Book: Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
Mo Willems, 2006

Have you met the pigeon yet? If not, get one of these books NOW! A friend of mine had been telling me about the pigeon for a couple of years now, but it was only this year that I finally got my hands on Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. It was honestly hilarious, my students loved it, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on another Pigeon book.

The idea of the book is simple. Right in the beginning, before the book 'properly' begins, we are asked not to let the Pigeon stay up late. Then the Pigeon appears and addressing us directly, he tries to convince us that he's not tired, really not tired and he should be able to stay up late. All accompanied with simple illustrations of the Pigeon.

The joy in this book is that it seems so simple up front, and it's very funny. Then you get your teacher hat on and you realise that you could use it to look at facial expressions, to look at persuasive speech (the Pigeon can be very presuasive) to look at direct speech and speech bubbles. I'd also connect it to the other Pigeon books and Neil Gaiman's The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish.


Big Book List