About the Author

Six-time Emmy Award Winner and Caldecott Honor recipient Mo Willems spent nine years as a script-writer and animator for "Sesame Street". With over 100 short films and television half-hours to his credit, Mo's distinctive animated films have been shown in festivals around the world and been translated into a myriad of languages. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

"For a child, it's a delirious formula: all of a sudden, you're in charge of a bus... Well executed and so smartly layered." The New York Times; "This picture book demands audience participation... Readers will identify with the pigeon themselves!" The Bookseller"

The premise of this cheeky debut is charmingly absurd. When a bus driver goes on break, he asks the audience to keep an eye on his vehicle and the daft, bug-eyed pigeon who desperately wants to drive it. The pigeon then relentlessly begs readers for some time behind the wheel: "I tell you what: I'll just steer. My cousin Herb drives a bus almost every day! True story." Willems hooks his audience quickly with the pigeon-to-reader approach and minimalist cartoons. The bluish-gray bird, outlined in black crayon, expresses countless, amusing emotions through tiny shifts in eye movement or wing position. The plucky star peeks in from the left side of a page, and exhibits an array of pleading strategies against window-pane panels in mauve, salmon and willow ("I'll be your best friend," he says wide-eyed in one, and whispers behind a wing, "How 'bout I give you five bucks?"). Finally he erupts in a full-spread tantrum on an orange background, the text outlined in electric yellow ("Let me drive the bus!!!"). When the driver returns and takes off, the bird slumps dejectedly until a big red truck inspires a new round of motoring fantasies. Readers will likely find satisfaction in this whimsical show of emotions and, perhaps, a bit of self-recognition. Ages 2-6. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.