Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus

Title: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!  
Author: Mo Willems  
Illustrator: Mo Willems 
Publisher: Hyperion Books For Children
Publication Date: 2003  
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book
Summary: The blue, wide-eyed pigeon desperately wants to drive the bus but the bus driver specifically tells the reader not to let him drive the bus!  He can be persistent that pigeon!
What I Think: I think this book is just too funny.  I love the illustrations, it would be fun for kids to act out how the pigeon acts throughout the book.  I think this book is a great way to start off an introduction to persuasive writing.  The pigeon pulls out all the stops when it comes to trying to convince the reader it's okay to drive the bus!   
Read Together: K - 12 
Read Alone: 3 - 12
Read With: Dear Mrs. La Rue: Letters From Obedience School By Mark Teague; I Wanna Iguana By Karen Kaufman Orloff; Hey, Little Ant By Phillip M. Hoose; Because of Winn-Dixie By Kate DiCamillo; Charlotte's Web By E.B. White  
Snatch of Text:  

"'Hi!  I'm the bus 

driver.  Listen, 

I've got to leave for a little while, 

so can you watch 

things for me until 

I get back?  Thanks.  

Oh, and remember: 

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!'

'I thought he'd never leave.'"

Reading Strategies to Practice: Making Connections  
Writing Strategies to Practice: Persuasive 
Writing Prompts: Write a letter to the bus driver persuading him to let the pigeon drive the bus...or not, if you agree with him! 
Topics Covered: Persuasive, Emotions 
Translated to Spanish: Yes! No Dejes Que La Paloma Conduzca El Autobus! / Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Spanish Edition)