The Real Poop on Pigeons

Gr 2–5—McCloskey turns his eye from the ground (We Dig Worms!, Toon, 2015) toward the heavens, revealing the wonder—and even beauty—of the common city pigeon. A man shoos and poo-poos a couple of cooing "rats with wings," only to be confronted by a group of kids in pigeon costumes bearing interesting facts about the maligned birds. Through a series of panels and full spreads, readers learn that before the invention of airplanes, pigeons carried mail; that they are faster than a car; that they mate for life; and that they come in a wide variety of breeds, some of which are quite fancy, such as the Victoria Crowned, named for Queen Victoria. In a brief author's note, McCloskey explains that his painted, cartoon-style illustrations are done on pigeon blue Fabriano paper, the kind used by Pablo Picasso, an artist so enraptured by the birds that he named his daughter Paloma (the Spanish word for pigeon). Complementing the paintings are well-integrated reproductions of historic pigeon prints from the author's personal collection. Some facts are presented in a simple and straightforward manner ("When two pigeons make a family, that's called mating…. If a human picks the two pigeons to mate, that is called breeding."), while other tidbits, presented in speech bubbles, lend the title a more informal, humorous tone ("Picasso's dad kept pigeons…and young Pablo cleaned the poop in the coop.").