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BIRDth-DAY! April 1st marks the 11th anniversary of the publication of my first book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Because of the support of Librarians, Teachers, Parents, Grand-Parents, and Fans the last 11 years have been a wonderful ride filled with opportunities for me to write, draw, and meet fantastic kids and grown-ups all over the world. Thank you for this gift.

DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!, my first book, was published 10 years ago today to minimal expectations. However, thanks to YOU, the last decade has been quite a ride! I've been asked on occasion if I ever dreamed that the Pigeon would eventually spawn multiple books, activity books, games, toys, apps, animiated films, and fabrics.  The answer is, of course I dreamed that.  I also

I'm settling in from a fun visit to the UK, which included seeing pals, visiting with students, reading at bookstores, discovering museums, and driving around London in a double decker bus with the Pigeon puppet & freaking out pedestrians. Not sure when they'll notice this... Such fun!  Thanks to Walker books for their efforts in making the trip a grand success. A devoted fan in London.

Thanks to you, DON'T LET THE PIGEON FINISH THIS ACTIVITY BOOK! debuts this week on the Indie Bestseller list at #11 in the Children's Interest catagory.  It is, folks seem to think, the first activity book to break into the list.  Very exciting for everyone  on the team! Also, Elephant and Piggie are at #7 on the series list! Now, a look back!Here's a few pictures from last weeks

Cameraman Bob Lyons has posted some of his old animation camera work, including my first promo for Nickelodeon in 1995. This piece served as the title open and close for kid-produced shorts that ran on the network as interstitials and led to Nick being interested in my series idea, The Off-Beats. Also, thanks to you THE DUCKLING GETS A COOKIE?! spends week 10 on the NYTimes Bestseller

At age 6 (?) And 23 (?)

I don't do Facebook, but now I have my Face on a Book, so that's something. The folks at ABDO publishing make short biographical books focusing on author pals like Jerry Pinkney, Brian Selznick, David Wiesner, Tony DiTerlizzi, Marla Frazee, and now me. Mo Willems, the book, is a fairly accurate look into my life.  I just got a copy in the post and can say it is perfect for young students and

Read, Kiddo, Read is holding it's annual award voting, where YOU get to vote for your favorite books. I'm happy to say that HOORAY FOR AMANDA AND HER ALLIGATOR! is a nominee in the illustrated category.  You can vote here (scroll down) if you have a Facebook account (which I don't). On another note, back in the day I made a few cartoons for MAD Magazine.  Their blog recently posted this

Here's a cool little story about my grandfather, Frans Willems, that I always thought was kind of cool. He was a baker in the town of Nijmegen, Holland, a town on the Rhine that was the location many battles in WWII, including "A Bridge Too Far". After the war, F Willems had to fix the roof of his bakery.  Traditionally you use either black or red tiles, but because of shortages, there weren't

Lots of news and bits this week.  Let's start with some dinner doodles and chalkboard wall drawings from a few recent guests. Old pals David Wain and Ken Marino stopped by Knuffle Manor for some R and R while putting finishing touches on an upcoming film they wrote (David is directing).  I've known (and in David's case worked with) these guys since 1987 and had dropped by the set when on tour

It's been quite a busy couple of weeks since last I posted. The family and I drove down from Northampton to New Orleans for this year's ALA Conference, but before we left I had a chance to meet & hear Tomi Ungerer speak at the Eric Carle Museum, where a retrospective is currently on exhibit.  It's a great show, you should go (also the Barbara McClintock show in the middle gallery is amazing).  A

It's been a crazy week of work, visiting with pals, fans, making new pals, & meeting heroes, perhaps the most fun week in my professional life to date. NYC's Book Expo was great fun, especially as the event heralded the debut appearances of ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE as gigantic costumes. My creations are bigger than I thought! Piggie trades up & makes pals with Spiderman! In addition to

I'm off to NYC for the Book Expo fun (my schedule is here, scroll down) and Boston for the National Cartoonist Society annual bash where I'll be introducing animation and illustration legend (and former boss) R O Blechman as I present him with the Milton Caniff Lifetime Acheivement Award.   Should be great fun, especially since I can wear a tuxedo with pants and cheer for my pal Robert Thompson

My last week in NYC was a blast.  Besides readings (thanks for showing up, Brooklyn!) and work, I was able to reconnect with a bunch of pals, neighbors, and a good chunk of the crew of Codename: Kids Next Door, where I served as head writer for 4 seasons.  Everyone is scattered to the cartoon winds, making cool shows or books and stuff.  It was fun to see. I even got to get a game of pentanque

Here's a blast from the past.  Pal Lane Smith and I in Washington, CT  4 years ago painting a giant mural for the heck of it. I love it when the kids join in. Nothing like a big old doodle with pals.

Another Sheep in the Big City skit from a decade ago:

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the premier of Sheep in the Big City on Cartoon Network, my animated series featuring the adventures of a Sheep who'd hoofed it from the farm to the Big City to avoid the machinations of a Top Secret Military Organization (run by General Specific and his henchman Private Public) who wanted to use him as the main component of a Sheep-Powered Ray Gun. The

Someone has posted an early Sheep in the Big City commercial, the origin of the Oxymoron Line of products:

Back in the day ('91?, 92?), when I was a struggling cartoonist in NYC's East Village I managed to get by with a little help from my friends. That included Mark Newgarden, who hired me to paint the original art for Nicktoons Bubble Gum cards over at TOPPS and graphic designer Ty Cumbie who hired me to photograph my friends for the covers of books about psychological disorders. It's been a while

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

I had great fun last week with the cast and crew (most of them above) for the upcoming Knuffle Bunny Musical. Seeing pal Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Trixie reminded me of the last time I cast her as a kid, 10 years ago:That's Steph with another great Sesame Street muppeteer, Fran Brill.

As some of you know, there is lots of Pigeon stuff available besides the books. Well, this spring will see the release of a bunch of new, exciting Pigeon stuff in the form of board games, activities, matching games, and other cool stuff.Before the onslaught, I thought I'd travel back 7 years before the Pigeon was published and look at his first bit of "product", a promotional keychain:These were

January will be a short month for appearances, but come February I'll be traveling across the country to introduce young readers to Cat the Cat and reading a new Elephant and Piggie book. The tour will include me riding in Tucks on the Saturday before Mardi Gras in my hometown of New Orleans and throwing special, exclusive Elephant and Piggie Kazoos! Stay tuned for details later in the week.

Speaking of old films, my last personal film was produced a decade ago (although it should probably be called a personnel film as it used 30+ NYC animators), produced while making the pilot for Sheep in the Big City. The deal was I gave each animator pal two drawings; first the beastie to be eaten, next the beastie to do the eating. Then, I let 'em rip.It was great fun being an animator in the

Is 15 years old this, uh, year. Not quite sure when I started on this one, but I think it was the fall.This short was animated back when cartoons had to be shot on film and inked and painted by hand, I wrote and drew this short just as I was about to start making cartoons for Sesame Street. (Sorry for the ad before the film).Another Bad Day for Philip JenkinsAtom.com: Funny Videos | Animation |