fb-pixel Book of the Week: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! - Mill Hill Schools

News

Book of the Week: The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

The Grimsdell Children’s Library Book of the Week has been selected by the Junior Librarian, Josh, from 2YM. He recommends, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! written and illustrated by Mo Willems.

Josh’s reason for his choice:

“I chose this book because it is SO funny! The pigeon is very silly and the story will make you laugh out loud!”

We hope you agree! The book (and others in the series) is available to borrow from our school library.

Mrs Harvey would also recommend the book. Mo Willems’ pigeon is a very popular character amongst the Grimsdell children! His various antics really appeal to their fun sense of humour.

Willems’ deceptively simple cartoon drawings convincingly portray his protagonist’s emotional dilemma, from his initial joy to his frustration and struggle over what he wants to do versus what he knows is right! The theme – sharing is caring – reinforces the ‘Grimsdell Way’ code of conduct.

Superficially, the wording in the story is limited, although there is some high level vocabulary (morsel, splendour, experienced, sensation). However, the pictures and the way the text is structured and organised, add a much deeper layer of meaning and analysis. Through voice bubbles, body language and expressive sizes and shapes of type, Willems crafts a comical give-and take between the characters. The characters are great for inferencing because the story is very predictable and the plot line (someone else wanting to taste a person’s food) is something the children can connect to!

Children’s Author of the Week

This week, the Junior Librarian, Leia from 2YM, has given careful thought to her chosen children’s Author of the Week. The task of nominating a children’s author to appeal to the entire Grimsdell community is not easy but Leia had NO hesitation with her chosen author! She decided to highlight the work of local  author and illustrator, Rob Biddulph.

As well as working on his own books, Rob also illustrates for other authors, including Michael Bond (of ‘Paddington’ fame) and Jeff brown (the ‘Flat Stanley’ series). We have all of his books in our library – Grimsdell is a Rob Biddulph fan, particularly after he opened our newly refurbished library in 2018!

Leia became particularly familiar with his work during the lockdown when she, like many others, tuned into his draw-along videos. In March 2020, Rob started #DrawWith Rob, a series of twice-weekly draw-along videos on YouTube, designed to engage and inspire children required to stay at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It proved immensely popular, garnering millions of views and international media coverage. It has been used as a learning resource by thousands of families across the globe. On 21 May 2020, he broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever online art class!

Happy Reading!

Mrs Harvey