Will the Pigeon Graduate?

Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems

Does this release of this book signify that Mo Willem's daughter has recently graduated? Or is this just an attempt to jump on the "life events" bandwagon. The book is in the typical "pigeon" style. However, the content is different. Pigeon is not really trying to get something. Instead, he is worrying about his graduation and what will happen. At the end, he finally walks over the edge and realizes that he can fly. It is a nice metaphor for life and graduation, told in a "pigeon-style" children's book.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

As the bus driver walks away, he asks the reader to watch things and "don't let the pigeon drive the bus". The pigeon appears and pleads with the reader for a chance to drive the bus. He doesn't get his way. The bus driver returns. In the end, the pigeon gets the idea of driving something else.

The book can be heavily interactive if desired. There is a "no response" for each of the Pigeon's intreaties. I can't help but include a few sound effects as I am reading it. Mo Willems came from a TV background, and this could easily be a visual short.

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

 The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems

Pigeon finds a hot dog. Right as he is about to eat it, duckling starts asking questions about it. Pigeon goes through his emotional breakdown (like in "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus") and then decides to share with duckling. It is a good book, but gets knocked for following the formula for the previous book a little too closely.

Wringer

A young boy lives in a bucolic rough neighborhood. The town's big event includes a pigeon shoot, where sharppshooters shoot down thousands of live pigeons (with the remains being used for fertilizer). Ten year old boys serve as "wringers", gathering up the felled pigeons and wringing the necks of the living ones. As a birthday "right of passage", boys receive "the treatment" from an older boy - one hard punch in the shoulder for each year of age.

One day, a pigeon flies in to the boy's room. He eventually adopts the pigeon as a pet. After doing this, he gradually becomes alienated from the gang of tough's that he hangs out with - and closer to the girl across the street. In the dramatic conclusion, he saves his pigeon from being shot in the big pigeon shoot.

Similar to other Spinelli books, this one presents a kid who struggles with the desire to fit in, while also wanting to be himself.