Caramel reviews Be the Bus by Mo Willems

Caramel, just like the rest of the book bunnies, loves Mo Willems’s Pigeon, and he has already reviewed one of his adventures, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School!, for the blog. Today, he talks about the brand new Pigeon book, Be The Bus: The Lost & Profound Wisdom of the Pigeon as told to Mo Willems, published this year, 2023, which is also the twentieth anniversary of the very first Pigeon book: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, when I heard of this book, I knew you would want to read it. Even though it is supposedly meant for grownups.

Caramel: I am sure grownups can enjoy it, too, but I really liked it. So I don’t think it is only for grownups.

S: I agree with you Caramel. It definitely fits the adult humor genre, kind of in the spirit of Penguins Hate Stuff by Greg Stones, which you have reviewed a while ago. But it is also perfectly hilarious for little bunnies like you, and there is nothing too adult there, I feel.

C: Well, there is no mushy stuff for starters, and that is good.

S: Yep, nothing like that.

C: It’s just the Pigeon saying stuff. He says for example “I’m not susceptible to flattery. Unless it is about me.” I think that is funny.

S: Yes. I thought all of it was hilarious. The Pigeon says the funniest things. What was your favorite?

C: I don’t think I have a favorite. They are all funny.

S: I did hear you laugh out loud.

C: Yep. LOL.

S: Hmm, now you speak textspeak?

C: Well, I just said what you said.

S: Okay then.

C: The Pigeon is really wise. He says that it is better to say “I love you more than ever” than “I used to love you less.” And it is true. The two sentences say the same thing. But the first one does sound much better than the second.

S: Yes, I took a photo of you with that page. Let me put it right here.

S: So all in all, which three words would you use to describe this book Caramel?

C: Colorful, hilarious, and profoundly wise.

S: I see what you did there Caramel! You picked out the word “profound” from the title of the book!

C: Yep. Guilty as charged. I guess.

S: And some of the advice is on target, don’t you think?

C: Some of it, yes. The “I love you more than ever” one is clever. And there is another one like that, that I liked, too. and that is true: you should say “You are one in a million!” rather than saying “there are 7,960 other people like you!” Because if you are one in a million on a planet with 7.9 billion people, then the second sentence is right, too, but it does not sound so good.

S: Yes, and there are some quite wacky thoughts in the book, too, no?

C: Yes. Here is one: “Genius is seldom recognized. That is why I wear a name tag.” And the name tag says “Hello. I’m a genius.” So that is kind of wacky.

S: I agree. The Pigeon is definitely not a very modest creature.

C: That’s true. I’m sure nobody ever claimed he was.

S: So we read almost all the Pigeon books.

C: Yes, all except the one with the duckling and the cookie. We just saw that one in a YouTube video.

S: Yes.

C: Can we put the video here in this post?

S: Sure. Here it is.

S: So do you think you are done with the Pigeon?

C: No. Never! I like the Pigeon and I like reading and rereading his funny adventures. And now there is this short book, too, so maybe Mo Willems will continue to write more Pigeon stories, and we can read them, too.

S: Yes, who knows? So maybe this is a good time to wrap this review up. What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!