I love foreign editions!

Just arrived from Kaleidoscope in Paris! Magnifique!

Calendar…

I’m switching out to a new, dull calendar (it starts in December, for some reason) and saying goodbye to a great one from the Dutch Embassy on Dutch Design, entitled Holland Agenda 2007 (‘agenda’ means ‘calendar’ in Dutch, but is sounds vaguely threatening in English).

Any-hoo, here’s a look at what I was up to last year:




On tonight’s calendar is my ASIFA East Screening. See you there.

Balloon...

A morning at the library...

I’ve just returned from the Donnell branch New York Public Library (across the street from MoMa, the one of the best museums named after me) where today the NYPL's “100 Titles for Ready and Sharing” list was announced. Happily, Elephant and Piggie are represented on the list with My Friend is Sad!

The event featured a presentation by the always-hip Ashley Bryan. I love how he gets everyone involved. Earnest and funny.

If you get a chance, drop on by the Library’s children’s department while they still have original art from cool books like Kevin Sherry’s I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Dog and Bear, and pal Brian Selznick’s Hugo Cabret. You can also check out the real Winnie the Pooh and pals, too, but be warned and watch what you say: a blogger lurks there.


PS: You can check out past lists here.

Swatches...

From a book I'm working on right now.

More details later...

This week…

…I have two events in New York.

On Wednesday I’ll be at Bank Street Books on the Upper West Side of at 4:30pm.

Thursday is the ASIFA East screening of the animated adaptations of my books and conversation with Dave Levy at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts at 7pm (more info here). There will be books for sale and a brief signing afterwards.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is hanging on the New York Times Bestseller list for the 11th consecutive week at #9.

The animated Knuffle Bunny gets another nice review.

Have a good weekend.

The Pigeon Wants....?

A Contest!

As some of you may know, a new Pigeon book is slated for release on April 1st, 2008 (the Pigeon's 5th birthday).

Here's the catch: we're only telling the first 4 words of the title: The Pigeon Wants a...

And it's up to YOU to guess what you think the Pigeon wants. If you draw a great cover with the right answer, you may win a school visit from me and a bunch of books.

We'll also be posting some of the cooler answers over the next few months.

If nothing else, my hope is that this contest will get tons of kids drawing and writing. Certainly, when the real title is announced, many kids will be... disappointed. Their ideas will be much better than mine!

What are you waiting for? Download your entry form now! Then get drawing!

(Note: the contest is good for USA and Canada only--Sorry Dubai-- and the address to enter is Hyperion Books For Children, 44 S. Broadway, 10th Fl, White Plains, NY 10601)

Oh, and tell your pals!

Thanks!

Outside of Mardi Gras, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year (inside of Mardi Gras—don’t ask).

It seems quintessentially American to both revel in the successes of the past year and attempt a day of humility simultaneously.

In addition to the many personal joys my family affords me, I appreciate you both for supporting my work and celebrating it with your own drawings and doodles of my characters.

This is also “Best of List” season, as you can tell by mentions made here in the past week or so. Here are a few more specific accolades I’m humbled and zazzed about:

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! clocks in at #18 on The NEA Educators' Top 100 Children's Books list (beating out JKR for the first and only time).

Elephant and Piggie’s Today I Will Fly! is a NAPPA Gold Winner.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is both one of The Columbus Dispatch’s “Top 20 of '07” and a Parent’s Choice Recommended book.

Oh, and (a fan kindly commented that) Knuffle Bunny Too and Elephant and Piggie's There is a Bird on Your Head! also made it onto the School Library Journal's 2007 Best of List.


As an extra bonus, here’s a short vid that the fine folks in Pittsburgh asked me to make to encourage reading. It makes me (and my dentist) shudder, but what the hey?*

See ya on the flip side…

(*It also may be interesting to note that I was forced to perform my entire shtick sideways as well.)

News, News, News...

Lots of news this weekend, beginning with the opening of the Robert’s Snow Snowflake auctions which start tomorrow. For those of you not in the know, Robert’s Snow has gathered together 29 billion children’s illustrators to paint individual snowflakes to be auctioned off for cancer research. Auction #1 starts on November 19th.

My odd little entry has been slated for Auction #3 beginning on December 3rd, but that’s no reason to wait. There’s great stuff available right now.


(You can hear more about my flake in this quick interview from my most enthusiastic supporter…)

If you’re on the East Coast, do try to drop by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for the just opened Children Should Be Seen exhibit featuring ka-jillions of cool original pieces from old and new picture book classics. My entry is an original Knuffle Bunny illustration. If that’s not enough for you, walk across the gallery to pals Tony DiTerlizzi/Holly Black’s awesome Spiderwick show.

It turns out that Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity is still on the New York Times Bestseller List, climbing back up to #4 on it’s 10th consecutive week. Pretty exciting.

What? That’s not enough news?

Then how about this flattering article/review in Sunday’s Boston Globe?

Or this quick interview with the fine folks over at Babble.com?

Any-hoo:

Thanks to all the cool folks who dropped by my Pittsburgh event this weekend and a big shout-out to Brandon (the student body President of Allegheny Traditional Academy who introduced me in front of the 3rd-5th grade classes on Friday) and the sandwich guy at the airport who’s a Sheep in the Big City fan.

I'm Off...

I’ll be in Pittsburgh, PA for the next few days answering questions like these. If you’re around on Saturday, drop on by.

While my interviewer may think I’ve got a ‘little bit of the Pigeon in me’, it’s a fact that this year’s Association of Booksellers for Children best book list has a little bit of Pigeon in it (page 21). Thanks ABC!

Children’s Book Week…

…is this week.

Ahhh.. the joy of relegating kids’ books to their own week, allowing the other 51 to be unsullied by picture books, chapter books, and other flights of fancy.

Kidding… Kidding… I kid ‘cuz I love…

Here’s a nice CBW round up review (with some love for Knuffle Bunny Too).



Want to celebrate? You could pick up this collection of past Children’s Book Week streamers including the Pigeon and pals Tony DiTerlizzi, Laurie Keller, and Brian Selznick’s take on Trixie (hint: she’s not the blue thing with the red nose).

Or, even better, you could read a funny book to a funny kid.

Pigeon Sighting...

A Seattle fan sent in a few recent Pigeon sightings from a few weeks back during Halloween, and they put the “Awwww” in Awesome:



(Remember: even if Pigeons want to drive a bus, they still have to hold hands when crossing the street…)

In less adorable news, Knuffle Bunny Too was just named one of the Editors’ picks for the 100 Best Books of 2007 from Amazon.com. From a quick perusal, I spotted pal Brian Selznick’s excellent Hugo Cabret. Huzzah!

This Week...

Knuffle Bunny Too hangs on at #9 on the New York Times Bestseller List for it's ninth consecutive week.

Jon Sciecska, a few pals, and I will help celebrate the Superhero Supply Store (826nyc) for a Wed. night benefit (call 826 for details, we'd love to see you and your check...)

I'll be speaking and signing in Pittsburgh, PA.

Oh, and the dentist, I have to go to the dentist.

Ugh.

Weekend notes

Last night was the Brooklyn Library Gala which honored pal Jackie Woodson, was MC'ed by pal Jon Scieszka, and was attended by pals Ted and Betsy Lewin and Brett Helquist and tons of neighborhood friends. Lots of fun was had and gobs of cash were raised for library services all over the borough.

If you're in CT this weekend, drop by the CT Children's Book Fest. I'll be there Sunday.

Ta.

Kirkus’ Picks…

Kirkus has a cool pdf downloadable magazine of their Best Children’s Books of 2007 (scroll down and click on Best Children’s Books) featuring little articles on each of their picks. They were nice enough to pick two of my books (Knuffle Bunny Too and I am Invited to a Party!) and include a short interview with me (on page 10).

It’s fun to see what authors and illustrators have to say about their own books. All in all a good read.

Thanks Kirkus!

Welcome to the Molog!

If you’ve joined me here from the new link-tastic mowillems.com, welcome.

This is where I post my schedule, info about my books, news and reviews, fan mail, animation, interviews, doodles, my checkered past, and mo’.

Take a look around and thanks for dropping by.

Your pal,

Mo

Yay Fan Mail! (Mostly) Non-Pigeon Edition.

Time to give the Pigeon a break and give some love to the others.

Like Edwina:


Elephant and Piggie:

Knuffle Bunny:

Trixie:

Knuffle Bunnies with Elephant and Piggie:

Let’s not forget Time to Pee!

(Actually it was originally written for elderly incontinents; tell your teacher that!)


Of course, someone is always going to draw the Pigeon, and when they do, why waste your time doing it the Mo way? This is much better.

Rock on!

What are you waiting for? Send your missives to:

Mo Willems
c/o Christian Trimmer
Hyperion Books for Children
114 5th Ave, 14th fl.
New York, NY 10011

(Please be patient as it takes a while to get the mail forwarded)



(Oh, and somehow I don’t think Mary Pope Osborn gets notes like this about the Pigeon…)

Knuffle Knews…

Thanks to you, Knuffle Bunny Too is still going strong at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller list, marking it’s 8th week on the list.

Thanks to the folks over at Publisher’s Weekly, KB2 has been named one of its best books of the year.

You can pick up a copy of this month’s Parenting Magazine and see a nice plug for Knuffle Bunny Too and the Knuffle Bunny Plush and there’s a nice review of sequels, including KB2, in today’s Pittsburgh paper.

If you live in the Boston area and want to check out the animated versions of Knuffle Bunny and Leonardo the Terrible Monster on the big screen, drop by the Belmont 5th Annual Family Film Festival this weekend.

All the Knews you Kneed to Know!

I'm Back!

Thanks to all the nice folks in Texas for their kindness over the last weekend.

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, so here's a nice review from Canada to tide you over...

I'm Off...

…to Huntsville and Austin, Texas for a few days.

I hope they like me…

See ya on the flip side.

Freaky Fan Fun (+ bonus alliteration)…

Jen Pierce (aka Bess the Book Bus) just dropped off some books from my pals at First Book to kids in Tampa, FL.




Yowzer! That's some mighty fine head-gear! Thanks Bess.

Oh, and Liverpool Loves Leonardo.