Author/Illustrator: Mo Willems
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children, New York, NY (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 142311437X
ISBN-13: 978-1423114376
Synopsis: Wilbur, the naked mole rat, is not quite like the other naked mole rats. For one thing, he isn't naked! While all the other naked mole rats feel free to be, well, naked, Wilbur insists on wearing clothes. In fact, he even opens a clothing store! When the other naked mole rats get angry with him for wearing clothes and try to force him to stop wearing clothes, insisting "Naked mole rats don't wear clothes!" Wilbur's only response is, "Why not?" The other naked mole rats run to their founding patriarch, Grand-pah, "the oldest, greatest, and most naked naked mole rat ever", to try to get him to talk some sense into Wilbur. But Grand-pah's involvement has some unintended results!
Review: Mo Willems uses humor, simple lines and bright colors to tell the story of Wilbur, a naked mole rat who prefers not to be naked, even when all around him insist he must conform and be like everyone else in the community. By leaving the backgrounds of the pages nearly bare, Willems concentrates readers' focus on the characters in his storybook, allowing them to show children it is okay to be different from everyone else, and that we should accept each other - whether we're naked mole rats or clothed ones.
Awards/Reviews:
- 2009 Parents’ Choice Gold Award
- NY Times Bestseller
"Willems’ art follows the simple style of his Elephant and Piggie books, and is dominated in color by (no surprise) naked-mole-rat pink. An ongoing horizontal line lends continuity to most of the pages, occasionally curving to add simple architecture to the scenes. But mostly it is Wilbur’s guileless observations that will have young readers feeling good about individual expression." - Booklist
"Willems has a talent for creating funny lines, verbally and visually. Beige backgrounds provide an uncluttered stage for his pink creatures with their oversize rectangular heads, each conveying a distinctive personality. Much of the humor resides in the subtle changes in Wilbur's eyes and, of course, in his colorful costumes. Adults will embrace the message of tolerance, happy to have a tale that can be shared with young children. They will also appreciate the hints of Charles Schultz that surface here and there. Kids will giggle-and wish their daily dramas had similar endings. Now, however, they'll have a script." - Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library, in School Library Journal
Connections: Invite students to think about what makes us the same and what makes us different. Discuss whether different is necessarily bad, and whether or not "same" always means "good." Another connection: Use the book as a springboard to talk about animals and do some research on naked mole rats. What do they eat? (Students will probably be fascinated when they discover naked mole rats eat their own feces!) Alternately, teachers or librarians could read this book back-to-back with "The Emperor's New Clothes". Have students compare and contrast the message of the books. Additionally, several educators have posted lesson plans or ideas to use with this book:
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