Book Review: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! by Mo Willems

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun Christmas entry for Pigeon

Cons: Feels a little recycled, but a minor complaint overall

The Bottom Line:

Wishing to drive sleigh

Pigeon gets a Christmas book

With holiday laughs

The Pigeon Gets a Christmas Book

Since I don’t have any young kids I am buying books for right now, I’m not paying too much attention to picture books.  But I did happen to see that Mo Willems released a new Pigeon book for Christmas this year, and I had to check out Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh!

If you aren’t familiar with Pigeon and his adventures, each book in the series finds Pigeon wanting something that he really shouldn’t have or be able to do.  Each story is presented through a series of stylized drawings and dialogue directly to us.  It’s a different approach, but it works well.

Santa needs to go wrap a few presents, but he leaves us with one request.  You guessed it, don’t let the Pigeon drive the sleigh.  And as soon as Santa leaves, Pigeon shows up trying to wheedle his way into driving the sleigh.  Will he get his wish?  Or will reality be different than his dreams?

If you are familiar with the Pigeon books, you know exactly what to expect here.  In fact, that was my only real complaint as I was reading it.  This felt very familiar to other books, especially Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Yes, it’s got a holiday theme to his arguments, but I wished for a little more creativity.

However, that is a minor complaint over all.  I laughed at Pigeon’s antics and the illustrations within the book.  The target audience will be delighted to have a Christmas book with Pigeon, and I can see it being asked for year-round.

I also like the fact that, once again, Pigeon finds that his wish isn’t going to be as great as he thought it was.  It’s an important lesson for kids to learn and adults to remember.  But it is presented with humor so it never feels like a lecture.

If you need some holiday Pigeon in your life, you and your kids will be happy to add Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh! to your bookshelf.