Pigeon is a familiar character to be reckoned with, as fans of Mo Willems will know. So, if Pigeon doesn’t want to go to school, then it’s not going to be easy to persuade anyone otherwise.

As the book progresses, Pigeon articulates every possible objection to the idea of school and, being Pigeon, comes up with an alternative: a place to practise all the things those worrying skills, with experts to help and other birds to work and play with. Hold on! Isn’t that what a school is…?

In his trademark way, Mo Willems engages the reader with a masterful combination of pictures and text, making them a part of the story as Pigeon’s imaginary interlocutor. He captures precisely the tone of a small child arguing against adults with all the cunning they can muster. Pigeon’s questions and worries are a neat mixture of the classic (What if I don’t like it?) and the more absurd (What if I get finger paint in my feathers?). The gentle humour is enhanced by graphic drawings which use Pigeon’s facial expressions and changes in scale to chart her fluctuating feelings. When she admits to being scared, she’s just one small figure in the middle of the page; when she finally gets the school bus, she’s more than tripled in size.

The combination of warmth and comedy makes this a perfect story to reassure children concerned about starting school – whether before they go or once they arrive. Don’t limit it to this though; its vibrant sense of fun will be widely enjoyed by children of all ages and adults alike.