The Pigeon

Teacher s
Guide

Don t Let the Pigeon

Drive the Bus !
and

The Pigeon Finds

a Hot Dog !

Words and pictures by Mo Willems

Teacher s Guide by Judy Freeman
Don t Let the
Pigeon Drive
the Bus!
Though the bus driver has warned us, “. . . Don’t let the pigeon drive the
bus!” the jaunty blue pigeon uses every trick in the book, from whining to
temper tantrums, to convince us, the readers, to let him do just that.

INTERACTING WITH THE BOOK:

What’s hilarious about this picture book for all ages is watching that
pigeon try to talk us into something forbidden, just like children
do every day. “Hey, can I drive the bus?” the gimlet-eyed blue
pigeon asks you, the reader, straight out. “NO!!!” your listeners will
reply spontaneously. They will most likely decide there is no way
they will let that pigeon drive that bus.

And aren’t these same kids begging and pleading with their own author-
ity figures to let them stay up late and do forbidden stuff? You might think
your young listeners will empathize with the poor pigeon and let him drive,
but you will most likely be amazed by how adamant they are.

The youngest children can read the pictures and the moods of the pigeon
as he tries to fast-talk us into letting down our guard. As you read the book
aloud, acknowledge your listeners’ spontaneous responses (“NO!” “Forget
it!”) as they interact and answer back each of the pigeon’s entreaties.

CALDECOTT HONOR:
The Caldecott Honor, or silver medal, is given each year to the artists
of the year’s most distinguished American picture books for children.
Some readers may look at Willems’s books and call them deceptively
simple. Willems agrees, but with some clarification.

“I’d tweak that to ‘deliberately simple’,” he says. “The essence of my design

is to create an immediate, emotional connection... I’m thrilled that any
child can pick up a crayon and quickly create a reasonable drawing of
Pigeon; it allows the book to connect with the reader on a fundamental,
participatory level.”

Discuss with your students:

Why do you think the Caldecott Committee chose this book?
What is special or memorable about the illustrations?
 C mon,
say it ACT IT OUT:
loud: Have your group stand up and act out the pigeon’s
role, emulating his dialogue and especially his body
LET ME language as he shifts through a masterful range of
emotions. He is eager, hopeful, cajoling, annoyed,
DRIVE THE joyful, deflated, doubtful, exasperated, and finally
erupts into a full-blown tantrum: “LET ME DRIVE
BUS!!!!! THE BUS!!!” Examine and analyze that wonderfully
evocative tantrum page, with the explosive yellow and
black lettering, feathers flying, and six images of
Pigeon having a meltdown, and then ask your actors
to re-create the scene. Ask them if they can recall ever
having a tantrum and what it felt like.

GET TO KNOW I like

THE PIGEON: sunsets,
With your children, compile a list of words long walks
that describe each of his emotions. Next, list on the beach,
words that describe the pigeon’s personality.
They can draw a picture of the pigeon to go and driving
along with one or more of those words. buses . . .
Examine the illustrations and describe how
the pigeon’s face was drawn to express each
emotion.

Dear Mr. WRITE ABOUT IT:

Bus Driver, For older children, what is this? It’s a monologue,
though one that encourages you, the person on the
How are you? outside of the story, to interact and respond. Read the
story aloud again and have children answer each of
How is the pigeon’s entreaties out loud (or in writing), giving
your bus? a variety of good reasons for each response. What a
fabulous showcase for persuasive writing, one of the
many forms writing teachers introduce and model!
Your friend, Ask your students to write a persuasive letter to the
bus driver, with clear reasons why the pigeon should,
Pigeon or should not, be allowed to drive. Or have them write
to the pigeon himself.
 I bet
PERSONAL your mom
NARRATIVE WRITING: would
Ask your listeners: What do you do when your parents say let me . . .
no? Write about a time you tried to talk your parents into
letting you do something. What arguments did you use? Right?
What did they say? Were you successful or not? What hap-
pened? Have them do a Quick Write describing their expe-
rience, and then share their stories aloud.

PREDICTING OUTCOMES:
When you come to the end, where the pigeon turns and It s not
sees the enormous red tractor trailer truck and says just busses
“Hey . . .” ask your group to predict what the pigeon will do
next. (The back endpaper shows him, once again, dream- that rock
ing, rapturously, of driving that semi.) One question the my world.
pigeon never answers is WHY he wants to drive the bus
or truck. So children can write and illustrate his reasons
from his point of view: “I, Pigeon, want to drive the bus
because . . .”

Hmm. .
WRITE NEW ADMONITIONS: I never
Children can write and illustrate new cautionary sentences, thought
starting with, “Don’t let the pigeon . . .” (One student
wrote, “Don’t let the pigeon drive the Titanic.”) Or have of driving
them finish the sentence: “Don’t let the pigeon drive the the
bus BECAUSE . . .” They will come up with all sorts of
Titanic .
interesting reasons. Be sure to have crayons available so
they can get Pigeon’s coloring just right. They can add his Sounds
comments in dialogue balloons. like fun!

WRITE AND
ILLUSTRATE SEQUELS: Don t
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Tractor Trailer Truck! is one worry, I m
possibility for a sequel, of course. Using dialogue balloons, cute no
kids can sketch the pigeon trying to talk his way into that
or yet another forbidden activity. Students can fold a large matter how
piece of drawing paper in half three times, which will give you draw
them eight boxes to develop a new story line. Or have each
child contribute one page and compile a class book. me!
 Ask
Away! INTERVIEW THE
I m an CHARACTERS:
open With your entire group, or with groups of three, set up an
interview. The moderator interviews first the bus driver and
book! then the pigeon, asking questions like, “Well, bus driver, why
didn’t you want the pigeon to drive your bus?” and “Say,
Pigeon, what kind of driving experience do you have?”

DEBATE?
No one HOLD A DEBATE:
Divide your group into two camps: pro-pigeon-driving
ever listens and anti-pigeon-driving. Each group must come up with
to me a list of reasons to support their side. Then, start a debate
with the topic: Should the pigeon drive the bus?
anyway . . .

If the
“WHAT S THE BIG DEAL?
pigeon drove the
IT S JUST A BUS !”:
bus he. . . would While we know we can’t possibly allow the pigeon to drive,
be very happy! we nonetheless feel sorry for him and wish we could let
him do it. What would happen if the pigeon did drive the
bus? Ask your listeners to predict how Pigeon would be
as an actual driver. They can finish the following sentence
and illustrate it: “If the pigeon drove the bus, he ___.”

The
Pigeon SING IT OUT:
on the You know you’ll be singing that “Wheels on the Bus” song
forever after this one. After singing it the usual way, ask
bus goes your children to compose some new verses to sing and act
Drive, out, incorporating the pigeon, such as: “The pigeon on the
bus says, “Flap your wings!”
Drive,
Drive!
The Pigeon
Finds a Hot Dog!

About to wolf down the hot dog on a bun he has just found, the
pigeon is interrupted by a persistent yellow duckling who says,
“I’ve never had a hot dog before . . . What do they taste like?”

HOT DOG! :
The pigeon says to the duckling, “It just tastes like a hot dog,
okay!?” What exactly does a hot dog taste like? How would you
describe it to someone who had never tasted one? After finishing
the book (when Duckling says, “Hmmm . . . needs mustard.”),
ask your listeners: “Do you think the duckling has ever tasted a hot
dog before? And, by the way, what do you put on YOUR hot dogs?”
You might want to serve pigs-in-a-blanket as a follow-up snack.

HAVE A TASTE?:
The duckling wants a taste of the hot dog. The pigeon doesn’t
want to share. He asks you, the reader, “What am I supposed to
do?” What COULD he do? How does the duckling get the pigeon
to share? What do you do when someone wants a taste of your
favorite food? What is your favorite food? Would you share it
with someone who asked for some? How would you persuade a
friend to share with you?

LEARN TO DRAW THE PIGEON . . .

AND MAYBE . . . THE DUCKLING
D ow n l o a d t h e “ How to Dr aw the Pige on” she e t from
www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com website, located on the
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot
Dog! pages.

Have the children follow the step-by-step instructions for drawing

the pigeon. Once they have practiced, they can create their own
scenes or stories using the character. Now try the duckling . . .
 COMPARE
I ve had AND CONTRAST:
The pigeon gets a taste of his own medicine when
just about the persistent duckling gets him to share his hot dog.
enough Compare and contrast the pigeon’s relentless hectoring
in Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! with the duckling’s
of that less direct approach in The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
duckling . . . The pigeon and the duckling each try to get their own
way, but they have very different ways of getting what
they want. Which one works? Why? How?

Sometimes
COLOR THE PIGEON: I feel blue.
Download the coloring sheet from hyperionbooks- Other times
forchildren.com website. It is located in the record
for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the record yellow,
for The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! Make copies for all orange &
the children and encourage them to color or decorate
them for a pigeon gallery or show. purple.

Pigeon
Puppets? MAKE THE
Why didn t PIGEON PUPPETS:
I think of Have children draw and color the pigeon and the duck-
ling on construction paper or oak tag (file folder card).
that? Cut out the figures, and glue them onto paint sticks to
make stick puppets. Working in pairs, kids can then
reenact the dialogue of both books or engage the two
characters in a new situation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MO WILLEMS has won six Emmy Awards for his writing and animation on Sesame Street and
is the head writer for Cartoon Network’s Codename: Kid Next Door. His first book for children,
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, was awarded a 2004 Caldecott Honor by the American Library
Association. His other books include The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, Time to Pee!, and Knuffle
Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. Mo lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York. Check out his won-
derful Web site at www.mowillems.com.

JUDY FREEMAN, children’s literature consultant and workshop presenter, is the “Book Talk”
columnist for Instructor Magazine and the author of More Books Kids Will Sit Still For: A Read-Aloud
Guide (Libraries Unlimited, 1995). Visit her Web site at www.JudyReadsBooks.com.

This and other teacher resources are available at www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com. Visit the
Teachers and Librarians area for a full list of available materials.

Books written and illustrated by Mo Willems

PRAISE FOR PIGEON: OTHER BOOKS:

Don t Let the Pigeon The Pigeon Time to Pee!

Drive the Bus! Finds a Hot Dog ! Tr. Ed 0-7868-1868-9 $12.99 2003
Tr. ed. 0-7868-1988-X Tr. Ed. 0-7868-1869-7
$12.99 2003 $12.99 2004
2004 Caldecott Honor Book
ALA 2004 Notable Book A Publishers Weekly Editor’s Pick
★ “Brilliantly simple . . .” ★ “Readers of all ages won’t be able
— School Library Journal (Starred Review) to resist miming the sly conversation
★ “Begs to be read again and again.” in this satisfying sequel.”
— The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Books (Starred Review) Extra Citation for Pigeon/Bus:
★ “Preschoolers will howl over the pigeon’s Capitol Choices 2004
dramatics . . .” — Booklist (Starred Review) Knuffle Bunny:
A Cautionary Tale
Tr. Ed. 0-7868-1870-0 $15.99 2004

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