Review of "The Pigeon Needs a Bath!" by Mo Willems

Willems, Mo. The Pigeon Needs a Bath! New York: NY: Hyperion Books for Children, 2014. ISBN: 978-142319087-5

This book provides another great story starring one of our favorite Mo Willems characters, Pigeon. In this tale, Pigeon is trying, yet again, to convince us that he knows best. This time, Pigeon is convinced that he does not need to bathe. Each page takes us through Pigeon’s list of excuses for not taking a bath until he finally decides that he will take one – but he won’t like it. 

In this story, as in all of the Pigeon books, Mo Willems helps the reader develop an active role in the story through dialogue with the main character, Pigeon. The feeling of not wanting to bathe is something that all children can relate to. In a playful way, Willems helps readers realize that it is ridiculous to fight taking a bath. The book is a great example of a graphic novel for young children with its comic-strip style pages and abbreviated text. 

Use The Pigeon Needs a Bath! as a persuasive writing prompt or to teach students how to engage their reader in a story. It can also be used when teaching the implications of using exclamations in writing.

“A must add to all libraries, for any reader appreciating the perfect art of persuasion…” – School Library Journal 2014

“The Pigeon's cockeyed defiance and Willems's impeccable comedic timing are as fun and frisky as ever.” – Publisher’s Weekly 2014

If you like this book, you should check out the other Pigeon books as well as the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. The following two books are Caldecott Honor titles by Mo Willems:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! ISBN: 978-0-7868-1988-1

We Are In a Book! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) ISBN: 978-1-4231-3308-7


References

The Pigeon Needs a Bath, Christ Academy. Personal photograph by Emily Adams. January 22, 2016.