The BCCB likes WE ARE IN A BOOK!

Some nice words from the BCCB about Elephant & Piggie's latest adventure, WE ARE IN A BOOK!

They say:

As always, Willems’ finger is firmly on the pulse of today’s kids and their culture...Gerald and Piggie are so delirious with the possibility of sly manipulation of their readers... that the readers will be happy to play along—heck, who ever needed a fourth wall anyway?

I hope you'll agree.

In other great news:

Scripps Howard likes CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG.

I've been told that WE ARE IN A BOOK! debuts at #6 on this week’s National Indie Bestseller List. THANKS indie booksellers!

KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE profile, Jersey style...

Here's a fun interview and profile relating to my work and appearance in Princeton, NJ tomorrow.

And here's a quick review of the book as well.

Enjoy.

I'm off!

On the KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE TOUR. Hope to see ya on the road!

KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE releases today!

The final installment of the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy is available at your favorite bookstore or library today!

If you're in the area, I'll see on tour!


Bonus: here's a profile about today's event in the Springfield, MA paper.

The Mo Willems Cartoon Collection, Vol. 1 releases today!

THE MO WILLEMS CARTOON COLLECTION VOL. 1 DVD featuring the animated versions of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny, & Leonardo the Terrible Monster is available at your favorite store or library today!

Here's a review of the disk.

Lucky 13

In celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary today, the family decided on a 13 theme for our dining room chalkboard drawings before I left on tour.

Here are 13 birds lost in thought:


13 fingers, eyes, & teeth on "Mr. Furteen":


An owl hollow of 13 owls (anyone else see the Guardians of Ga'Hoole this weekend?):


"Mr. Thirteeth", with a rotten tooth for a light switch:


An update of Rebecca Guay's sketch from a week or so back...

Huzzah!



Why not celebrate a family event with a big ol' family draw?

Thanks to you...

Elephant & Piggie's brand new WE ARE IN A BOOK! debuts at #5 on this week's NYTimes Bestseller list. It's great to be on there with pals Norton Juster and Lane Smith!

Huzzah and thanks!

Off the Wall Pals (chalk doodles)

It's always nice to have a house guest, even if it is animator/author Mr. Warburton*.

If nothing it's an excuse for a gathering. And since it had been a while since our dining room chalkboard walls had been attacked by various and sundry, we made sure to leave out the chalk.

Here are some highlights.


Mr. Warburton returns the warm feelings.

Hilary Price isn't so sure about the evening either:

Book guy Scott Fischer makes a self portrait:


...which Jarrett J. Krosoczka's robot isn't so sure about:

No one would think of cutting off Norton Juster's head. Especially with his lovely wife Jeanne in the room.


DJ Monte Belmonte on the other hand....


And we end with another lovely sketch by the lovely Rebecca Guay:



Huzzah! Why not have some pals over for a big old doodle fest?


(*here is Mr. Warburton's report)

Leonardo the Terrible skit!

With all the excitement about the touring production of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, Pigeon Party & my upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free tour, I haven't mentioned that Leonardo the Terrible Monster will be touring the country as a story in TheaterWorksUSA's production of "Duck for President, Fancy Nancy, & Other Stories".

Yup, Leonardo is an 'other story'.

You can see if the tour is visiting near you here. There are shows starting this October and it should be on the road a good, long while (2 years or so)

In all honesty, I don't know too much about this show except that Theater Works always does good work and they've made an awesome Leonardo costume!

I hope you enjoy the show!

KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE gets some Knuffles!

With the impending publication of KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE in a week or so, the reviews have started rolling in.

In it's 3rd starred review, School Library Journal says:

"Willems once again conveys a range of emotions through limited text and outstanding illustrations. His sensitivity to children’s needs allows the humor to come through without devaluing the feelings.... This one is a must-have."

The Los Angeles Times reports:

"Trixie's final big-girl gesture makes readers realize (sigh) that the Trixie and Knuffle Bunny saga has come to an end. I won't give away the story of this final volume, except to hint that Willems' compassion for put-upon parents also extends to childless airline passengers."

The SacBee says:

"Knuffle Bunny is perfect. It invites hours of lap time, reading and sharing."

Thanks to all! I hope you enjoy the book when it releases!

Monte Cries! Joe gets a Scoop!

I just did a fun interview with pal Monte Belmonte, the DJ who is as funny as his name. We chatted Knuffle Bunny Free and Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Book!

Take a listen if for no other reason than he reads Elephant & Piggie to his kids they sound like they're in an episode of Speed Racer.

The link is HERE.

(& scan down for some of his other fun interviews while you're there)


Also yesterday, I also did a longer live interview on WAMC's The Roundtable where Joe Donahue and I talked Knuffle Bunny, Sesame Street, and Joe got a scoop on The Pigeon's plans.

The interview is HERE.

[You can also hear an earlier interview with Joe and I where I teach you how to draw The Pigeon on the the radio!]


Happy listening.

Mo' October Appearances!

I've been gearing up for late September/early October's big cross country KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE tour, but October holds a few more public appearances that I'd love to see you visit.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors
Providence, RI

This is an all day ticketed event with an insane line up of super-stars, pals (and hopefully future pals) such as David Macaulay, Bruce McCall, Mark Teague, Chris Van Allsburg, Helen Lester, Blue Balliett, Jules Feiffer, Kate Feiffer, Jack Gantos, Adam Gopnik, & Kazu Kibuishi . I'll be reading and signing and watching all these awesome folk!

See the site about ticket info.

Not to be missed.



Saturday, October 23

11:00am Fairfax, VA

Borders Books

11054 Lee Hwy 22030

I'll be reading and signing. Always fun in the DC area. (please contact the store for ticket numbers, etc.)

Afterwards I'll be a civilian in DC watching the premier of my pal Jackie Woodson's Kennedy Center production of Locomotion. Jackie wrote the play herself and I recommend you check it out if you're in DC. (It will tour later).

That's it for October. The next few months will be light on appearances as I really need to buckle down and get some work done on a few projects. Hope to see you if you're in the area.

Mo

The Roundtable: Monday at 9:30 AM

I'll be chatting live on WAMC's The Roundtable on Monday Sept. 20 starting at 9:30.

The Roundtable is heard on NPR stations throughout the North East (it also streams, info here)

Host Joe Donahue and I chatted at the Eric Carle Museum a few years back and had great fun trying to get audiences out in radio land to draw the Pigeon solely by listening to instructions.

Tune in if you get a chance.

Thaddius

KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE gets a Star & mo'!

The most recent edition of Publisher's Weekly gives the upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion a starred review saying:

"Willems's affectionate saga comes to a reassuring end, letting readers know they can release the treasured objects of childhood without losing their identities or their families' love."

Thanks to PW.



KBF has also been named on the always excellent Indiebound Next List for Children 4-8 with this fantastic quote from an indie bookseller at Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, MA:

"This is, no doubt, the best picture book Mo Willems has ever produced!"

Yay! I hope you enjoy the book when in releases in a few weeks.


And here's a nice mini-review of City Dog, Country Frog from the Fredricksburg paper.

WE ARE IN A BOOK! publishes today!

My favorite Elephant and Piggie adventure to date!

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.

Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.

Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends.

In We Are in a Book! Gerald and Piggie discover the joy of being read. But what will happen when the book ends?!

In a starred review, KIRKUS said of the 4th-Wall-Breaking tale:

"Emergent readers just beginning to grapple one-on-one with the rules of the printed codex will find the friends' antics both funny and provocative: Just who is in control here, anyway? As always, Willems displays his customary control of both body language and pacing even as he challenges his readers to engage with his characters and the physicality of their book."

Get it at your local bookshop, library, or here.

I hope you and your readers enjoy!

Knuffle Funny Exhibit in Cincinnati!

If you're in the Cincinnati area over the next few months, please drop on by the the main public library for the KNUFFLE FUNNY: The art and whimsy of Mo Willems exhibit, which will be running until November 14th.

I've mentioned the solo exhibit of my work before (here & here) and the library has a slideshow of some of the pieces as well.

Also, thanks to you City Dog, Country Frog spends its 2nd time on the PW bestseller list at #5.

Thanks to you...

Thanks to you CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG remains on the NYTimes Bestseller list for the 13th week at #8.

Thanks, you.

PIGEON PARTY! in FL & TX

With all of the excitement of the my upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free book tour and the Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical nationwide tour, I've neglected the Pigeon. And he's not happy about it.

In October & November, Big Wooden Horse's production of Pigeon Party! will tour in Texas and Florida. The full schedule is here! (BWH is also touring Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in the UK, but I can't seem to find the schedule...)

Drop by for a fun show if you're in the area.


For those of you interested in some back story on Knuffle Bunny Free, PW has a nice approximation of my words, in my own words and the LA Times looks forward to it and other publications this fall.

WIN A HUGE KNUFFLE BUNNY!

You've asked for it, now you're gonna get it (maybe)!

Now you, too, can be like editor super-star Donna Bray and hug your very own gigantic Knuffle Bunny (maybe) by entering the "Win your very own gigantic Knuffle Bunny Contest".


This one of a kind Knuffle with a thyroid condition will go home with one very lucky winner some time this winter!

It's all part of the celebration for the release and tour of Knuffle Bunny Free!



You can get all of the info and enter at GoMO.net. And as long as you're there, check out the fun games, activities, videos, & downloadable teachers guides!

Good luck!

(& here's a nice mini-review of the book)

New Career

As all of the magazines & newspapers are (ironically) writing pieces about the imminent demise of the book, this weekend I took it upon myself to train in an alternate career just in case.



Man, I really hope books don't disappear, because I stink.

Thanks to the Local 98 for stifling their laughter.

ANIMATED COLLECTION DVD!

I'm very happy to announce Weston Woods' upcoming release on Sept 28th of THE MO WILLEMS CARTOON COLLECTION VOL. 1 a DVD collection which features 3 award winning animated cartoons, plus a documentary about me and my work.

The films are:

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Carnegie Medal winner, featuring the voices of Jon Scieszka & myself)

Knuffle Bunny (Carnegie Medal winner, featuring the voices of Trixie Willems & myself)

Leonardo the Terrible Monster ( ALA notable, ASIFA East award winner, featuring my voice )

These films have been previously released for the School & Library market, but this is the first time they've been collected for the trade audience, ie you.

I've written, animated, or produced well over 100 short films over the past 20 years, but these have been the most fun to make. Hopefully, they're fun to watch as well!

You can pre-order at your favorite store or library, or here.

Thanks to you...

Thanks to you, CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG remains on the NYTimes Bestseller list for the 12th week at #9.