Mo Willems

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Not to be confused with the basketball player Mo Williams.
Mo Willems
MoWillems+ 74057.jpg
Born (1968-02-11) February 11, 1968 (age 45)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Occupation Author, Illustrator, Animator
Nationality American
Education New York University (BFA)

Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, and children's books author/illustrator.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Willems was raised in New Orleans, where he graduated from Trinity Episcopal School[1] and the Isidore Newman School.[2][3] He graduated cum laude[4] from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He married Cheryl Camp in Brooklyn, New York, in 1997.[4] Willems now resides with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Career [edit]

After graduating from Tisch, Willems spent a year traveling around the world drawing a cartoon every day, all of which have been published in the book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons.[5]

Returning to New York, he started his career as a writer and animator for Sesame Street, where he earned six Emmy Awards for writing during his tenure from 1993 to January 2002.[6] During this period he also performed stand-up comedy in NYC and recorded essays for BBC Radio along with making a promo for Cartoon Network and animating the opening for a show on Nickelodeon. He later created two animated television series: The Off-Beats for Nickelodeon's Kablam, and Sheep in the Big City for Cartoon Network.[7] Sheep in the Big City was a success with the critics but ultimately failed to attract sufficient viewership and was canceled after two seasons. Willems later worked as head writer on the first four seasons of Codename: Kids Next Door,[7] created by one of his colleagues from Sheep, Tom Warburton. He left the show to pursue his writing career.

Since 2003, Willems has authored numerous books for young children, many of which have garnered significant critical acclaim. The New York Times Book Review referred to Willems as "the biggest new talent to emerge thus far in the 00's"[8] — and to his pigeon character as "one of this decade's contributions to the pantheon of great picture book characters."[9]

Three of Willems' books have been awarded a Caldecott Honor: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2004), Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (2005), and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (2008).[10] Recently he has been creating the Elephant and Piggie books, an early reader series about a friendly elephant and pig. Elephant and Piggie books won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009, and Geisel Honors in 2011, 2012, and 2013.[11] In 2010, Willems introduced a new series of books featuring Cat the Cat, also aimed at early readers.[12]

Mo Willems at the Fall 2012 Mazza Conference

He made several appearances on NPR's All Things Considered as the show's "radio cartoonist" in 2008.[13]

Willems' books have been translated into a number of languages, spawned animated shorts that have twice been awarded the Carnegie Medal (Knuffle Bunny, 2007,[14] and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, 2010[15]), and been developed into theatrical musical productions. His illustrations, wire sculpture, and carved ceramics have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation.[16]

Bibliography [edit]

Willems has worked on a number of books on his own, as well as submitting work for other compilations.

As author [edit]

As animator [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Susan Larson, "Local writers continue to rack up awards", Times-Picayune, January 23, 2008.
  2. ^ Maria C. Montoya, "Mo Willems, author and former 'Sesame Street' writer, visits New Orleans", Times-Picayune, June 22, 2011.
  3. ^ "Publishing Success is Child’s Play for Mo Willems ’86", Isidore Newman School, September 30, 2009.
  4. ^ a b "New York Times: Weddings: Mo Willems and Cheryl Camp". The New York Times, Style Section. 1997-09-28. 
  5. ^ Pigeon Presents: You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons
  6. ^ Mo Willems' biography
  7. ^ a b Mo Willems at the Internet Movie Database
  8. ^ Garner, Dwight (2005-05-15). "New York Times Book Review: Inside the List". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  9. ^ Handy, Bruce (2006-11-12). "New York Times Book Review: Churlish Critters". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-12. 
  10. ^ a b c d American Library Association: Caldecott Medal & Honor Books, 1938-Present.
  11. ^ a b c d e f American Library Association, Association for Library Service to Children: (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award Winners and Honor Books, 2006-Present.
  12. ^ "A Conversation With Mo Willems". School Library Journal. 2009-11-18. 
  13. ^ National Public Radio (NPR): Stories featuring Mo Williams
  14. ^ Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video: Past Winners
  15. ^ Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video: Current Winner, 2010
  16. ^ National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature: Mo Willems

External links [edit]

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