Books |
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
Mo Willems
By
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category:
Children
So there’s this bus driver. With a small problem.
"Hi!," he says. "I’m the bus driver. Listen, I’ve got to leave for a little while, so can you watch things for me until I get back? Thanks. Oh, and remember: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"
And then there’s this pigeon. With a small favor.
"I thought he’d never leave," the pigeon says. "Hey, can I drive the bus?"
What do you — and your three-to-five year-old child — say?
If you’re like many of the buyers of this book, you shout, "NO! GO AWAY!"
But the pigeon doesn’t. "Please?" he begs. "I’ll be careful."
And, again, you and your kids will remember what the bus driver told you. And you’ll shout, "NO!"
This is one persistent pigeon. He has lots of reasons why you should let him drive the bus. They are very funny — especially if you are a parent who has ever said no to a kid, and the kid has tried to get you to change your mind.
But nothing the pigeon says gets the answer he wants. At which point he just…loses it. "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!" he screams — only to be rebuffed again.
The bus driver returns. He thanks you for not letting the pigeon drive the bus. The pigeon hurries away. He spots an enormous truck. And gets an idea….
That is all there is to ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!’ — that and some very primitive illustrations — but it was enough to win the Caldecott Honor for children’s literature for first-time kids’ book writer Mo Willems. (He took it in stride; he had already won six Emmy Awards as a writer and animator for ‘Sesame Street.’) The next year, he won a second Caldecott for ‘Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale.’
What’s so great about this book? First, it’s funny. Actually funny. In a real-world way, not a fake funny ha-ha kid’s book way. And then it’s really badly drawn. Well, maybe that’s not the right word. It’s very simply drawn. The pigeon and the bus driver aren’t stick figures, but they’re not far off. And when the pigeon gets really mad, there are just dark pencil scratches over his head.
Directness and simplicity are deceptive here. This is one sly book. It strips the pretension from our relationships; it moves fast from asking to begging. Which is, when you come to think of it, pretty funny. No wonder any number of grown-ups give it to other adults.
When she was thre, our daughter didn’t get it. She’s still so nice that when the pigeon asked to drive the bus, she said yes. She learned. And when she did, this lovely joke of a book sweetened that lesson.
To buy ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!’ from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy ‘The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!’ from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy ‘Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale’ from Amazon.com, click here.
