# Is "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" by Mo Willems a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Children, 2003) is identified by: First printing has a number line that includes the 1 on the copyright page; Hyperion Books for Children imprint; sketchy crayon-and-marker style art with color illustrations throughout. The US Hyperion hardcover of 2003 is the true first edition and earned a 2004 Caldecott Honor.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing has a number line that includes the 1 on the copyright page
- Hyperion Books for Children imprint; sketchy crayon-and-marker style art with color illustrations throughout
- The book was issued WITHOUT a dust jacket as a laminated pictorial-board picture book, so the first-printing boards carry no Caldecott Honor seal (the honor was awarded in 2004)
- Author's picture-book debut
- Publisher imprint reads Hyperion Books for Children
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mo Willems |
| Publisher | Hyperion Books for Children |
| Year | 2003 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First printing has a number line that includes the 1 on the copyright page |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First printing has a number line that includes the 1 on the copyright page; Hyperion Books for Children imprint; sketchy crayon-and-marker style art with color illustrations throughout. The book was issued WITHOUT a dust jacket as a laminated pictorial-board picture book, so the first-printing boards carry no Caldecott Honor seal (the honor was awarded in 2004). Author's picture-book debut.

## Is this the true first?
The US Hyperion hardcover of 2003 is the true first edition and earned a 2004 Caldecott Honor. The first-printing covers predate the seal.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings add the Caldecott Honor seal to the front cover. Board-book and book-club formats are separate later issues and are not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!* by Mo Willems a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/dont-let-the-pigeon-drive-the-bus
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.