Elephants Cannot Dance! By Mo Willems

Reviewed by Lori
Elephants Cannot Dance!


Title: Elephants Cannot Dance!

Series: Elephant and Piggie

Author: Mo Willems

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 35689

Description: Gerald the elephant is certain that he cannot dance but his friend Piggie convinces him to try.






Curriculum Links: 

  • Character Ed: Perseverance
  • Character Ed: Respect
  • Character Ed: Kindness
  • Learning Differences
  • Arts: Dance
  • Social Studies: Feelings
  • Reading: Transforming

Notes: 

Design: Piggie dancing next to a dejected elephant on the cover just makes you want to open the book.  The title automatically makes you wonder if really elephants can dance!  The front endpapers show Piggie dancing and the back endpapers show elephant trying to dance and pigeon too!

Content and Illustrations: The story is well written.  The book may say that elephants cannot dance but it doesn't say that they cannot "try."  This is such a great concept for young readers.  So while Piggie attempts to teach elephant to dance, elephant has trouble doing things the same as his friend.  But in the end a couple of squirrels want to learn to dance "the elephant." What a great morale booster!  Nobody does things exactly the same - just try your best.  The illustrations are very simple with Elephant and Piggie dancing on a plain white page.  their words are spoken in little speech bubbles.  Piggie's are pink and Elephant's are gray so again visually easy to see who is speaking.  Very appealing in its simplicity.


Recommended Audience: Kindergarten to Grade 2

  • Any students struggling to learn something new would be a great audience for this book, whether it's learning to dance, play a new sport, learning to read, or tying shoes, the point is to try and to keep trying.
  • A very good book for students that may be struggling with learning disabilities, particularly as elephant seems to do everything backwards.

Inquiries and Activities: 
  • What kinds of dance do you know?
  • Share a performance with your class.  (Ex. TV Show: So You Think You Can Dance)
  • Create your own dance move.  Teach it to someone else.  Put the moves together.
  • Listen to variety of different kinds of music such as classical, pop, jazz etc.  How do you move your body when the song is slow/fast etc.
  • Can you do something really well?  Teach it to the rest of the class.
  • Why is it important to be persistent and keep trying?

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