Mo Willems - Author Illustrator

 

 



Name Ran Johnson

Date  11/27/2012

EED 312 – section 02

Mo Willems

    Mo Willems started with a love of Peanuts. When he was a child, he wrote a letter to Charles Shultz saying that he wanted his job when he died. Later when he was a young adult, he started his illustrative career making small independent cartoons. He was later picked by producers from Sesame Street to be a script writer and animator. While working for Sesame Street, he also worked for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network on a few animated series.

            After spending several years working in animation, Mo Willems spent a few years at the University of Oxford hoping to work on children’s books. His first few attempts at writing were not successful. Mo Willems is always drawing and doodling characters. It wasn’t until the famed pigeon came into existence that Mo was able to turn his carrier around.

            The pigeon started as a funny character that Mo slipped into letters. His agent eventually gave him the push to turn this character into a book. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus became an instant hit and won the 2004 Caldecott honor award.  Since then, he’s written over 38 books and is still writing and illustrating today.

Mo Willems has a very simple style to his writing and drawing. Mo wanted characters to be so simple that children could create their own characters and comic strips like he did when he was a kid.His drawing style are very organic and simple. His main characters all appear to be drawn with color pencils. He makes good use of negative space and dynamic type facing. 

            In Knuffle Bunny, he blends his drawing with his photography.  In a video interview online, he said that he wanted to cover up the negative elements of his home town with drawings to tell a story. Mo makes good use of all elements of his children’s books, and you can sometimes find some little detail in the illustrations of the frontispiece and/or the flyleaf. You can follow Mo and his creative process at http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com.

Works Cited

ReadingRockets. (n.d.). A Video Interview with Mo Willems. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/willems/JRank co, M. (n.d.). Mo Willem Biography. Retrieved from http://biography.jrank.org/pages/973/Willems-Mo.htmlWillems, M. (2012). Mo Willems Personal Website. Retrieved from http://www.mowillems.com/

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (2004) This Caldecott Honor award winning book is the story about a pigeon who wants to drive a bus. Would you let the pigeon drive the bus?

Leonard the Terrible Monster (2005) This heartwarming story is about a monster trying to find his place in the world. He might not compare to other monsters the way you’d think a monster should, but he might be a different kind of monster.

 Knuffle Bunny (2004) “Aggle flaggle klabble!” This is the story of a little girl who couldn’t yet speak who misplaces her stuffed bunny while doing laundry with her dad. You’ll have to read to find out if she finds her bunny.