Preview
Copywork
About This Passage
Selected because Gerald speaks for every character who has ever been bound by their book's last page. Mo Willems teaches dialogue punctuation and the rhythm of repetition ("More... more... more..."). The phrase "I just want to be read" is one of the quietest small lines in modern children's literature — a character asking for the only thing a character can really receive.
"This book is going too fast. I have more to give. More words. More jokes. More bananas. I just want to be read."
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?
Discussion Questions
- Mo Willems breaks one of the basic rules of storytelling: he lets his characters know they are in a book. The technique has a name — metafiction — and it usually appears in books for adults. Why does Willems use it in a book for very young readers? What does the technique add that a normal story could not?
- When Gerald and Piggie realize the book is about to end, Gerald is sad. He says, "I have more to give. More words. More jokes. More bananas." Argue what kind of feeling this is for a character to have. Is Gerald afraid of dying, ending, being forgotten, or something more specific?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A person who reads; in this story, the actual reader holding the book — a character usually invisible to characters.
Item 2
A kind of story that knows it is a story and refers to itself as one; the technique Mo Willems uses in this book.
Item 3
A long yellow fruit with a peel; the silly word Piggie chooses to make the reader say out loud.
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Critical Thinking
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