Family Fridays – Pigeon Series by Mo Willems

Posted by on Aug 16, 2013

Book: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (2003)

Series: Pigeon Series

Genre: Children’s General

Ages: 2-6 years

Blurb:

When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place-a pigeon! But you’ve never met one like this before. As he pleads, wheedles, and begs his way through the book, children will love being able to answer back and decide his fate. In his hilarious picture book debut, popular cartoonist Mo Willems perfectly captures a preschooler’s temper tantrum.

Review:

As I’ve said before, every single thing I’ve read by Mo Willems, I’ve just fallen in love with immediately. The Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus was my first introduction to Willems’ work, via my (at the time) two year old niece – it was one of her favorite books. The simple drawings emote all the angst and range of a little one denied something that is obviously theirs by rights. It’s a fun, interactive story from start to finish. I have several books from the series and they are all absolutely excellent. They don’t need to be read in any order. While writing this post, I kept trying to pick my favorite to share with you, but I just couldn’t do it. I was able to narrow it down to four, but that’s just because these are the only four that I’ve read (so far!). So, without further ado, here are the official Lector’s Books top picks for the Pigeon Series:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The original! Amazon, Barnes & Noble

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! The puppy in this book is ridiculously cute. Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! Also appropriate for parents and/or grandparents. Amazon, Barnes & Noble

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? A nice lesson about sharing, being polite, and the deviousness of ducklings.  Amazon, Barnes & Noble

What’s your favorite?

*If you use these links to make a purchase, Lector’s Books may receive a small commission. This will not affect your price or purchasing experience in any way.

 

6 Comments

  1. Beth Hennings
    August 16, 2013

    My fave is Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late. I’m not a night person!

    • lectorsbooks
      August 16, 2013

      I’m becoming less of a night person, thanks to the influnce of my son, the morning person. 🙂

      I also really love that one as the pigeon’s expressions capture so perfectly a little one trying to fight sleep.

  2. Beth Waits
    August 16, 2013

    MO WILLEMS!!!! I am so excited about this post. You know how I feel about Mo Willems! I just love his books. I actually heard about him for the first time while listening to NPR’s morning edition. He was giving an interview about The Duckling Gets a Cookie, and he started to read parts of the book aloud (doing the voices, of course!). I remember laughing and laughing all the way to work that day. Since then, I’ve been such a huge fan. When I went to look for the Duckling book, I was surprised by how many other books he’s written. I go to the bookstore a lot, and I would say at least 2-3 times per month, I go to the kids section and just read Mo Willems. They are so great! I typically don’t laugh out loud when I read, but I do with his books; I just can’t help it! It’s really impossible to pick “favorites.” If I had to pick, though, I’d go with: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Pigeon Finds a Hot dog (so funny!), and Duckling Gets a Cookie. There’s a new Pigeon book coming out in April called The Pigeon Needs a Bath. I’m really looking forward to that one.

    Also, have you read the Elephant and Piggie series? Oh my goodness!!! They are hilarious. They’re actually my all-time favorites by him (which is hard to imagine, given how much I love Pigeon), and there are so many in this series! My very favorites (again, so hard to pick “favorites”) include: We’re in a Book (this was my first E&P book), There is a Bird on Your Head!, A Big Guy Took My Ball, Let’s Go for a Drive!, Elephants Can Not Dance!, and I Broke my Trunk. The Elephant’s name is actually Gerald. Piggie is just Piggie. On E&P books, there’s always a hidden picture of Pigeon on the front or back inside cover.

    He also has some stand alone books that are wonderful. Have you read Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed? It’s so good. It’s about a naked mole rat that likes to wears clothes, and the other mole rats become frustrated and annoyed by this. Last weekend, I went to Barnes and discovered another one by him called Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. So funny! Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of Mo Willems, and I’m so glad you posted this! I’m sure I could go on and on, but I’ll stop.

    I’ve been giving his books to all of the kids/babies I know. Even if I don’t know them all that well, or they are not able to read/understand books yet, I give them anyway! Pretty soon, if I don’t check myself, I’ll starting handing them out to perfect strangers. Anyways, sorry this has been a bit of a rant. I just get so excited about these books! Thanks for posting!

    • lectorsbooks
      August 16, 2013

      I KNOW! ISN’T HE THE GREATEST?!? I get really excited about him, too! 🙂

      I haven’t actually read any of his stand alone books, but I will check them out the next time I’m at a bookstore! And the hot dog one!

      I absolutely love the Elephant and Piggie books. I’d say that “We are in a Book” deserves to be included in any “top children’s books” list. It’s just so great! The characters are fun and it talks about the reading process!!! What’s not to love?

      Have you read Knuffle Bunny? Hilarious. Keep up the good work of spreading the Mo Willems love around. I think random strangers would benefit from this, too! Waaaaay better than handing out coupons to a local lunch place or whatever. Just think how much better off the world would be if people were randomly Mo Willems-ed in the street.

  3. Debi Morton
    August 16, 2013

    Janie, we love the Pigeon series! My grandchildren have almost all of the books and have wanted them read over and over. I know you are going to be reading them again and again with Thomas as he grows up.

    • lectorsbooks
      August 16, 2013

      So glad all of us Mo Willems fans are coming out of the woodwork! I think he’s one of the great children’s authors/illustrators of our time.

      They’re already some of my go-to books with Thomas, since they are fun for me to read! I can’t wait until he’s old enough to really enjoy them, too.