Don’t let the Pigeon drive the bus!

by Mo Willems
2003 / 40 pages
Rating: Good/GREAT/Give

Pigeon desperately wants to drive the bus. But the bus driver, who has to leave for a little while, tells readers before he goes, “Remember, don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!”

Pigeon isn’t going to make it that easy though – for the rest of the book he asks, begs, pleads, whines, and sulks about wanting to drive the bus. The drawings are pretty simple cartoons, but the artist lets us see all Pigeon’s emotions in his body language. Pigeon uses every excuse you’ve ever heard a child use:

“I never get to do anything!”
“What’s the big deal?”
“I’ll be your best friend!”
“No fair!”
“I bet your mom would let me.”

That, of course, is the point of the book, that no matter how inventive a child’s questioning – his whining – might become, no is still going to be no.

That’s an important lesson for any child to learn, and this is a fun way for them to learn it. Parents will enjoy reading the book out loud, mimicking Pigeon’s angst and frustration, and kids will enjoy just how silly Pigeon acts. And it will only take a little prodding from mom or dad to have junior realize that sometimes he acts silly too, just like Pigeon.

I’d recommend getting the hardcover version of this book because I think your children will ask you to read it again and again. And that’s not too bad, because it is a fast read – there are only about 175 words in the whole story, which means this review is actually a bit longer than the book!

There are also 10 sequels, and with that abundance comes a warning. While Mo Willems’ Elephant & Piggie series can be enjoyed with or without mom and dad’s involvement, there is a real sense in which these Pigeon books should be rated PG for Parental Guidance. A somewhat bratty bird in a very limited dose is one thing, but with repeated readings, and with 8 books in total, parents will need to make sure their kids understand we are actually laughing at Pigeon’s ridiculous behavior, and shouldn’t be looking to copy it.

• Don’t let the Pigeon drive the bus (20003) – The Caldecott winner that started it all!
• The Pigeon finds a hot dog! (2004) – The Pigeon finds a hot dog but also meets a Duckling who has never had a hot dog. What’s a self-absorbed, but not utterly selfish Pigeon to do?
• Don’t let the Pigeon stay up late! (2006) – Parents will love this for how it gives them a term for their kids’ can’t-we-stay-up-5-more-minutes? pleas. “That’s enough guys,” I’ll tell them, “You’re being pigeons and it is time to stop.”
• The Pigeon wants a puppy! (2008) – This could be inspiration for parents who wonder if their kids really want a pet and the responsibility that comes with it. Pigeon gets a brief test drive with a puppy and changes his mind (now he wants a walrus).
• The Duckling gets a cookie!? (2012) – The Duckling reappears, this time to ask us, the readers, to give him a cookie. Pigeon wonders why Duckling gets one, and he doesn’t. The main message kids will get is that Pigeon has never asked… at least, not politely.
• The Pigeon needs a bath! (2014) – Pigeon hates baths but once he runs out of excuses he gets to have some wonderful wet fun.
• The Pigeon has to go to school! (2019) – Pigeon shares his worries – in his usual bombastic way – about going to school for the first time. Reading this with a child who has their own concerns could be a great conversation starter.
• The Pigeon will ride the roller coaster! (2022) – Pigeon imagines the roller coaster will be exciting… but it only sort of is. This one struck me as only okay, and I’d rank it 8th out of 8.

There’s also a book of Pigeon quotes that adults fans may enjoy. I’d borrow Be the Bus (2023) from a library rather than buy it, but there are a few laughs, like “You only get one chance to make a twenty-third impression.”

Take it or leave it

Willems also has a couple of “smidgen of Pigeon” board books, but I don’t really get the target audience. You’d already have to be familiar with Pigeon to appreciate these, but if a kid is old enough to appreciate the picture books above, are they really going to want to read a board book?

• The Pigeon loves things that go! (2005) – Pigeon sees a bus and a train that go. Up next is a hot dog. Do hot dogs go? Yes, says Duckling, they go right into his tummy!
• The Pigeon has feelings too (2005) – Pigeon doesn’t want to smile. Getting asked to makes him angry and sad, because everyone tells him what to do. But when the Bus Driver says it’s okay not to smile, that makes Pigeon happy, happy, happy.

Don’t bother

While there’s lots to love with this series, parents can give a miss to the 2023 Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, which pretends that Christmas is all about Santa and, just to make it even easier to bypass, that Easter is about eggs and bunnies.