How to Throw a Mo Willems Pigeon Party!

What better way to celebrate your favorite book character's anniversary and new book release than with a party! I've partnered with Disney Book Group to bring you this post about how we threw a pigeon party to debut the new Mo Willems book, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School!

My kids and I just love the Pigeon series of books by Mo Willems. We can't get enough of that sassy, clever Pigeon. The books are a favorite in our home and read quite often. That's why we decided to celebrate the Pigeon's 16th anniversary AND the release of a brand new book with a Pigeon Party!

The Pigeon HAS to GO to School! by Mo Willems is in stores now and my kids have already read it dozens of times! This book is recommended for ages 3-5, but even my 7-year-old loves reading it with his little sister. This new story is a fantastic addition to our Mo Willems collection. Just like the other Pigeon books, The Pigeon HAS to GO to School! follows the Pigeon on an emotional rollercoaster as he questions "WHY!" It's such perfect timing too since our kids here in Florida are heading back to school in less than a month.

To celebrate the new story and get my kids excited about heading back to school, I threw a little Pigeon-themed party for them and their friends. Thankfully, Disney Book Group sent me a few fun supplies that featured our favorite bird, but I knew I wanted to make a special party favor that the kids could take home. I decided cupcakes that looked like our beloved Pigeon and Duckling would be perfect.

I baked cupcakes (you could use a boxed mix or a homemade recipe, whichever you prefer) and gathered my supplies. You'll need the following:

• Blue icing
• Yellow icing
• Edible candy eyes (size Large)
• Cupcake wrappers
• Mike & Ike candy (thank you to Finding Zest for this idea from her Pigeon Birthday Party!)

I piped the icing onto the Pigeon cupcakes but you could certainly just use a knife and spread it on. Then, simply place one of the large candy eyeballs and grab a Mike & Ike for the beak. Use yellow candies for Pigeon and orange for the Duckling

Just cut the Mike & Ike down the middle to split the beak and that's it! It's so easy and I think they turned out really cute. They were perfectly sized for our school bus party favor boxes.

For food, of course, we had to have hot dogs! The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! is my daughter's favorite lately so that was a natural choice. I also cut up some fruit for a healthy option.

I also decided to make a cake in honor of Pigeon's 16th birthday. The kids loved this part! I used blue icing for the outside and the leftover yellow icing for the middle of the two layers inside. It was a hit!

Since some of the kids at the party hadn't had a chance to read the new Pigeon book yet, so we broke out our comfy Pigeon blankets thanks to Berkshire Blanket and had a little reading party.

Everyone snuggled up together for storytime and the older boys loved reading to the younger kids. We had a great day together and the kids loved taking the Pigeon and Duckling cupcakes home with them for later.

I hope that you will host a little Pigeon party of your own to celebrate this beloved series and encourage your kids to #ReadMoWillems! Don't forget to grab my free printable reading reward chart to document all the reading your little one will do!