It's a Sign!-Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!

Review
"[A]n all-dialogue early reader that cleverly builds on a concept while tapping into readers’ passion for categorization. Foam-stamped, digitally finished illustrations, set against minimalist backgrounds, introduce four critters of varying size and color . . . Welcoming and unabashedly appreciative of each other’s talents―and new readers’ needs―the critters model the kind of club that anyone would be happy to join."
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[A]n engaging read . . . If you find yourself giggling at this goofy story, join the club."
―Kirkus Reviews
One, Two, Kat, and Four are starting a club, and every member is good at something! Except naming clubs.
If only there were some kind of sign about what their club should be called!
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 2—Two nondescript animal characters, named One and Two, stand at tables writing "signs," which are essentially word cards. One makes paper hats for each of them and for Kat, a third character who enters the scene. The conversation continues to revolve around making more signs. The three friends are very supportive of each other and enthusiastic every time a new word is spelled out on a sign. Their caring connection is truly sweet, yet is not enough to pull readers in. Midway through the book, a fourth character named Four is introduced. Four seems to help pull the story together by spelling and writing out the word "club." Their club will be "THE PAPER-FOLDING-LETTER-WRITING-WORD-FORMING-SIGN-MAKING CLUB." Thus concludes the book, except for the last few pages when Elephant and Piggie, title characters of Mo Willems's "Elephant and Piggie Like Reading!" series that includes this book, chime in to proclaim, "Clubs are fun!" and decide to create their own club. This story doesn't quite flow. The lead characters' names are very awkward for early readers; they are clearly not phonetic reading like some of the other rhyming vocabulary words, such as hat, cat, and sat. The book contains little to no action or plot, and even the illustrations are bland and lack interest. VERDICT Pass on this one. Purchasing dollars could be better spent on more of the classic Mo Willems's "Elephant and Piggie" series titles.—Linda Annable