Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems

Our bimonthly theme, Stream of Stories and Whispering Water Tales, continues with this delightful picture book by Mo Willems. When we decided to work on this theme, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find a picture book in my shelf that would fall under that category. I was about to give up when, lo and behold, I was greeted by the happy face of Gerald the elephant!

Reliving Childhood Memories

In Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Gerald and Piggie went out in the sun to have some fun. Piggie came up with the perfect plan.

We are going to do everything today!
We are going to run!
We are going to skip!
We are going to jump!
NOTHING CAN STOP US!

I remember when I was a child, as soon as I had my breakfast, I would knock on my friends’ doors and invite them to play outside. I used to play old-school games like hopscotch, jump rope, hide and seek, and tag, among others. Before we got consumed by televisions and computers, fun consisted of outdoor activities.

Outdoor activities sure sounded a lot of fun for Piggie. However, she didn’t expect Mother Nature to join in the fun…

Piggie wasn’t too happy about the rain. With the sun out and shining so brightly, she didn’t think that it would rain at all. Now Piggie was in a bad mood, and Gerald didn’t know what to do for his friend.

Positive Thinking and Finding Good in All Things

“Being soaked alone is cold. Being soaked with your best friend is an adventure.”
– Emily Wing Smith, Back When You Were Easier to Love

Gerald was more worried about Piggie than the rain. Despite his sweet and thoughtful attempt to keep Piggie dry by using his ear to shield his friend from the rain, Piggie didn’t like the fact that it was still raining. Things took a different turn when Piggie and Gerald learned what it truly meant to have fun.

Click on the image to be taken to the websource, and to view J'licious's short but sweet blog post about "Playing in the Rain." — Click on the image to be taken to the websource, and to view J’licious’s short but sweet blog post about “Playing in the Rain.”

Winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, Are You Ready to Play Outside? teaches kids that they can still turn a bad day into a good one. How one looks at things affects how one feels about them. This delightful picture, full of Mo Willems’ wit and charm as usual, reminds us of a time when we used to play in the rain with our friends, or a time when we find the good in something we thought was awful. Besides, life is too short to be spent worrying and moping around. We should all learn to loosen up and have some fun!