The Pigeon Needs A Bath!

Buy This Book * More books by Mo Willems

Smell? What smell? I don’t smell. YOU smell. The Pigeon needs a bath! Except, well, the Pigeon’s really not so sure about that… Besides, he took a bath last month! Maybe. It looks like it’s going to take some serious convincing to get the Pigeon to take the plunge!

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Write a new story about the Pigeon.
• Write a prequel about the pigeon. Where did he come from?
• Read the other books about the pigeon. Which is your favourite? Why?
• Retell the story in the form of a playscript.
• Rewrite the story in the form of a narrative text.
• Write a persuasive letter to the Pigeon to encourage him to take a bath. Write the Pigeon’s response.
• Make a list of synonyms for ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’.
• Investigate the use of punctuation in the story.
• Make a list of questions to use in an interview with the pigeon. Why didn’t he want to take a bath? How did his thoughts and feelings change throughout the story?
• ‘SPLASH’ is an example of onomatopoeia. Can you think of any others?

Maths

• Make a timeline that shows the events of the story.

Science

• Discuss how we can keep ourselves clean and healthy.

Computing

• Use art software to create your own images of the Pigeon.
• Could you create an animated version of this story?
• Design an app to accompany this series of books. What features might it have?
• Design a website to promote the ‘Pigeon’ stories.

Design Technology

• Design some new bath toys that the pigeon could play with.
• Design some packaging for a new brand of pigeon soap / shampoo.

Art

• Look at the images of the pigeon on the inside front covers. Can you make your own repeating patterns?
• The pictures on the inside front covers show ‘before’ and ‘after’ images. Can you create some before / after pictures for your favourite children’s story?

PSHE

• Why is it important to be clean? Make a poster to teach others how to stay clean and healthy.

Other Resources

• The official Pigeon Presents site has lots of other useful resources for schools.