KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY MUSICAL tour schedule!

Good news; the Kennedy Center's touring schedule for my first play, KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY MUSICAL, has been released for the first two legs (UPDATE: THE 3RD LEG TOUR DATES ARE HERE). There are some pretty cool venues scheduled starting in OCTOBER 2010.

You'll notes that some venues are only putting on day shows for school groups, others are putting on performances for the general public, while others are doing both.

While the Kennedy Center is running the tour, it's the individual venue that comes up with their ticketing policies, so contact them directly if you want your family or school group to attend a performance. (Everything is subject to change, but the schedule looks pretty locked up from what I'm told.)

For more info on the tour, including slides, schedules, & notes from the crew, head to the Kennedy Center site . For previous posts about the show (including pictures & reviews), click here & start scrolling.

If you can make it to a show in your area I hope that you'll enjoy the show.

(Oh, and stay tuned for exciting soundtrack news....)


The 2010-2011 Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical

October 8-9 Bowie, MD Bowie Center for the Performing Arts (Preview)
school and public

October 15 Jackson, WY Off Square Theatre
public

October 18 Billings, MT Alberta Blair Theatre
school

October 19 Gillette, WY Cam-Plex Heritage Center
school and public

October 23 Torrance, CA Torrance Arts Center
public

October 24 La Mirada, CA La Mirada Theatre
public

October 25 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
school

October 29-30 Everett, WA Everett Civic Auditorium
school and public


November 2 Tacoma, WA Broadway Center for the Arts
school

November 5 Boise, ID Morrison Center for the Performing Arts
school

November 8-10 Las Vegas, NV Ham Hall, UNLV
school

November 16 Gilbert, AZ Higley Center for the Performing Arts
school

November 18 Scottsdale, AZ Scottsdale Center for the Arts
school

November 20 Glendora, CA The Haugh Performing Arts Center
public

November 22-23 Provo, UT Covey Center for the Arts
school and public

November 30 Springfield, IL Sangamon Auditorium, Univ. of IL - Springfield
school
December 2-3 Urbana, IL Krannert Center for the Performing Arts / University of Illinois at Urbanaschool

December 6 Wausau, WI The Grand, Wausau Perf. Arts Foundation
school

January 4 Albany, NY The Egg, Empire State Plaza
school

January 7-8 Ada, OH The Freed Center for the Performing Arts
school and public

January 11-15 Cleveland, OH Cleveland Playhouse Square, Ohio Theatre
school and public

January 18-20 Belleville, IL University of Lindenwood, Belleville
school

January 21-23 St. Louis, MO Center of Creative Arts (COCA)
public

January 26-28 Opelika, AL Opelika Center for the Performing Arts
school
Jan. 31-Feb 2 West Palm Beach, FL Kravis Center for Performing Arts
school


February 3 Melbourne, FL King Center
school

February 5 Orange Park, FL Thrasher-Horne Center
public

February 11 Coral Springs, FL Coral Springs City Center
school

February 12 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Broward Center
public

February 14 Punta Gorda, FL Charlotte Performing Arts Center
school

February 16 Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy Centre
school

February 18 Greenville, NC East Carolina University
school and public

February 22 Maryville, TN Clayton Center for the Arts
school

February 26-27 New York, NY Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, NYU
public

February 28 Hartford, CT Bushnell Theatre
school


March 2 Burlington, VT Flynn Center
school

March 4 Northampton, MA Academy of Music
school and public
I will be attending these shows!

March 5 Derry, NH Pinkerton Academy
public

March 8 Concord, NH Capitol Center for the Arts
school

March 9 Lebanon, NH Lebanon Opera House
school

March 10 Portsmouth, NH The Music Hall
school

March 13-14 Portland, ME Merrill Auditorium
school and public

March 16 Flushing, NY Kupferberg Center, Queen’s College
school

March 21 Brookfield, WI Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
school

March 26 Glen Ellyn, IL McAninch Arts Center
public

March 30 Texarkana, TX Perot Theatre
school

April 1 Orange, TX Lutcher Center for the Performing Arts
school

April 3 Richardson, TX Charles W. Eisemann Center
public

April 8 Little Rock, AR Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts
school and public

April 10-11 Austin, TX Paramount Theatre
school and public

April 13 Meridian, MS MSU Riley Center
school

April 15-16 Memphis, TN The Orpheum Theatre
school and public


May 4 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn College
school

May 5-6 Westhampton Beach, NY Westhampton Beach Performing Arts
school

May 8-9 West Chester, PA West Chester University of Pennsylvania
school and public


May 18-21 Newark, NJ New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
school and public

Whew! Do drop by if you can (and bring your favorite stuffed animal).

Thanks to you...

This week's NY Times Bestseller list features CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG holding steady at #6 for the 6th week.

Thanks to all for your continued support!

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus GAME! Sneak Peek!

A great package was delivered to the studio recently, our first copy of University Games upcoming DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS GAME!


It was a thrill to get to play with a project that I've been working on for such a long time.


The board is a city street scene, and you get to drive a bus!


Your job is to collect 4 tokens from various stores on the board...




using this spinner:



But watch out for the Pigeon, because if he catches you, you have to go back to start! (your opponents get to move the Pigeon if the spinner points to the Pigeon during their turn).


Once you've got your tokens, the first to get to the Bus Depot wins!


Immediately after the package arrived, the Willems clan had a go:


I lost.

Then we drove the buses around the street like crazy people and had a 3 bus pile up.

It was great fun!

I hope you'll enjoy it when you play it.

DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS GAME! should be hitting the shelves of your favorite toy shop by end of August.

Huzzah!

And as long as we're showing sneak peeks; here's a look at an upcoming documentary that I was interviewed for. It's chock-full of pals:




And to top it off, here's some press:

A nice review of CITY DOG COUNTRY FROG and the fantastic continuing saga of Library Lemonade Lad!

Nice Words...

Today's New York Times Book Review has some nice things to say about CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG including:

"The text is both efficient and beautiful, and with Willems's witty word play, it builds two clear characters rather than just two familiar animals -- picture-book writing at its best."

which is flattering to say the least.


You can see the whole review here and as a bonus you can hear two friends, illustrator Jon Muth and myself, discuss the creation of the book on the NY Times Book Podcast.


Meanwhile over at Notes from the Horn Book, CAT THE CAT's latest adventure, TIME TO SLEEP, SHEEP THE SHEEP! gets a little love as well. They say:

"Colloquial and irreverent, this series is just right for the newest readers."

But my favorite quote ever about my work came from this lovely article about a boy in Texas named Gavin who's selling lemonade as a fund raiser to get more Elephant & Piggie books in his local libary:

"I don't really like to read.... I don't like to read, but I like "Elephant and Piggie books."

Huzzah! That is so awesome that the Pigeon is flying down some books for the library.

Thanks NY Times, Horn Book, & Gavin for the nice words!

Thanks to you...

This week's NY Times Bestseller list features CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG holding steady at #6 for the 5th week.

And the return of Elephant & Piggie's latest adventure, CAN I PLAY TOO? at #10!


Super-exciting news! Thanks to all for your support of these stories.

"Uh oh!" New sculpture!

I'm very pleased to announce the availability of a new sculpture entitled "UH OH!". The powder Coated Stainless Steel, 16.5" x 2" x 6.25" is limited to an edition of 16 and available at Gallery Henoch in New York. Much like a wire sculpture, but much less fragile, it is made in part to be viewed as a projected shadow.

(I have a long history with Gallery Henoch, having worked there in the 80's and having had a 'duo exhibit' of my wire sculpture & ceramics made with my father in the late 90's, and a show of Elephant & Piggie and City Dog, Country Frog art a few months back)

This is a project that has been a long time in the making. Special thanks to Jenn Argenta & George Shechtman for helping see it through.

Ripple Reminder...

The remainder of my cards for Ripple to benefit animal relief in the oil infested Gulf Coast go on auction this evening.

Extra dinner doodles...

Last week, a few pals visited Knuffle Manor for a heat-wave barb-b-que. Some couldn't help doodling on the dining room walls, or in this case adding a doodle to the Peter Sis doodle from a few weeks back:

A few others of interest (and who's work I can recognize--there was lots of collaboration) include this one by JJK:


And this by JJK and his year-and-a-half-year old daughter:

John Hodgman's portrait of somebody:

Holly Black's portrait of some-thing:


And this knock-out one by Rebecca Guay:


Huzzah!

Next time you have pals over, why not have a big group draw?

(for more dining room wall & table cloth doodles, click here)

Thanks to you...

City Dog, Country Frog stays on the New York Times Bestseller list for the 4th week!

Thanks, you. And thanks for great reviews like this...

SLJ likes I AM GOING!, Booklist loves KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE!

School Library Journal's review of this spring's Elephant & Piggie adventure I Am Going! is out and they say:

"Willems shows his talent for distilling the most profound human emotions to just a few words...The illustrations are hilarious while at the same time capturing the truest of feelings. Be sure to add this easy reader to your collection..."

Meanwhile, over at Booklist, the reviewers have very nice things to say about this fall's upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion.In the starred review they call the final book in the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy a:

"droll, observant, and seriously heartbreaking ode to growing up."

and remark that:

"The denouement is enough to give you goose bumps, and young readers may be wiping the tears from their parents’ cheeks. Good night, Knuffle Bunny."

I hope you enjoy the book as much when it comes out in late September.


Huzzah! And thanks, SLJ & Booklist!

Gulf Animal Rescue Auction (Ripple)

Thanks to pals JJK & Mr. Warburton, I've been alerted to Kelly Light's lovely art-based response to the horrific oil infusion into the Gulf of Mexico, a continuing disaster that with further decimate my hometown of New Orleans.

She's created a continuing illustration sale called, appropriately, RIPPLE to raise $$$ for Gulf animal rescue organizations. Anyone can submit & the proceeds from their postcards or small drawings (usually 10 bucks) goes directly to animal rescue.

For July, Kelly is going to feature some more established book folk, raise the price to 50 bucks, and give the art away to the first person to email. You can see how it works here.

I've made 9 cards that will become available one at a time every 1/2 hour starting at 6:30 pm EST on Wed. JULY 7th.

You're first, you get the cash to Kelly, I send you the 6"x6" drawing to you, you've helped the gulf.

Please check out the site. There's lots of great stuff out there, cheap! And if you're a cartoonist or illustrator pal, please submit a few doodles.

Here are my submissions (in no particular order):

Thanks to you...

City Dog, Country Frog makes the NY Times Bestseller list for the 3rd week.

Thanks, you.

And:

Thanks to pal JJK for plugging Cat the Cat & pal Mr. Warburton's funny book along with his own funny comic-book series:

Sis Dinner Doodle!

As Knuffle Manor preps for some guests over the 4th of July weekend, I thought I'd post some quick images from a recent dinner-time visit from pal Peter Sis.

Regular visitors to the blog know that doodling is a big part of dinner at the Manor, either on the walls or, more recently, on the table.

Here's the result:










Huzzah!

Why don't you take out some paper for a table cloth and have a doodle dinner yourself?