The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!

Surprised by the good reviews. I love Mo Willems and we own all the pigeon books, but in the words of my 10 year old daughter “wow, that was not very satisfying.” That’s exactly how I felt! My 8 year old was also helping to read and a lot of the words were out of his ability level, which also seems odd for these books.

Surprised by the good reviews. I love Mo Willems and we own all the pigeon books, but in the words of my 10 year old daughter “wow, that was not very satisfying.” That’s exactly how I felt! My 8 year old was also helping to read and a lot of the words were out of his ability level, which also seems odd for these books.

Huge fan of all of the pigeon books over here. We read them all the time, and my almost 9 year old still loves them and laughs while he now reads them to his little brother. Butttt… this one was definitely a let down. I guess the point of the story is that even when experiences don’t live up to your expectations they can still be fun— but I read this book to my boys and they both went “that’s it!??” at the end. They were completely disappointed. Definitely not our fave of Mo Willems typically AMAZING books.

Major props to Mo for including the word "aquiver" because it is a dream to read aloud. If you like the pigeon, you're in for a treat. If you've ever previously waited in a line, you will feel seen. No complaints!

The whole tone of this book is so far from the other pigeon books that I had to look to make sure I didn't buy a bootleg one by a fake author lol at the end of the much anticipated book, my daughter loudly declared that it was "the worst book we've ever read". There were so many BIG words that needed defining mid-read and the story itself just fell completely flat. I was hoping it would get my daughter into the idea of riding rollercoasters...nope. Just bored her to tears. It pains me to give a pigeon book 1 star but it must be done.

There are a lot of big fancy words in this book. And I think that that was moe Williams’ plan. It’s not really probably the best book for story time because I really felt the need to explain and go deep with the big words in a limited time, but it’s a great story and a satisfying ending. My kindergartners and I loved it

Mo Willems is a master of humor, especially when it comes to kids. If you’ve ever read any of his Pigeon or Elephant and Piggie books, then it should come as no surprise that The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! is just as laugh-out-loudable.

Pigeon is the embodiment a child. His assertions are spot on. I can hear my kid saying the same things with the same amount of drama built in.

Pigeon is learning how to manage his expectations and everything that goes with them.

Kids can relate.

And because the text is fairly simple, it’s easy for kids to be active participants in reading The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster! even if that’s just from memorizing the words. And — as my 8-year-old just demonstrated by snatching my review copy out of my hands — those who have “technically” moved past these books still love them.

This book would make a great addition to any growing home library.

These pigeon books are the best! I can't keep them on my shelves in my classroom! The Pigeon will ride a Roller Coaster is the newest in the series. His comical antics are irresistable! The simple, humorous text is fun for children and adults alike. Mo Willems has done it again!

My family and I love the pigeon books. They are all great—until this one. We were so excited for this new entry, but it just doesn’t deliver the way the older books do. The typical humor was missing, and the message is pretty vague. Excellent series, but start with any other pigeon book first.

Look, who am I to criticize Mo Willems? He's an incredibly talented, creative writer. I'm a writer professionally, but I sure can't write kids' books.

And yet.

This is the weakest of the Pigeon books, and unfortunately it's the only one to fall flat in our house. My child loves Pigeon books, but he read this one only once before moving on to something else. This is a kid who had the first book memorized before age 2—and he still reads the other books, so it's not a matter of him outgrowing Pigeon.

Sadly, the story just isn't compelling; it needs the signature tension, humor, and energy of the series. The art and narrative just didn't feel fresh this time, and surprisingly, I had a hard time reading the story out loud to my kids. Without giving the story away, I'll say that I found the Pigeon's expressions confusing. I couldn't really "read" his feelings through the art or the copy. For instance, I read "Wait." as "Wait a minnit!" vs "I am waiting."

In addition, while I am all for using sophisticated vocabulary and teaching kids new words, some of the word choices are a little too complex and elevated for the target audience. It's all very clever, but "aquiver with anticipation" means explaining two words on one page.

Lots of missed opportunities to bring in some Pigeon neuroses. What if Pigeon had misplaced his ticket? Been anxious about being tall enough to ride? Worried about where to sit? Let the story benefit from Pigeon's anxiety, Mo!

It's a bummer because the Pigeon series is so bright, clever, surprising, and FUN. This book just wasn't on the same level as its predecessors.