Dave Pigeon is one of those books we recommend at every opportunity. Specifically when somebody asks about a book for a child who has just finished picture books and is terrified of chapter books.
There is a reading dip most children go through, somewhere between the end of picture books and the start of proper novels. The picture books start feeling babyish, the chapter books feel like too much work, and the child drifts off reading for a year. We see it often enough to have opinions about the books that bridge the gap.
Dave Pigeon lives in that bridge.
It is short, around a hundred and sixty pages. It is illustrated throughout. The narrator is a pigeon who dictates his plans for revenge against a cat to a human scribe. The chapters are small enough to read one at bedtime and leave the rest for the morning. The voice is funny in a way that survives being read aloud, which is where a lot of transitional chapter books fall down.
Swapna Haddow writes, Sheena Dempsey illustrates, and there are several Dave Pigeon books now. We include a copy in every class set we send to a Year 2 or Year 3 class. If your school library does not have a shelf for “first real novels”, one should be added, and Dave Pigeon should be on it.