The Fun Zone: The Fun

We've been reading a lot to TK lately. It's part of our naptime/bedtime routine. We read a book or two together when he starts to get sleepy, so he gets the idea that sleep time is nigh. He typically enjoys the activity, and will often reach for the characters in the books as if he could pick them up. He's still working on the whole 2D/3D concept.

I've discovered, though, that books for little children are not created equal. They are typically heartwarming and cute. Many rhyme. Several concern the quantification or categorization of love for a little one. Others are all about getting the kid to go to bed, or to take a bath. Lots are designed to teach specific concepts like colors or letters of the alphabet. Most are boring.

These aren't bad books, exactly. They're written for babies, after all. It's just that when you face the prospect of reading these things over and over and over and over again, it's nice to find a few favorites that you actually enjoy reading. They're still on the kid's level, of course, but they're books that have enough wit and humor to keep an adult's interest. So far, we've found two authors that achieve this level: Mo Willems and Bob Shea

Willems is an award-winning writer for Sesame Street, as well as the creator of Sheep in the Big City for Cartoon Network. Our first exposure to his work was Knuffle Bunny, the story of a little girl going to the laundromat with her dad, only to leave her prized stuffed rabbit in the washing machine. The story is told using cartoon-style line drawings superimposed on real photographs of New York City, and the expressions on the characters' faces are priceless. Willems doesn't need many words to convey the inner passions of the characters. The look in the Dad's eye when he decides to "look harder" for Knuffle Bunny says it all.

Kunffle Bunny is at least based in reality. New Socks, by Bob Shea, is a joyous exercise in absurdity. Leon is a bean-shaped creature who wears glasses, and he's really excited about his new socks. That's the plot, really. Leon spends the book talking to the reader, playing games with his new socks: sliding on a wood floor, and pretending his foot's a phone that he uses to talk to the president. His unbridled joy practically leaps off the page. He's so excited that we have to tone down our reading style at bedtime. We actually managed to snag an autographed copy of this one. Is says, simply, "Hey! You got new socks!" which is absolutely true.

Enter the pigeon.

Stef had heard about more of Mo Willems' work after we got New Socks, so she ordered the highly regarded Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! This story is told with more simple line drawings (no photographs this time) with priceless expressions. A bus driver speaks to the reader at the start of the book, asking them to watch his bus for a moment. There's only one rule that must be followed: THE BIRD MUST NOT DRIVE THE BUS. Mere moments after the drivers' departure, the titular pigeon emerges, and asks if he can drive the bus. The idea is that the child interacts with the bird, telling him "no." The bird then tries various schemes to trick the reader into letting him drive the bus, eventually working himself into an avian meltdown, complete with red eyes and scribbly text. Ultimately, the pigeon will fail in his quest, but he is not beaten. At the end of the book, he spots a semi truck, and the dream continues. The book won a major award for kids literature (Caldecott honor, I believe), and it's currently being adapted into an animated short. There's even a musical version out there somewhere.

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus! is only the beginning of the pigeon saga. Other titles include Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late! (in which The Pigeon carries his own Knuffle Bunny) and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy. In The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog, the pigeon, well, finds a hot dog in the street, but before he can eat it, a new character appears: The Duckling. This Machiavellian baby bird seems sweet at first, but you soon realize he has his eyes on the hot dog in question. At first, he asks simple questions: "What does it taste like? Would you say it tastes like chicken?" His continued persistence drives the pigeon into a frenzy once again. Only the suggestion that they split the hot dog gets things back to normal. TK is fascinated with The Pigeon, and we've been snatching up as many of the books as we can.

This snatching behavior extends into the two spinoff "board books," The Pigeon Has Feelings Too! and The Pigeon Loves Things That Go. Each of these are only about eight pages long (they call them a "smidgen of pigeon"), but they include cameos from and references to their larger cousins. This is odd, because if you're dealing strictly with suggested age ranges, children would read the board books first, not understanding why a hot dog "gos" in The Duckling's belly in The Pigeon Loves Things That Go, or why The Pigeon is so pissed off at the bus driver in The Pigeon Has Feelings Too. Maybe these really are written with the grownups in mind as well. Whatever it is, I can't wait to find out what happens to that flying rat next.

So next time you need to snag a gift for that little nephew or young cousin and you find yourself wandering the children's section of the bookstore, just remember that not all kids' books are created equal. You might be subjecting the parents to the torture of "A, aardvarks in an alleyway... B, baboons ballooning... C..." over and over and over and over again. Oh and one more thing,

DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE-oh, you know.