Ellen's Book Nook #2 The Pigeon Needs A Bath by Mo Willems

The pigeon has been a part of our lives for some time now. He is in fact my daughters favourite choice for bedtime. It all started when we picked up a strange book in our local Waterstone's with a funny title"Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus". When bedtime came that night Ellen cuddled up under her She-rah bedcovers with her faithful bunny Snuggles happily waiting for her daddy to read that night's bedtime story. I have never heard my daughter laugh and interact so much with a picture book or any book for that matter. Our usual book was The Gruffalo or the hungry caterpillar and while she clearly loved both of those books and would smile and laugh occasionally at a funny part or join in on the bits she knew, nothing has ever made her react or light up the way she does with the pigeon.

The Pigeon Books are written and illustrated by the marvellous Mo Willems. This Pigeon is hilarious, stubborn, he try's to convince you into letting him get his own way, he even try's to bribe you and  throws a tantrum occasionally. All while you tell him "NO".

There is a video on You Tube of Don't Let The Pigeon drive the bus. I have posted it at the bottom of this blog post. However, Ellen does not like it. She doesn't like his American accent. Don't be offended though Mo if you by some strange turn of events find yourself reading this. She doesn't like to hear it in my voice either. Only Daddy's voice will do. It's their thing. I think in Ellen's eyes Daddy is the Pigeon.

The books has become specail to them. So much so that my husband recently got a tattoo of the pigeon with Knuffle bunny tucked under his wing. Knuffle bunny is another of Mo's creations and looks an awful lot like our very own Snuggles which is a lovely coincidence. Ellen is convinced that Knuffle and Snuggles are somehow related.

Anyway here's over to you kid. This is what Ellen had to say about The Pigeon Needs A Bath by Mo Willems:

"The Pigeon Books are fun. You get to say No! to him. Which is so much fun. He's really funny. He's also very naughty and a bit cheeky and I love him. My Daddy is the best at reading The Pigeon books. He does the best voices. There is a video of Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus but I prefer the way Daddy does it. The Pigeon Needs A Bath is really funny too. He's being very stubborn and won't take a bath. He keeps trying to get out of it but you just keep telling him No!. In the end he gets in the Bath and loves it so much that he doesn't want it to end. He's so funny like that."- Ellen

Ellen is now 9 but still enjoys reading and picking up the latest 
pigeon book. I think that will give you some idea of how important these books are to her.

My Husband even tattooed The Pigeon and Knuffle bunny onto himself because it means so much to himself and Ellen and has become such a huge part of thier relationship.

There are lots of Pigeon Books to enjoy - Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus, Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late, The Pigeon Finds A Hot Dog, The Pigeon Wants A Puppy, The Pigeon Has Feeling's To. There is even a Pigeon Activity Book and A Pigeon App.

Check out Mo Willems Website it's great http://www.mowillems.com

Here is a video of Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus 

We hope you enjoy these books as much as we have.

http://www.mowillems.com

Happy Hobbit Day!!!!!

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is one of my all time favourite books I own at the moment 7 different copies of the book. This one was bought for me by my husband last year and is by far my favourite copy. It is filled with the beautiful illustrations of Jemma Catlin which just adds to the magic of the story.

I read The Hobbit at least once a year. It is my favourite of all Tolkien's works. The story just seems to flow from the page almost as if it were music. Every time I read this book I still feel excited even though I know the story like the back of my hand now. It just never gets old and if I'm honest I feel the older I get the more I enjoy it. As Tolkien's good friend and fellow inking C.S Lewis once said - "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again", and I feel that now, especially I enjoy fairy tales more than I ever did as a child.

For me opening up The Hobbit is like opening the door into The Secret Garden or Falling Down The Rabbit Hole. I feel wonderful, warm and safe surrounded in my own little world. I think as we get older as adults the magic gets taken from the world and is replaced by the harsh realities of life. Don't get me wrong life isn't all bad but as adults it's harder and harder to escape from the harsher side of life as children we are usually shielded from such things by our innocence, our imagination and our parents. Books are a way of escape, especially fairy tales and fantasy novels. When I was younger I wanted grown up stories I wanted true life tales of tragic dramatic lives but now as I'm older I'm not as pushed on those things anymore. My reading time is precious and in a lot of ways it's my only escape from my own worries so I'm less inclined these days to pick up a book about somebody's true life experience of immense suffering and more inclined to reach out for something I can escape into and forget everything if only for a while. 

The Hobbit for me has everything I could want in a book. It has the unlikely hero, far off lands, a dragon, strange creatures and bucket loads of adventure. Don't get me wrong there is darkness in it and tragedy but I think the fact that it is so far away from reality is what makes it so appealing. 

As I'm writing this I'm at home in bed with the flu. I can smell chicken soup simmering away in the kitchen and I have The Hobbit sitting beside me awaiting to be read again. I know by the time I drift off to sleep tonight despite being ill I will be happy and content and really isn't that the mark of a wonderful book.