Getting ready for Halloween?

Here's a gallery of cool costumes that folks have made over the years and sent into the studio:

The Pigeon is the most popular by far!




I'm signing a headdress a girl in Texas made! It was hot in there!




Awwwww... Duckling!
The official costume from the Pigeon Musicals:

This one is less official, but no less cool!



Leonardo the Terrible Monster gets some love:

How about this Elephant and Piggie team from Chicago?


Huzzah!

Get going seamstressers! Have a great Halloween next month!

Yay Foreign editions!

Back from DC, what should await me in my 'IN BOX', but brand new Simplified Chinese versions of Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (look out for The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! at your Simplified Chinese bookshop as well...)

Yay!

Libba 'n Mo blather for YOU.

So, I'm hanging out at the Brooklyn Book Fest a week or so back and who stops me but pal and old neighbor Libba Bray. So, we chat. And the guys at the PEN center recorded it. Check it out here. It's just like hangin' on the neighborhood stoop...


(and a nice overview of this year's Geisel Award winners)

Just back...

I'll report on the craziness of the National Book Fest once I'm caught up on mail, work, etc...

Suffice it to say, it was a wild ride, filled with pals, fans, signings, dinners, interviews, rain, this:




and all of it was weird and cool.

Thanks to all the awesome volunteers, especially my handler for the day, Alexa.

Until the full report, here's an interview I did for the Library of Congress before the gig that highlights some of my upcoming books.

12 years ago...

...today, an otherwise sane young woman's judgement lapsed just long enough for her to marry this:






Since then, she has been a paradigm of wisdom, but I love her most for that lapse...

I'm off!

I hope to see you tonight in New York at the Carle Honors or in Washington DC at the National Book Festival on Saturday!

New Guys Read for New Guys to Read about Guys Reading Guys Read...

Pal and National Ambassador for Children's Literature Jon Scieszka just unveiled the brand new GuysRead.com, filled with guys reading and things for guys to read and guys and reading and stuff.

It's cool.

You can check out some writer guys favorite books, including mine, find books and do guy stuff.

Cool.


[Please note, gals invited, even if they live in little houses on the prairie...]

National Book Fest Update!

I'm looking forward to going back to Washington, DC for this year's National Book Festival. The line-up of authors and illustrators is phenomenal and it's always a thrill to see the Mall chock full of readers digging all the action.

I'll be quite busy on Saturday with interviews and public appearances and (hopefully) catching up with some pals.

Here's my (revised) schedule:

11 am- Reading, PBS Tent. I'd been asked to read my favorite Suess book, so I chose the hilarious Sneeches on the Beaches. Others will be reading their faves throughout the day...

12:30-1:30- Signing. Note, my signing is before my appearance, which is weird. My day is pretty booked up, so I'll try to get to everyone before somebody yanks me away.

3:05- Reading, Q&A, Fun Surprises, Children's Tent. The big show. Premieres! Books! Kids! Come on and rock out!

3:45- Roundtable Q&A with the Library of Congress' Matt Raymond with journalists, bloggers, tweeters, and their ilk. [Honestly, not sure where this is being held.] Here's the deal: you can ask me any question you want, and I will answer any question I want. Should be good fun.


Don't forget to check the official schedule for details and be sure to check out as much as you can, like presentations by pals Jon Scieszka, David Shannon, Jackie Woodson, Rick Riordan, Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, Lois Lowery, Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale, and more! Some real cool stuff planned for this Saturday!

FANtastic!

Pals Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black are wrapping up the Spiderwick Chronicles with a cool Completely Fantastical edition featuring tribute drawings by a whole slew of cool folks (yours truly even made it in). Check out mo' info here.

Pigeon Party!

Speaking of Theater....



UK Children's Theatre troupe Big Wooden Horse's latest Pigeon-tastic show has flown over the pond.

Starting at the end of this month, Pigeon Party (featuring highlights from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!) will be touring the USA and Canada for 6 months of shows.


If you want to check out a show in your area, please consult with the venue and remember not to let the Pigeon drive that bus!

Pigeon Tag!

As seen in a NYC Subway station:

backstage...

Thanks to the astounding crew, actors, and staff of the Kennedy Center helping figure it out in workshop, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical is going to ROCK.

I'm blown away by the level of talent in the workshop rooms all focused on getting from Aggle to Flaggle to Klabble and making it sing.

Here's some flavor of our work over the past few days.
.







Mo' info to come...

Happy B'day Tomie

Pal JJK put together this little tribute for pal Tomie DePaola's 75th B'day*.

Here's my sketch:

There's more, so check it out. Fun stuff.

*and here's some pix of Tomie and I at his recent Eric Carle Museum appearance.

Nova Scotia Rocks!

When NS's Annapolis Valley Regional Library marches in a parade, do they let the Pigeon drive the bus? No, they do not!

I particularly like the word bubble. That's class.

Huzzah!

Thanks, NYC, BKLYN!

Had great fun in the city the weekend, attending literary events and social gatherings to catch up with and bump into old pals like Jon Scieszka, Peter deSeve, David Wain, Paul Zelinsky, Libba Bray, Chris Rashka, Jackie Woodson, R. Sykoriak, R. O. Blechman, and tons more. I even got to meet the excellent travelog cartoonist Guy Delisle and pick up one of his books I didn't own yet.

But mostly it was great fun to meet you and your kids and do a little yelling.

In fact, it was so fun I forgot to take any pictures...

This week is all about polishing up Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical to a shine, so it'll be ready for it's debut at the Kennedy Center next spring. Expect sporadic reports...

I'm off!

To NYC and Brooklyn to visit Books of Wonder, the Upper East Side B&N, and hang out at the awesome Brooklyn Book Fest* (in addition to meetings and catching up with old Bklyn pals).

After that, a few days in Washington, DC to workshop Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical at the Kennedy Center with the crew and cast.

Expect sporadic reports, and please come say hello at the public events.


*Schedule here.

Big Frog Can't Fit In! sizzle...

Releases Oct. 6th!

Balloon...

doodle: Grow!

And a nice little review for Elephant and Piggie and Knuffle Bunny mention.

Talk about a Fancy, Costume, Pool Party!!!

If you visited the Bucktown Arts Fest in Chicago last weekend, you would have seen the Trapdoor Theater's wacky version of Elephant and Piggie's I AM INVITED TO A PARTY!

Is that a band playing music during the Fancy, Costume, Pool Party?

Awesome!

Speaking of Elephant and Piggie, they popped back onto the NY Times Bestseller List this week with Elephants Cannot Dance! at #10; their 11th week on the list thanks to you. Thanks, you.

Elephant and Piggie Museum Poster!

The folks over at the Eric Carle Museum of Art decided to do a little something different to celebrate the Carle Honors this year. In addition to their dinner and celebration, they asked me to make a drawing for a comemorative poster, which I was happy to do. The plan is to make these posters an annual event, so that each year a different illustrator can have fun and help The Carle.


If you're in NYC this month, you can view the poster at a sneak peek event Thursday the 10th at Books of Wonder and I'll be signing posters on the 24th at the Carle Honors themselves. Otherwise, posters will be available through the Museum for 40 smackers.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale is 5 years old!

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale was published 5 years ago this month.

Thanks to you, Trixie and her Daddy are still looking for Trixie's Bunny!

This book was a result of my telling my editor and art director a story while waiting for some printouts. They immediately encouraged me to turn the story into a book. I was reluctant, but very glad to have listened to them in the end. The last 5 years has brought all kinds of additions to the world of Knuffle Bunny, from a sequel, to cartoon films, to actual Knuffle Bunnies!

Upcoming, a big puzzle, a big musical (at the Kennedy Center and touring the country), and the final chapter in the Knuffle Trilogy.

But mostly, it's been a thrill to open up mail bags filled with kids drawings of Knuffle Bunny and their hilarious suggestions for new stories. One of the first included a story called, "What Knuffle Bunny Did in the Laundry". The text read: "As long as she was in the machine, she tried on all the clothes. They were FABULOUS!"

Awesome.