Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

Mo Willems is fantastic! You only need pick up any of his books to discover this for yourself. He started his career as a writer and animator for Sesame Street for which he has won 6 Emmy Awards for his writing.

His books are so funny, not just for children but adults too!

Which brings me to 'Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed'

"There is so much to learn about the fascinating little creatures know as naked mole rats.

But, for this story, you only need to know three things:

1. They are a little bit rat.

2. They are a little bit mole.

3. They are all naked.

Well, they were, with one exception...

Wilbur liked to get dressed. Clothes were fun and warm.

One of the things I love about this book is the use of naked mole rats to flip our expectations. If this were a story about a man who liked to get undressed, I think the storyline would have taken a remarkably different turn. And when he asks "Why not?" (the ultimate question that sways wise old Grand-pah to try on a jaunty suit himself), could have been answered rather firmly and succinctly had it been people in the story...

As it stands, we giggle as the naturally naked mole rats are repulsed by Wilbur's clothing. We see the fun of dressing "fancy or funny or cool" or, as Wilbur says, "or I can just be an astronaut."

The other thing I love about this book is by then end, when clothing has been accepted, not all the mole rats get dressed. In fact there are more naked mole rats than there are ones with clothes. This speaks volumes about acceptance and diversity and being true to yourself than if they had all gotten dressed. To me this says 'each can be who they want to be, and each is accepted for who they are'. Which in this day and age is the type of message that needs to be reinstated more often.

 

4.5 Gold Stars

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