PreS-Gr 2-A brilliantly simple book that is absolutely true to life, as anyone who interacts with an obdurate three-year-old can attest. The bus driver has to leave for a while, and he makes one request of readers: "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus." It's the height of common sense, but the driver clearly knows this determined pigeon and readers do not-yet. "Hey, can I drive the bus?" asks the bird, at first all sweet reason, and then, having clearly been told no by readers, he begins his ever-escalating, increasingly silly bargaining. "I tell you what: I'll just steer," and "I never get to do anything," then "No fair! I bet your mom would let me." In a wonderfully expressive spread, the pigeon finally loses it, and, feathers flying and eyeballs popping, screams "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!" in huge, scratchy, black-and-yellow capital letters. The driver returns, and the pigeon leaves in a funk-until he spies a huge tractor trailer, and dares to dream again. Like David Shannon's No, David (Scholastic, 1998), Pigeon is an unflinching and hilarious look at a child's potential for mischief. In a plain palette, with childishly elemental line drawings, Willems has captured the essence of unreasonableness in the very young. The genius of this book is that the very young will actually recognize themselves in it.-Dona Ratterree, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Life is tricky. You could argue that, but why? Do you have that much free time? You do? Oh. Okay, we’ll just pretend that TBR pile in the corner doesn’t exist. Over here though, we don’t have time to argue about whether life is tricky. Of course, it is! It’s so tricky, in fact, that […]
The obsession with Elephant and Piggie, best friends who star in a series of books by Sesame Street veteran and Pigeon provider Mo Willems, runs deep in my household. To give you an idea: Most mornings, the first thing my 3½-year-old says to me is, “I’m still Elephant, and you’re still Piggie.” When she sees […]
Few people have done more to encourage our children to read than the late Dr. Seuss, born Theodore Geisel. As the author of iconic picture books including The Cat in the Hat, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss made words magical and taught generations of children that […]
When you’re looking for the perfect gift for the most enthusiastic readers in your life—otherwise known as the picture book set—consult this list of our favorites. Featuring fed-up crayons, ornery grandparents, mischievous pigeons and puppies, and insightful shells, this list of picture book classics new and old is brimming with stimulating, insightful, and above all fun books […]
It’s nearing 8 p.m. on a midsummer’s eve, and while there’s not a wide eyelid in the house, your crew’s obviously not going down without a story or two. However, Corduroy’s found his button enough already, the pigeon has certainly driven the bus, and Pooh Bear’s fed his honey habit for ages—it’s time for something […]