to leave, and they do, he is so happy. (But the pig is not =) ).
The illustrations are simple, and work well with the amount of words on each page. It is not overwhelming to the student. The cover accurately illustrates the book and can draw interest to readers.
This book would be good for first grade, but may be good at the end of kindergarten.
October 7, 2018
2008 Geisel Award Winner, deservedly!
I actually laughed out loud at this book.
Mo Willems does it again with Elephant and Piggie.
Elephant has a freak out when a bird not only lands on his head, but also falls in love, builds a nest, has eggs and....so on....
Elephant and Piggie's facial expressions are what create such hysterical humor; fun ending; good upbeat read aloud and fundamental of emotions
I actually laughed out loud at this book.
Mo Willems does it again with Elephant and Piggie.
Elephant has a freak out when a bird not only lands on his head, but also falls in love, builds a nest, has eggs and....so on....
Elephant and Piggie's facial expressions are what create such hysterical humor; fun ending; good upbeat read aloud and fundamental of emotions
May 26, 2016
Storytime win. They actually roared with laughter today.
January 13, 2016
Hands down the funniest one I have read. And the niece agrees.
January 18, 2018
I though this was a wonderful book. Elephant and Piggie are minding there business and then all of a sudden there is a bird on Elephants head. He panics and then there is another bird on his head. He panics some more and then a birds nest is on his head. He panics some more and then there are eggs on his head and then they hatch and there is a family of birds on his head. Elephant just wants to get them all off his head and Piggie observes the action happening on Elephants head and suggest ways to get the birds off his friends head.
January 2, 2019
Seriously. Elephant and piggie are great. These books are a fairly recent discovery for us. We do not stop laughing. Honestly, these books can be helpful for children whose read aloud is not expressive. Reading the book with matching emotions to elephant and piggie expressions make it that much more enjoyable. Kyla is our favorite elephant and piggie narrator, currently.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,054 reviews