Careful What You Wish For! The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems

"Do you know what I want? What I've wanted forever?
At least since last Tuesday. A PUPPY!"

In Mo Willems' latest The Pigeon Wants a Puppy Pigeon, that eternal optimist who believes a pigeon can drive a bus as well as anyone, has a new craving--a puppy.

This is not to say that Pigeon's expectations of dog ownership are exactly, um, realistic.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll take care of it.
I'll water it once a month."

Pigeon makes his case for puppy ownership in his own peculiar pigeon logic. He points out that he plans to spend a lot of time with his puppy--riding piggyback and playing tennis with him. "I want a puppy RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" he exclaims, threatening a toddler-type tantrum.

Reality, however, intrudes upon Pigeon's persuasive oration, in the form of an actual DOG with an actual "WOOF WOOF." Pigeon is taken aback at the towering figure.

"It's HUGE!
The teeth. The hair!
That wet nose! The slobber! The claws!
I mentioned the TEETH, right?"

Proclaiming that he's changed his mind about puppies, Pigeon hot-foots it off the page as the dog pursues him with a friendly lick. Never one to dwell on lost dreams, Pigeon adjusts his desires with a quick declaration.

"I want a WALRUS!"

Beginning with his Caldecott Honor book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Willem's Pigeon stories are really parables for toddlers, with Pigeon portraying the opinionated youngster who wants what he wants when he wants it. The droll illustrations, in this latest book executed against pink and lavender page stock, are highly stylized but simple line drawings which capture the essence of the subject in a few deft strokes. Other books in this easy-to-read picture book series are Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!, The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too!, The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

Mo Willems' honors this year include a Caldecott Honor award for Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, reviewed here , and his Theodore Seuss Geisel Award book There Is a Bird On Your Head! (Elephant and Piggie) reviewed in my post here.