Book Review For DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!

Book Review For:

 

Willems, Mo. 2003. DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!. Ill. by Mo Willems.
            New York: Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN078681988X

            This funny picture book starts off with a bus driver giving readers parting instructions not to let the pigeon drive the bus. The pigeon then repeatedly tries to convince readers to abandon those instructions and let him drive, and there’s no telling what this pigeon will do next to get his way! Will he find a way to actually drive the bus? Will he convince readers to let him? Read it to find out!

            Mo Willems has expertly created a picture book that practically begs to be read out loud to young children who like to say “no”. The two characters are quite believable, with the bus driver being an authority figurehead and the pigeon acting like a persistent, determined child. The style of the driver’s uniform and the bus is a 1950’s style, and the passage of time is broken into three sections: before the driver leaves, when he is gone, and when he returns. Willem also uses multiple scenes, each on its own square, on two pages to indicate a more rapid passage of time. (This is when the pigeon is getting wound up and directing various ploys at the reader to let him drive.)

 

            The simple illustrations contribute to the casualness, the safe atmosphere, and keeping the focus on the driver, the bus, and the pigeon. By placing multiple scenes on one page, Willems increases the story’s pace and brings readers to the climax that is portrayed by bigger, messier drawings of the pigeon throwing a tantrum with feathers flying. The exhibition of the pigeon having a tantrum in public is a cultural marker, as is the American 1950’s style of the driver’s clothes and bus.

 

            The text in this book is almost like it was written in pencil, also giving the story a casual mood that lets readers feel comfortable with responding verbally, and the way that Willems’s characters talk directly to the readers is unique, also inviting active participation. Through this banter, children inadvertently pick up on the theme, which is not to let someone talk you into doing something you know isn’t right.

            DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS! is a 2004 Caldecott Honor book and a New York Times Bestseller. Additionally, a School Library Journal review claimed that “the genius of this book is that the very young will actually recognize themselves in it” (Ratterrree, 132). Furthermore, adults and children ages three and up get a big smile on their faces while listening to this entertaining story.

 

            Caution: children may want to read other books with Mo Willems’s pigeon like THE PIGEON FINDS A HOT DOG!, DON’T LET THE PIGEON STAY UP LATE!, THE PIGEON WANTS A PUPPY!, and THE PIGEON HAS FEELINGS, TOO!. Enjoy!

 

REFERENCES

Ratterree, Dona. 2003. "Review of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL 114 (49.5): 132.