Drama: I Really Like Slop!

The drama book I selected is titled I Really Like Slop! written and illustrated by Mo Willems. This book is one of many ‘Elephant and Piggie Books’ where these friends go on many different adventures together! In I Really Like Slop! Piggie is trying to convince Gerald (the elephant) to try their favorite food: slop. Gerald is hesitate because of how the slop looks and the smell. At first Gerald refuses to try the slop, but once he sees that Piggie’s feeling are hurt, he changes his mind and tries a very small taste. When Piggie asks if he liked it, Gerald answers honestly by saying, “No, but I am glad I tried it. Because I really like you.”

I Really Like Slop! is a great mini-drama that young readers will love. The story is told completely told through the dialogue between both characters. On each page Gerald and Piggie have dialogue bubbles that are also color coded (i.e. Piggies’ dialogue bubbles are pink and Gerald’s are grey) so readers are able to easily recognize who is talking. The drama is this book is clearly expressed through the illustrations and how the text is written. For example, the text is bigger if the character is yelling or showing excitement to better understand the character’s tone. Also, while the plot is simple, how the characters interact with each other keeps the reader interested to learn what will happen next.

As Piggie mentions, “Eating slop is part of pig culture” therefore this book can be used as a opportunity to discuss ‘Respect for Others’ under the six elements of social justice education. ‘Respect for Others’ is when teachers provide opportunities for students to share about their culture with their classmates and have respect for the diversity among students. In this book, Piggie wants to share a part of her culture with Gerald. What’s important is that Gerald tries something unfamiliar because of his friendship with Piggie which shows his respect for her and her culture. Therefore, this story provides opportunities for students to also consider trying new things out of respect for diversity in others.

In my future classroom I would use this book as a shared reading tool. For example, I would pair students together and have them pick with character they would like to be. The students would then read the story together as Piggie and Gerald. Students will match the tone of each character, meaning if Piggie is excited, the student will read and change their tone to match Piggie and so on. I would also consider pairing students together who are on slightly different reading levels. By doing this, students will increase their reading levels through their peers.