To Bathe or Not to Bathe: The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems

I DO NOT!

Pigeon is incensed that anyone should suggest that he is filthy, stinky, and in need of a douche in the suds.

Never mind that he's just emerged from a splash in the mud puddle.  After all, he had  a bath ... um, last month? And, what is "dirty," anyway. Then Pigeon switches from linguistics to philosophy:

LIFE IS SO SHORT. WHY WASTE IT ON UNIMPORTANT THINGS?

And what smell? Wings akimbo, Pigeon declares that he smells perfectly normal--for a pigeon.

But a flock of flies buzz by and beg to differ.

P.U.! YUCK!

As they fly off, page right, the final fly has the most unkindest cut of all:

"TAKE A BATH, DUDE!"

Oh, all right. FINE! Pigeon decides to take the plunge. Except that the bathtub looks as big as an Olympic pool. And getting the water just right is hard. Too hot. Too cold. Too lukewarm. Pigeon fiddles with the hot and cold knobs, back and forth. Add some. Drain some. Add some. And then there are the bath toys. Too many toys. Not enough toys. Dozens of rubber duckies? One duckie?

Mo Willems' latest best-selling Pigeon story, The Pigeon Needs a Bath! (Hyperion, 2014) has his stand-in for the obstinate toddler type in full bath resistance mode, right up to the point where Pigeon finally manages the splash-down. Willems is the reigning master of the cartoon character, and his beginning reader badinage will get giggles from kids and knowing chuckles from parents alike. Like Pigeon, who decides he rather likes it in the bath after all, readers will wonder...

"CAN I STAY IN THE TUB FOREVER?"

Released ahead of publication schedule, this latest Pigeon tale is just in time for an funny April Fool surprise.