A Busy Creature's Day Eating!

by Mo Willems

Mo Willems delivers a smorgasbord of hunger, hubris, regret, and redemption as a Busy Creature hilariously chomps and chews its way through the alphabet now in board book format.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Food, Humor, Storytime, Monsters, Fiction

32 pages, Board Book

Published March 19, 2019

About the author

#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.

Reviews

[Joella]

I really wanted to like this. It is Mo Willems. But, I just kept comparing it to The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABCs (the Hard Way) by Patrick McDonnell--which I loved. And this one was just a disappointment in comparison.

[Becky]

First sentence:

A Apples!
B Berries!
C Cereal!
D Doughnuts
E Eggs
? !
F Furniture

Premise/plot: The 'creature' that stars in Mo Willem's newest book EATS just about anything and everything--whether it's good for him or not. Will there be consequences for his LARGE and CRAZY appetite?

My thoughts: This book is definitely over-the-top silly and designed to make children of a certain age giggle. For example, he is beginning to regret his life around the letter O. And P is for POTTY. I'll leave it to your imagination what V is for.

I would say there's a practical lesson in here somewhere, BUT, in all honesty the last thing you need to put on a queasy stomach is RICE, SALTINES, and TEA. Those foods are for after you've emptied out, not before.

Also, I have to wonder where his parents were while he was eating. Surely a parent should have stepped in and stopped him from eating a HUGE HOT-SAUCE HALIBUT HOAGIE.

I did not care for the illustrations--for the style of the illustrations. But I must admit the creature himself was drawn expressively.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 2 out of 5
Total: 6 out of 10

[Beverly]

I thought this book was terrific, and I believe it is one that kids will love. The story actually starts before the title page, and the illustrations and text work perfectly together. I also loved the chewed up letters on the back end papers.

[J9]

Cute, funny, book about learning the alphabet. Each letter is associated with the main character eating something and then halfway through, getting sick. All words for the alphabet are related to a food or action. A story and learning in one.

[Kimberly]

Hahahaha. I accurately predicted Z about halfway through the book. This is very cute.

[Amanda]

Not my favorite Mo Willems book; in fact, it has been a while since a Mo Willems book has been my favorite Mo Willems book. Hmm, what is going on Mo? Where has the magic gone? When was the last time I really LOVED one of your books or really LAUGHED or SIGHED during one of your books? Where are all of the nifty little twists that you usually incorporate?

I had more fun finding all of my favorite characters hiding throughout the book, then actually reading this. *sigh*

[Marcie]

Not my favorite Mo, but it may make a nice bedtime book and I love the DaNae's review " cautionary, alphabetical tale of overeating". May change my mind upon reading it with a little one.


OK read it with another librarian and realized how clever it really is and will probably show it to teachers to pair with another alphabet one from this year.

[Kifflie]

This is so much fun! You know it's going to be an alphabet book when you see the title. I love this hungry, goofy, "busy" creature and all of his menu items. Watch how his facial expression changes as he's considering the letter "F." And then watch as things turn a little sour around the letter "O." Delightful madness from Mo Willems -- kids and adults will love it!

[Jesse]

Leave it to Mo to produce an alphabet book in which V is for vomit. lol There's a funny story hidden in what appears to be a simple alphabet book about food. I enjoyed the twists and how he wasn't afraid to go there even when it was gross. :)

[Dna]

I love a good alphabet book to kick off my storytime and this is perfect! It's pretty simple, but the illustrations are bright and goofy and I love that V is for Vomit. Any book that includes puking speaks to me. LOL

[Andréa]

LOL. This would be a fun read for a storytime.

[Elisabeth]

Not really recognizable as a Mo Willem's book EXCEPT that it is pretty darn clever!

[Hilary]

My three year old LOVES this. It’s fun and silly plus it’s helping him recognize some letters.

[Julie]

The kids will love this latest crazy ABC book! anytime you add potty, vomit, and furniture eating in the same book it’s sure to bring lots of laughs.

[Megan]

The alphabet and gluttony! Yay!

[DaNae]

A cautionary, alphabetical tale of overeating.

[Tricia]

I was lamenting my dislike of boring old alphabet books when my boss exclaimed, but what about the Mo Willems one!

I was proven wrong. What a wonderful alphabet book with an actual storyline!

[Bryce]

This is probably the most enjoyable ABC book I've read, and I've certainly read my fair share.

[Peacegal]

This one isn't up to the high standard set by other Mo Willems books, but it's still funny, and will still entertain young tots with its elements of over-the-top and gross-out humor.

Veg*n parents note: This is a story about a wacky character eating an increasingly ridiculous amount of things. Some of these things are animal products, such as eggs and a halibut hoagie, but most of the objects eaten are ridiculous things like furniture.

[Sarah]

Both kids love this book whenever we get it from the library; lots of giggles!

[One Code 431]

Didn't like the art and top simple for even children's

[Laralee Lynch]

My new favorite alphabet book. Humorous and short, my toddler loves it too!

[Nathaniel]

Very impressive fitting a cohesive narrative into the alphabet like this

[Lynn Schlatter]

Have you ever played that improv game where your sentence always has to begin with the next letter of the alphabet from your partner's ("Announcing the latest in headgear from Macy's . . ." "Bullhorns?" "Cream-colored bullhorns, that's exactly right!")? I have the feeling Mo Willems was watching one of those and thought, "I could write a book . . . "

Anyway, this tale of an indeterminate creature munching their way through the alphabet is typical Willems: mostly very silly and frenetic with a satisfying wrap-up that's a little more touching than the Elephant and Piggie books. Lagniappe: if your child is already pretty good with letters you can move on to exploring the difference in punctuation as the story moves along. Also you get to learn that pretty much all little creatures need the same things to settle their stomachs.

Willems does cheat and use the letters A and Z twice at the beginning and end of the book, but it's not right for me to complain because I didn't realize the title was A-B-C-D-E words until after I'd looked at it a couple of times.

[Alyssa Baxter]

This book has a creature eat its way through the alphabet. The things it eats range from appropriate foods to things that are not food, until it gets sick. This book can help students learn about the alphabet or about appropriate behaviors. It would be a fun read aloud for younger students. Afterwards, students can try to come up with their own alphabet of foods. This book has a controlled vocabulary, so beginning readers can read it. The book can also be used to lead a discussion about appropriate behaviors because many younger kids tend to eat things that they are not supposed to, like glue. This book can help them see that not everything should be put into their mouths. The book includes fun and bright colorful illustrations that made me want to look at the pages for a while. The book made me laugh at the silly things that creature eats. I would love to show this book to my niece and nephew because they love the alphabet, like a lot of little kids.

[Jordan]

For the pre-k and kindergarten students this is a must! This book introduces the alphabet in a fun and silly way, that the kids at my preschool this summer loved. The book has a creature eat their way through the alphabet, all the while teaching kids about eating right. I can see how this book’s illustrations would be appealing to young students because they are very vibrant and eye-catching. This book could be used to talk about letters, and to have discussion about eating healthy, such as asking questions about why the creature felt sick, and what he could have done differently, or maybe what he could have ate instead. These sorts of questions can help develop children’s comprehension ability.

[Catherine]

Doesn't matter what I think, my 5 year old picked up the book and started reciting (not reading yet) it to himself after I had only read it to him once. He finds the creature funny and not just because there is a toilet in the book and the creature vomits. It's because he is eating such silly things.

My son is usually so uninterested in alphabet books, but he is in the early stages of reading so I love that this is one that he will go to himself and reinforce the letter sounds. He asks for the correct words on the pages that he doesn't remember.

I have no objections to the queasy feeling guy heading for the potty or vomiting. These are things that happen to kids, why not write about it?

[Gretchen]

Mo Willems has an amazing mind and I love seeing how it operates through his books. I would like to use this in a writing mini-lesson about how to use something as simple, and difficult, as the alphabet to create a story. The letters help you along the way but they also mean you need to be really thoughtful about each word and how they connect. For students that think that every word that flows from their pencils is amazing and not in need of any change, an assignment to do a story like this might really get them thinking about the importance of each and every word. Not to mention, they will be laughing and talking about this book for days.

[Allison]

"An alphabetical smorgasbord," it says above Mo Willems's name in the title page. The title purple "creature" wakes up and promptly begins to eat his way through the alphabet-- apples, berries, cereal, but after eggs, things get a little creative. The creature starts eating a jacket, a kilt, and a lunch box (not the lunch inside). Things go downhill pretty quickly after that, as not all the food agrees with him. It's all as hilarious as you would expect from Mo Willems. We get all the way through the alphabet, but it's not merely an alphabet list. Willems has created an alphabet book with lots of fun words, laughs and a story.

[Betsy Ellor]

Taking for granted that Mo Willems' drawings are always hilarious, this book is a treat. There are a million alphabet books out there but this one is so fun kids won't even know they are learning. My 5 year-old read this himself with only a little help from me. That's partially because he could use the illustrations to figure out some of the harder words. Books like this help him understand how reading works and to give him a sense of accomplishment about reading that inspires him to work harder to read other things.

Loved it! We burn through library books, but this one is worth owning. It has definite re-readability.