''The Pigeon HAS to Go to School!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by

Mo Willems Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series '' Sheep in the Big City'' for Cartoon Network, working on '' Sesame Stre ...

. Published by

Hyperion Books for Children Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Edition ...

in 2019, it is about a pigeon who must go to school, but frets about

math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, learning the

alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...

, heavy

backpack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, or backsack, is in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders; b ...

s, and what the teacher and other birds would think of him.

Reception

'' Kirkus Book Reviews'' wrote: "All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon." and "Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way."

Film adaptation

An animated short film based on the book was released in 2019 (the same year the book was released) by

Weston Woods Studios Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is an American production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded ...

, with narration by Willems and the additional voices of students from Side by Side School in Norwalk, CT. The film runs for 8 minutes and 20 seconds. It was directed by Pete List.

References

2019 children's books American picture books Fictional doves and pigeons Children's books about pigeons Children's books set in schools Books by Mo Willems Hyperion Books for Children books {{child-book-stub