I get the 360 degree.

A month or so back I was interviewed for the excellent NPR/PRI/WNYC show Studio 360, an interview which will be running this weekend on your local NPR station (schedule is here).

You can hear it here! The piece includes a snippet of a song from the Knuffle Bunny Musical.



Oh, then have a listen to some of the great interviews they've done.

I doodled this:
While listening to this.

Recession Pigeon (Yay Fan Mail!)

The latest batch of fan mail was filled with great stuff. Highlights include lots of Pigeons:


Some great ideas for stories:


The 'torn from today's headlines' Pigeon tale: Don't Let the Pigeon Get a Job!:




And my favorite stuff, the Pigeon with characters created by kids!:



It's always nice to see Wilbur from Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed:



And Leonardo from Leonardo the Terrible Monster:

And Trixie and Elephant and Piggie:




And of course there are the letters:

They're filled with questions:


Phew!

We'd love to see your drawings here at the Mo Willems Studio. Drop a line to:

Mo Willems Fan Mail
c/0 Jennifer Crowell
Hyperion Books for Children and Pigeons
114 5th Ave 14th fl. New York, NY 10011

Please be very patient, it takes a while for mail to be forwarded!

(Teachers: a cover letter including the grade you teach is appreciated)

Cat the Cat, updated updated!

Just on the heels of the publication of Cat the Cat's WHAT'S YOUR SOUND, HOUND THE HOUND? yesterday, Cat the Cat's awesome website GoMo.net has been updated with lots of cool stuff!

You can download a teachers guide, check out the cover of the upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion and there's a brand new video page including this new video where I demonstrate how to draw Cat the Cat:



So, why not click on by play the games and see if you can discover the title of a brand new book I'm working on for next year? And don't forget to come back. There will be lots of updates in the coming months!

What's Your Sound Hound the Hound? publishes TODAY!

I hope you'll enjoy Cat the Cat's latest adventure, What's Your Sound Hound the Hound?

The folks at Kirkus say: "Willems’s third Cat the Cat book might be the best one yet...This book is the cat’s meow."

Look What I Found...

Live interview tomorrow.

I'll be chatting tomorrow (April 22nd) at 3:30pm on Harlem Talk Radio's show Mom Madness about my upcoming gig hosting the CBC Children's Choice Awards. Tune in!

Break...

I'll be taking a blog break to catch up on a project.

Maybe the Pigeon will continue to tweet in my absence. Who knows with him.

After dinner

We had so much fun drawing on our paper table cloth during dinner last night...


that after dinner Zazz -the hamster of adventure!- decided to drop by and check out the doodles.

Kirkus Likes WHAT'S YOUR SOUND HOUND THE HOUND?

Thanks to the recently resuscitated Kirkus reviews for their nice words about Cat the Cat's 3rd adventure What's Your Sound, HOUND the HOUND?

They say:

Willems’s third Cat the Cat book might be the best one yet....Vibrantly colored digital art delivers the clean, animation-like style that fans expect while packing a lot of narrative and expressive punch. This book is the cat’s meow.

Welcome back, Kirkus, & thanks!

What's Your Sound, HOUND the HOUND publishes at the end of the month.

End April-End May appearances!

I've got a few weeks to work at home, then I'll be hitting the road. Here is my public appearance schedule for the end of April until the end of May, when things get busy again.


On April 29th
White River Junction, VT.
4:30 pm

I'll be giving a talk to students of the Center for Cartoon Studies at Dartmouth College about my illustration and career with a book signing to follow.

This event is free & open to the public.


Friday, May 7
Washington DC

I'll be the luncheon speaker at the Children's Book Guild.

Please contact the Guild regarding attendance.


Saturday, May 8
Washington, DC
Kennedy Center

NOON: I'll be signing books at the Kennedy Center Gift Shop after the morning performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical . You're welcome to come to the signing even if you can't make it to the show.

This event is open to the public

I'll also be attending the 5pm premier of the musical.

This show is sold out.


Tuesday, May 11
New York City

I'll be the the MC/host of the Children's Choice Book Awards Gala where I'll get in trouble for what I say to a host of celebrities, literary hot-shots and publishing folk. Should be good fun.

See the CBC for ticket info.


SUNDAY, MAY 23
NORTHAMPTON, MA
2PM

Cartoon-a-palooza animated screening at the Academy of Music to benefit the Forbes Library! I'll be screening a bunch of my animated and live-action shorts, including rarely seen Sesame Street work, episodes of Nickelodeon's The Off-Beats, Sheep in the Big City spots, and the animated versions of many of my books. We'll even have the world premier of The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog! on tap. I'll be there to answer questions and sign the special Elephant and Piggie art Posters (also to benefit the library's children's department). Don't miss this one!

Buy your tickets on-line or at the library or Academy of Music Box Office.


May 25-27
New York City

BEA. I have lots of planned signings and appearances at the Book Expo including one public appearance in Brooklyn with Jon J Muth to promote the upcoming City Dog, Country Frog. There is also a great Knuffle Bunny Free give-away planned. More details to come, but for now here's the schedule:

Wed, May 26:

10 am: signing for Hyperion [booth 3352] (E+P Can I Play, Too?)

2:00 pm: autographing City Dog, Country Frog with Jon J Muth, autographing area Table 23 (ticket required)

Thursday, May 27:

10:00: signing for Harper [booth 3349] (Knuffle Bunny Free poster)

These signings are open to attendees of BEA.

Thursday, May 27:
Brooklyn, NY
Powerhouse Arena
4:30pm

A reading a signing with Jon J Muth in one of Dumbo's hippest stores (37 Main St).

This event is open to the public!


I'll also be attending my first National Cartoonists Society convention Memorial Weekend. No appearances tho', just as a fan and to root for my pals Hilary Price and Richard Thompson at the Rubens....

Phew! If you can make any of these events, do say 'hello'.

Pretty Hair

I had great fun last week with the cast and crew (most of them above) for the upcoming Knuffle Bunny Musical. Seeing pal Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Trixie reminded me of the last time I cast her as a kid, 10 years ago:




That's Steph with another great Sesame Street muppeteer, Fran Brill.

Night Time Doodles... (plus one balloon)

From a recent spate of doodle days...

IAGGHH! (I'm off!)

I'm off to Washington, DC for the start of rehearsals and end of tweaking for Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical. I had a ball at workshop last year, and anticipate more fun with the great folks at the KC and Team Knuffle cast.

Until I return, please enjoy this awesome fan letter I opened today:


IAGGHH!

[It seems like the musical has sold out, but it will be traveling in the fall. Mo info to come...]

What's Your Sound Hound the Hound? PREVIEW

The old studio mailbag had my preview copy of Cat the Cat's latest adventure: What's Your Sound HOUND the HOUND?

It's always cool to have the real book in your hands after a few years of work on it.

I hope you enjoy it when it publishes at the end of the month!

Read With Friends!

Looking for some signed Elephant and Piggie art?

Well, then Northampton's Forbes Library has a great deal for you. They're selling giant 18" x 24" Read with Friends posters featuring Elephant and Piggie reading all of their favorite local authors, authors you may have heard of like pals Norton Juster, Holly Black, JJK, Eric Carle, Patricia MacLauchlan and more! The posters are signed by me for only 25 smackers!


All proceeds go to fixing up the library's kids/teens areas.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your poster now!


(And don't forget to pick up some tickets to the animated Cartoon-a-palooza benefit at the end of May before they sell out!)

I doodled!

Last week I complained about not taking enough time to stop and doodle.

Well, I listened to my own advice and had me a fun doodle after that.




That feels better....

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! is 7 years old today!

And he has yet to drive a bus! A big thank you from the Bus Driver (and me!).