Book Report: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

63. Mo Willems, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003) (12/9/21)

Sneaking a super-quick read in here, to give me a balance of three books left for the year. But this one, oh! Hilarious!

The premise is simple: a bus driver has to leave for a little while . . . "So can you watch things for me until I get back?" he asks of the reader—or, more to the point, the child being read out loud to. "Thanks. Oh, and remember: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"

That pigeon is clearly up to no good. He wants what he wants, even if he doesn't know why he wants it. "I tell you what: I'll just steer," he says. "Hey, I've got an idea. Let's play 'Drive the Bus'! I'll go first!" as he runs off the page in the direction of the bus. 

The illustrations, though simple, are what make the book.

As one Goodreads reviewer comments,
"This, friends, is the face of the great manipulator."

He has given up trying to be subtle...

Fortunately, through some unseen force, the pigeon keeps getting thwarted—until finally, the bus driver returns.Whew. That was close. Because seriously: we do not want the pigeon to drive the bus.

Short, quick, very fun read. Not much to it except that—and the fact that it won the Caldecott Medal. Apparently there are other books about this determined pigeon, but apparently too, this one is the best.