Snake & Bat Books in Order

Snake & Bat is Mo Willems’s early-reader series about two best friends with different ways of approaching the same day. It takes place in the world of Elephant & Piggie, with a new pair at the centre of the action. Bat likes making plans, while Snake is happy to explore and play. Their friendship leaves room for both approaches, including the mistakes and surprises that come with trying things together.

The opening book, What Will We Find in This Box?, begins with a discovery that seems simple enough: a cardboard box. Snake and Bat want to know what it holds, but their excitement soon spreads beyond its contents. Bat is interested in the instructions, while Snake finds ways to use the container for pretend play. The same object gives them very different kinds of enjoyment, so their shared adventure becomes a story about curiosity as much as finding an answer.

A box can be more than one thing when two friends bring their own ideas to it.

The complication is that the box belongs to someone else. That small problem introduces questions about ownership, consideration and what happens when enthusiasm gets ahead of careful thinking. Willems keeps the scale close to a young child’s experience, where an ordinary discovery can feel enormous. The setting stays visually simple, putting attention on the characters’ reactions, their conversation and the changing uses they find for what is in front of them. The connection to Elephant & Piggie also lets familiar faces share this world without taking the focus away from Snake and Bat.

In Today, I Will Make a Plan!, the difference between the friends becomes the starting point again. Bat wants to work out a perfect plan, a task that takes time. Snake plays while the planning continues. The question is whether Bat’s careful preparation has left any space for the activity happening nearby. Together, the books explore how friends can spend time alongside each other without needing identical interests or matching habits. Planning, making mistakes and responding to another person’s ideas are part of the fun.

These are comic friendship stories for beginning readers, with expressive drawings and dialogue that give small discoveries plenty of energy. The main thread is the relationship between the two animals, rather than a long quest or an elaborate imaginary setting. Starting with What Will We Find in This Box? introduces their personalities through play, and Today, I Will Make a Plan! develops the contrast between them. Both keep the focus on what it means to enjoy a friend’s company while being yourself.