Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!

Pigeon is determined NOT to go to bed, and comes up with every excuse he can think of to stay up late. Readers will be pulled in immediately on the first page when an adult-- suspiciously similar to the the bus driver from the beloved Don’t Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus!-- asks the reader to get Pigeon into bed while he brushes his teeth. Pigeon then proceeds through a variety of excuses from educational TV programming, to bargaining, to a protest cheer that parents of little ones will instantly recognize. Though clearly a bedtime book, some of Pigeon’s antics may get readers too wound up for bed. Illustrations are done in Mo Willem’s classic style, crayon outlines for the characters on single-color backgrounds with speech bubbles show more overhead. Despite his best efforts, Pigeon starts to yawn through some of these excuses, and his tiredness is represented by page backgrounds that get darker and darker until Pigeon is asleep. Knuffle Bunny fans will be delighted by a guest appearance. Bound as a picture book, the text is simple enough for beginning reader to handle but the pages are large enough to use as a read-aloud. Recommended for ages 3-7. show less

This adorable bedtime story is about a pigeon who is left in the reader's care by his caretaker. The pigeon wants to stay up late and gives the reader dozens of classic reasons to stay up late. However, by the end of the book, the pigeon is fast asleep and his caretaker returns to thank the reader. The clever, appealing first-person point of view of this story is, perhaps, the most significant component of the basis for its appeal.

The illustrations are also wonderfully simple and endearing. The almost iconic Mo Willems pigeon graces every page (always in a different place) and the Courier New font Willems uses for the pigeon's cartoon word bubbles fits the story (both the content of the text and the illustrations) perfectly. The style show more of this book (sparse illustrations, the recognizable pigeon, the word bubbles) is infinitely appealing. Other than the pigeon and his barely-present, yet grateful, caretaker, there are no other characters. The setting is rather unknown and insignificant, but the critical piece is that it is bed time for the pigeon. This book would make an ideal silly bedtime story.

Highly recommended for preschool and elementary school libraries. show less

This charming picture book allows for interaction between the text and the reader/audience. It begins with a man (the pigeon's caregiver?) popping off to brush his teeth and asking the reader/audience to make sure the pigeon doesn't stay up late. What follows is the pigeon asking, begging, pleading, whining, etc. to be allowed to stay up late. Although not written in the text, the obvious response from the reader/audience is always a resounding "No!". In the end the pigeon gets so sleepy he can't resist anymore and falls asleep, with his caregiver returning to say thanks. And the pigeon and his stuffed bunny dream of eating piles of hot dogs, a gentle reminder of The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, another book in the series.

Once again, Mo show more Willems presents a delightfully fun story with the pigeon who is so like his child readers that they immediately identify with him even while pretending to be like the parent that has to say "no" over and over again, which they enjoy doing, too! The sparsely detailed illustrations are a great example of the less-is-more approach as they appeal to children by the simple portrayals of the pigeon's varying emotions as he pleads to stay up late. show less

Willems' pigeon books are so fun to read outloud! There's always the "straight guy" role to play and then the pigeon with his outbursts of emotion - glee, whining, pleading, and in this book, yawns of all sizes. I just hope the pigeon didn't give my son any ideas about prolonging bedtime.

You've been entrusted to get the pigeon to bed at a reasonable time. But as bedtime approaches, the pigeon comes up with increasingly wild schemes and excuses for staying up later. Will you stay firm, or will the pigeon stay up too late?
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very funny and pretty imaginative. I think it was also very consistent with the personality Willems has established for the pigeon in his prior works. It's a great bedtime story (or anytime story) for kids of as old as 8 or 9. The use of dialogue exclusively in the story also makes it great for read-alouds.

This is a cute story of a fictitious pigeon and its efforts to stay up late. Willems is a master of these silly stories with characters that children love. The central message is one that children can clearly relate to as well. All kids have spent countless nights begging their parents to stay up late, claiming they weren't tired. The pigeon represents these tired children to the tee when it says, "I'm (Yawn) 110% awake...!" Although this is a goofy story mostly designed to entertain, Willems does manage to weave a message into the text. The entire length of the story the pigeon is begging to stay up late, similar to a child begging their parents. The author sets a good example by not having the parent in the story give in. It is an show more important message to send to children that just cause they want something and are begging for it doesn't mean they should get it. All in all, this a fun story that is an easy read for young emerging readers. show less

A pajama-clad fellow opens by asking us (the readers) to help make sure the pigeon doesn’t stay up late. Then it’s just the reader and the pigeon – who is almost able to distract the reader from putting the pigeon to sleep. But ... not quite! Simple illustrations with great expressions. I laughed as the “not tired” pigeon’s eyes go from droopy to wide-awake round.

A delight for anyone who has watched anyone procrastinate bed or nap time.