PIGEON POOP

Unlikely resolution notwithstanding, this thoroughly poopiferous tale of a pigeon with an outsized alimentary issue will leave readers wiping their…eyes from laughter.

It’s bombs away when a pigeon comes to a proudly pristine small town: Not only are “Umbrellas, shoes, and smart new hats…spoiled by Pidge’s splots and splats,” but statues (of course) and even dogs are covered in gunk. Afflicted by this veritable monsoon of muck, the splattered citizens rise up in wrath to construct “a whopping, / super-duper, / Snapping, zapping… // ...birdy scooper!” Though his pigeon poop looks more like globs of whipped cream or yogurt (thank goodness), Chambers smears the stuff over his cartoon figures with a liberal hand. He endows the pigeon with an engaging “Who? Me?” grin and concocts a comically complicated trapping device made from miscellaneous junk. When said device finally traps the avian offender, a softhearted lass takes charge, and “soon our Pidge was clean and tidy / In a poop-proof… // pigeon didey!”

Even young children will find this, at best, a short-term solution, but in the end, at least it leaves both the townsfolk and the guano-gusher itself happy.