I can remember very clearly the first time I read a Mo Willems book. Baby Joey was about two years old and I had taken him to the library. I’d picked out a selection of books from the big boxes in the middle of the children’s section and I was imagining us getting comfy in a beanbag or something and reading through each book in hushed tones.
Joey was having none of it of course, and instead was running from one side of the children’s library to the other, over and over, stopping only to pick up a Mr Men book at one end and drop it by my feet at the other.
While Joey got on with things, I looked through the pile of books I’d chosen and settled on Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus. I sat very nicely and read it to myself in hushed tones.
I loved it. I think I laughed out loud. To myself. In the children’s library.
What I didn’t realise, which I only discovered when I just looked it up on Amazon, is that’s it’s over 20 years old! I couldn’t believe I’d not seen it before. I guess I’ve been out of the kids’ books loop for a while. The pigeon has had a lot of adventures it turns out. I especially liked the sound of The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog.
When I was offered a sneak preview of Willems’s new book for Christmas then, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive The Sleigh, I said yes please immediately.
The pigeon has a gumption that you can’t help but admire, even when he’s shouting at you. He’s a pigeon who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to yell at people until he gets it. He’s the version of myself I’d like to be, if getting angry didn’t make me cry and look feeble. (Although I did raise my voice to a woman in a petrol station this morning, which I might tell you about in another post.)
I’ve been meaning to write this post for so long that the good news is that this preview copy is now obsolete as Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh is now OUT and available for you to buy. It would make a jolly nice Christmas present for any small people in your life, or buy it for yourself if you’re the sort of person who likes to sit quietly in the library reading kids’ books.
This preview copy was a gift. Post contains affiliate links.