Happy Monday! I hope it has been a great one for you.
Both Alabama and Auburn won their games this weekend, so football is the topic of most of the conversation around here among the students and the faculty. Today we’ll be battling two easy readers about football. Tedd Arnold’s Hooray for Fly Guy! and David A. Adler’s Don’t Throw it to Mo!
VS. 
The Similarities
These books had some obvious things in common. Both of them deal with a football player on the tiny side warming up the team bench. Both football teams are behind in their game, and it comes down to the final play in both games. Of course, the tiny heroes Fly Guy and Mo, come into the game at the end and save the day for their respective teams.
The Differences
Besides the obvious, the heroes being of different species, the books have some differences too. Mo Jackson’s coach believed in him the whole time. The other team may not have, (and paid for it) but his coach knew he could come through in the end, and was quick to give him credit when he did. Fly Guy’s coach din’t believe in him at all, for good reason. Fly Guy really couldn’t do anything that a football payer needs to do to play the game. The only reason he puts Fly Guy in is because his new star player got hurt, and he needs someone on the field. He even says, “The game is lost anyway.” So when the big plays happen, when Mo catches the touchdown pass, and when Fly Guy flies up into the opposing quarterback’s nose causing him to fumble (Not sure there isn’t a targeting or a hands to the face penalty in there somewhere) the coaches probably have different levels of surprise. I think that Fly Guy probably has a more triumphant feel to it because He and Buzz are not only beating the other team in the end, but they’re proving their own coach wrong as well.
The Student Judges
I read both of these books to first grade today, and they did a great job pointing out the similarities and differences. When it came time to vote, 5 of them voted for Don’t Throw it to Mo! About 13 of them voted for Fly Guy. But to be fair, they had already developed a love for Fly Guy from the other books we’ve read this year. I asked them why the voted they way they did, and the Fly Guy supporters said that it was funnier because Fly Guy flew up his nose. The Mo supporters said they liked it because Mo Jackson sounded like Bo Jackson, who is an Auburn legend. They also liked how Mo’s mother woke him up every day by yelling, “It’s a long throw!” and then having him dive out of bed to catch the ball.
The Verdict
I agree with the majority of the 1st graders today. Both books are a fun read, but Hooray for Fly Guy is funnier.
Winner!
Next Week: It’s a Frog Pop-up book frenzy! Mo Willems’ Big Frog Can’t Fit In vs. The Wide-Mouthed Frog.
Tales of an Elementary School Librarian 