Mo Willems

Bestselling author and illustrator Mo Willems grew up in New Orleans, before moving to New
York for college. While in college Willems formed a comedy troupe and began writing
sketches. After college he began working for Sesame Street, who preferred to hire funny people
and teach them to write for kids than to hire child experts and teach them to be funny. After
great success at Sesame Street, Willems wrote several other childrens shows including head
writing Codename: Kids Next Door. Willems eventually turned from writing for television to
writing books and has had incredible success. Three of his books have won the Caldecott Honor
and his works are beloved by children and adults.
Willems has written so many beloved books and created so many beloved characters, it is hard to
know where to begin. One of his best known characters was introduced to the world in Dont
Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! which won a Caldecott Honor. The Pigeon has since appeared in
six other books. The year after Pigeon won a Caldecott, Willems won the Honor again with
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale whose main character was based on his daughter Trixie.
Knuffle Bunny has also produced two more books. Willems also has created a series of books
focused on Elephant Gerald (named after Willems favorite singer) and Piggie. There are 17 of
these books so far and children love the characters. Willems also created a series centering on
Cat the Cat and friends. In addition to all of these series of books, Willems has created several
wonderful stand alone picture books.

Despite the humor in Willems work, there is often crises and frustration as well. This stems
from Willems belief that there is no such thing as a good childhood. Children have a lack of
power and control in the world. They also havent lived long enough to know that it is going to
get better. Willems says that he tries to reflect the frustrations of childhood in his books and
write for children like they are wise souls. Despite his grim view of childhood, none of Willems
books, with the possible exception of City Dog, Country Frog, are what most people would
consider depressing. Rather he handles the frustrations and crises of childhood with humor.
Willems currently lives in Massachusetts with his family.

Biography Sources:
Hesse, Monica. (2012, January 6). Mo Willems is the go-to author for childrenand their
parents. The Washington Post. Retrieved from:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/mo-willems-is-the-go-to-author-for-children-and-their-parents/2012/01/06/gIQAFLztfP_story_1.html
Messinger, Jonathan. (2011, May 5). Guilt for Dinner: The Mo Willems Interview. Time Out
Chicago Kids. Retrieved from: http://timeoutchicagokids.com/things-to-do/hipsqueakblog/42213/guilt-for-dinner-the-mo-willems-interview
Shahane, Sujata. (2008, September). Artist Profile: Mo Willems. National Center for Childrens
Illustrated Literature. Retrieved from:
http://www.nccil.org/experience/artists/willemsm/index.htm

Extremelly Limited Annotated Biblography of some of Mo Willems Works

Willems, Mo. Dont Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Hyperion Books for Children, 2003. ISBN:
9780786819881. $15.99. Ages 3-5. In this Caldecott winning book, the bus driver leaves his
vehicle to the care of the reader with one admonition: Dont let the pigeon drive the bus! As
soon as the driver leaves, Pigeon starts pleading with the reader to let him drive the bus. Pigeon
uses every tactic he can think of to get the reader to agree to let him drive the bus, leading finally
to a massive meltdown. The driver returns and Pigeon turns his attention to a new dream,
driving a truck.
Willems, Mo. Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didnt Know She was Extinct. Hyperion Books for
Children, 2006. ISBN: 9780786837489. $16.99. Ages 4-7. Everyone in town loved Edwina the
dinosaur. Everyone but Reginald, who knew that dinosaurs were extinct. Reginald tries every
tactic he can think of to convince people that dinosaurs, and thus Edwina, are extinct. Finally,
Reginald is able to convince Edwina herself, only to find that it doesnt matter.
Willems, Mo. Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs. HarperCollins Publishers, 2012. ISBN:
9780062104182. $17.99. Ages 3-7. In this new take on the classic fairy tale, the dinosaurs most
definitely are NOT setting a trap for a delicious little girl. Mama Dinosaur, Papa Dinosaur, and a
Dinosaur visiting from Norway do NOT hide nearby waiting for her to get fattened up. When
Goldilocks discovers she is in the house of hungry dinosaurs rather than friendly bears she
escapes out the back door and the dinosaurs just miss capturing her.
Willems, Mo. Happy Pig Day! Disney Book Group, 2011. ISBN: 9781423143420. $8.99. Ages
4-8. It is Pig Day and Piggie is very excited. She gets to sing pig songs, do pig dances, and play

pig games. Elephant Gerald is not excited. He thinks that he doesnt get to participate in the fun
since he is not a pig. He soon finds out that Pig Day is for everyone!
Willems, Mo. Horray for Amanda and Her Alligator! HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. ISBN:
9780062004000. $17.99. Ages 4-8. Amanda and her alligator have lots of fun together. They
surprise one another by yelling Boo and tickle attacking. One day Amanda surprises Alligator
by bringing home a new friend, a panda bear. At first Alligator is upset, but he soon learns that
new friends can be lots of fun!
Willems, Mo. Leonardo the Terrible Monster. Hyperion Books for Children, 2005. ISBN:
9780786852949 $16.99. Ages 3-6. Leonardo isnt a very good monster. He doesnt have any
particularly unique physical characteristics and he isnt able to scare anyone. Leonardo sets out
to find someone he can scare but when Leonard meets his victim, he finds that there is something
more to life than just scaring people.

Extension Activities
Dinosaur Finger Puppetsfor Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didnt Know She was Extinct
and/or Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
Materials: Dinosaur finger puppet cut-outs (preferably on cardstock)In Appendix A
Crayons and/or Markers
Scissors
(Optional: Single hole punch)
Instructions: Pass out dinosaur finger puppet cut-outs to participants. If participants are too
young to use scissors, have the puppets already cut out. If you are short on money, just pass out
one or two puppet cut-outs to each participant. Instruct participants to color the dinosaurs and cut
them out. Participants will need help cutting out/punching out finger holes. When finished
instruct participants that their dinosaurs can be nice dinosaurs like Edwina or mean dinosaurs
like the family from Goldilocks. Encourage them to make up stories with their dinosaurs playing
roles.

Piggie Maskfor Happy Pig Day! (or any of the Elephant and Piggie books)
Materials: Piggie mask cut-out
Paper Plates
Glue
Scissors
String or Rubber bands

Single Hole Punch or Stapler

Crayons and/or Markers
Instructions: After reading Happy Pig Day! pass out Piggie Mask supplies to participants.
Explain that just like Piggies friends wore pig disguises for Pig Day, we are going to make
disguises to make us look like pigs. Ask them to color the pig mask, cut it out, and glue it to the
paper plate. If this is too difficult for children, consider having the masks already assembled and
just having children color them. When masks are assembled, either recruit caregivers or go
around yourself tying on string or rubber bands, or stapling them to the masks. When finished
have participants try on the masks and do a Pig Day dance.
Monster Puppetfor use with Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Materials: Paper lunch bags
Crayons and/or Markers (Markers work better)
(Optional: Googly eyes, pipe-cleaners, glitter pens, construction paper, foam shapes,
anything else you can think of)
Instructions: After reading Leonardo explain that monsters can be scary or be our friends. Tell
participants we are going to make our own monster puppets to take home with us. Pass out
paper lunch bags and scatter other supplies around room. Tell participants to create whatever
kind of monster they want from the materials. When finished, have the participants put on their
puppets and interact with one anothers monsters. Set the rule that there is no physical contact
allowed between the monsters.