Vote early, vote often...

I think I've mentioned that the Children's Book Council is holding their annual Children's Choice Book Awards election for Children's Book Week...

Well, the voting has begun. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! is a nominee for favorite K-2 book and I'm up for favorite illustrator.

Cool, huh?

So, whadday waiting for? Vote already!

And good luck to everyone... It's a good list of nominees this year!

(Speaking of elections: if you're an independent bookseller you can vote for Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in Indie Choice Book Awards for the Picture Book Hall of Fame. I mean, you could also vote for another book, not that the Pigeon would be too happy about that or anything...)

Listen....

Rats! (upcoming events...)

If you're near the Pioneer Valley, I hope you'll join me this Saturday at 11am at The Odyssey Bookshop in Hadley, MA for a reading and signing to celebrate the release of Elephant and Piggie's latest release, Watch Me Throw the Ball!


I have a bunch of other area appearances in the area and Washington DC (details here), but I thought I'd mention an exciting newly booked one:


On Tuesday April 21st at 4 pm I'll be appearing at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in Washington DC, reading Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed with a, you guessed it....



actual Naked Mole Rat!

(no word on if small outfits will be provided.)

Please drop by if you're in the area as this should be great fun (details should be posted here soon, or you can email the zoo for full info).

(Also, if this is successful, I'm going to see about getting to do a reading with a real Elephant and a Pig. That would rock!)

Flock...

This drawing will be available for sale at the Katonah Museum of Art's Artfully Divine Benefit in late May. The museum has a show of pal Jules Feiffer's work, so drop on by.

And thanks to you Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed spends its 11th week on the New York Times Bestseller list at #10. Awesome!

Le Readers Easy...

Last week not only saw the release of a new Elephant and Piggie book, their French cousins (renamed Emile and Lilli*) also launched with their first two volumes: Oh un oiseau sur ta tête!
and Une sacrée farce


Tres Chic, no?

Early Readers apparently aren't a big genre in France, but folks are already saying nice things about them, which is cool.

I haven't gotten my copies yet, but eagerly look forward to opening a bottle of wine, buying a warm bagette, and having a read between sets of petanque...

If you're looking for my other books in French, drop by here.




(*because Inexplicable and Hubba-Wha were taken...)

I'll show you what I heard...

For those of you who haven't had a chance to listen to my previously plugged, chatty interview on WAMC's the Roundtable a week or so back, I took some time from answering questions to teach you how to draw the Pigeon without looking at it.

This lovely cartoon comes from Alice (long time listener, first time Pigeon drawerer) who'd never even heard of the Pigeon before she heard how to draw it...


Nice work, Alice!

Why don't you give it a try? (Then take a listen to Norton Juster and other pals)

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed news...

Mail is great fun when new books come in. For instance, the British (and Australian and New Zealand) version of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed just came in. And even tho' it's a foreign book, it feels like I can even read it!


And thanks to you, the American version of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed is #9 on the New York Times Bestseller list, in its 10th week!

Stay tuned for some cool Naked Mole Rat news (hopefully) coming down the pike soon...

Incredabunny!

Villains Beware-
Incredabunny is hare!*




*please note, it is inherently unsafe for Incredabunny to run, which can be a problem when chasing villains, but safety 3rd and all that...

Big nose...

Watch Me Throw The Ball! Releases Today!

In Watch Me Throw the Ball!, Gerald is determined to teach Piggie that ball-throwing is serious business... but Piggie is just as determined to have serious fun.

Pick up your copy at your favorite bookshop or local library! Also available here.

Rubber Band Man...

If you want to have a listen to last weeks Roundtable conversation on WAMC, it's posted on their archive. I try to teach you how to draw the Pigeon on the radio. Have a listen, try it, and send it to the folks at WAMC. I'm eager to see what comes out of this. You can also check out the fun interviews done with pals Jeanne Birdsall, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jane Yolen, and the always hilarious Norton Juster.

And thanks to you, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed has managed to hang on for its 9th week on the New York Times Bestseller list at #10. Thanks, you.

Ask and ye shall have to listen to me blather on and on...

I said I was going on a Blreak, but I thought I’d quickly point you to two interviews; one rambling, the other succinct.

I had a long phone chat a month or so back with the folks at readkiddoread.com (and so have pals pals Jeff Kinney, Lemmony Snicket, and Rick Riordan) in which I blather about and occasionally use the word ‘calcify’, which I always like sneaking in when I’m interviewed.

The Horn Book’s Roger Sutton had a few easy reader questions for me, the answers to which are free of any calcificity.

Enjoy!

Big bag 'o mail...

I'm going to take a short blog-break (a blreak?), so I thought I'd leave you with an embarrassment of riches from the old fan mail bag.

Please listen in to the radio on Friday and check out the new Elephant and Piggie book when it's released next week!

Now back to the kids' art and letters; all awesome stuff. Enjoy!
(Click on any image to enlarge)


Love the cape!

Incredible likeness of Trixie!




Lastly, thank you for the letter.

Nice to see some love for Leonardo...






Willems! Willems!



Funky!

I love how dirty they are...





Yeah, I'm old. My wife once overheard some kids saying that children were allowed in the front seats of cars in the olden days. And she heard that a decade ago....





Huzzah!

Send your fan mail to:

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

Please be patient, it takes a long time for mail to be forwarded!

See Ya There...!

I've been cutting back on travel for a bit to concentrate on new book projects and the Knuffle Bunny Musical, but I do have a few appearances in the next month or so that I'd love for you to drop by if you're in the neighborhood.



I'll mostly be reading and discussing my Elephant and Piggie books on these events, in particular the brand-new Watch Me Throw the Ball!

Saturday March 28, 2009

11am

Odyssey Books
9 College Street
S. Hadley, MA 01075

413-534-7307


Friday April 3, 2009

The 41st Annual Conference on Reading and Writing
via Rutgers U.

The Doubletree Hotel
200 Atrium Drive
Somerset NJ 08873

I'll be giving a speech and signing books during the day long conference (This is a ticketed event)


Friday, April 10, 2009

7pm

The Holyoke Barnes and Noble
7 Holyoke Street
Holyoke, MA 01040



I'm also tentative scheduled to do a signing in the Washington, DC area on Monday April, 20th and you can see me/hear me this Friday at the Eric Carle Museum.

Mo' details to come.

Please make sure to check with the venues to confirm schedules, etc...

Speechless...

When you win a gold Geisel Award sticker for one of your Easy Readers, you are obligated to write, then make a short speech at ALA's summer convention *.

Award speeches are tricky; how can you actually thank those who've done the heavy lifting for you without your speech devolving into a grocery list of thanks ("Marcia, Johnny, Sally, Stick of Butter, Gallon of Milk, Dozen Eggs...") and consequently bore everyone into taking your award away from you.

I recently received a letter from ALSC, the wing of ALA that administers the Geisel Award asking for my speech, which I have not begun to think about.

In order to help me out, they included a copy of last year's speech for context:




(click to enlarge)

Well, at least I know I can do better than that joker...



*the convention this year is in July in Chicago. Concurrent with the convention will be a cool Caldecott Art show at the Chicago Art Institute.

I get Around (Table)...

A heads' up about an appearance that combines fun things like radio, picture book art, and pals.

This upcoming Friday, March, 13th, I and a bunch of neighbors/kids book folk like Norton Juster, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, and Jane Yolen* will take up the morning chatting on public radio's WAMC's The Roundtable.

The show starts with interviews at about 9:15 am and continue through noon. I'm scheduled to chat at @11am (hopefully a schedule will be posted on the WAMC site in the coming days).

Here's the cool thing. You can listen to the interviews live on the radio, on live/archived on WAMC's streaming service, or sooper-extra live at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA.

That's right, we'll be recording from the museum, and guests are invited to sit in and see and hear us. If you're in the 'hood, please drop by. It should be good fun.

Viva radio!

Thanks to you, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed climbed to #4 on this week's New York Times Bestseller list, marking its 8th week on the list.

Unbelievable.

Thanks, you.

*tentatively scheduled, of course...

Fly the friendly sky...

Pal Eoin Colfer's* agent's pal Henry sent in these rockin' pix of his own, home-made, completely awesome Pigeon costume:





Wow. Yay UK fans! They can fly!



And as long as were talkin' UK, the UK touring musical theatrical production of Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! begins today. Drop by if you're in the neighborhood!



*pronounced Ju-on Chest-Kah...