Don't let the pigeon stay up late! by Mo Willems

I haven't yet found a book that I don't like by Mo Willems, and his stack of awards proves he has truly figured out what captures kids attention.

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late has an interactive format, where the listening audience has to prevent a sleepy pigeon from staying up past his bedtime. The pigeon in question tries every trick in the book to stay up late (some familiar, some hilariously creative).

Before reading, I primed the kids about what the book would be like by having a puppet try to convince them that he should be able to stay up late.

The puppet asked the kids why he had to go to bed, and one particularly savvy child answered "You'll be grumpy!"

To which the puppet answered: "I don't care!"

Surprisingly, they all said, in very shocked tones: "That's RUUUUDDDDEEEEE!" So cute!

After they had gotten used to telling the puppet to go to sleep, I read
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late I think the parents in the room might have enjoyed the story even more than the kids.

Once the book was done, I expanded the story by having the puppet from the original interaction get into his "bed" (in this case a plastic bin). The puppet kept popping up out of the bed to complain that the bed was too hard. I had brought along a bag of full scarves (essential storytime props) and took one scarf out. I explained that it was a blanket, and with it I would tuck the puppet in. The puppet kept popping up and demanding more blankets. Luckily, I had a whole bag full, and I was able to distribute the "blankets" to all the kids, who also tucked the puppet in. A few even gave him a goodnight kiss or hug.