Mo Willems

The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller coaster! is the eighth picture book to feature the Pigeon, author-illustrator Mo Willems’ dramatic, charismatic, and extremely popular feathered friend. Previous books starring the Pigeon have won a Caldecott Honor (one of three for Willems), made it to No. 1 on the New York Times bestsellers list (one of many for Willems), and been translated into 20 languages. Over the course of the series, says Willems, the Pigeon has demonstrated some substantial emotional growth. “The Pigeon would never admit it, but I think there’s a little bit more vulnerability in him,” Willems says.

As a kid, Willems liked to read three things. “Comic strips, comic strips, and after that, comic strips,” he says. He started writing and illustrating stories at a very young age. “As soon as I could hold a pencil,” Willem says. “Maybe even before. There’s a story of me as a toddler creating an abstract mural with the contents of my diaper.” 

Willems cites Charles M. Schulz as having wielded a tremendous influence on his early artistic endeavors; one that continues to this day. “Peanuts remains a beacon in all my work,” says Willems. “The drawings are funny, clever, and easy to emulate. The emotions are real. The animals are funny. As a child, the books that I collected became a refuge, the characters became my friends. I aspire to do that with all of my work.” 

In the early 1990s, Willems started working as a writer and animator for the veritable flagship of children’s television programming, Sesame Street. While working on the show, Willems received six Emmys and invaluable experience that would help him in all aspects of his future career. “Sesame Street was my writing grad school,” he says. “I learned that simple and easy are opposites. I discovered how to be silly and serious at the same time. I’d started out in sketch comedy and standup, always anticipating that I’d write for adults. I was hired by Sesame Street as a writer almost by accident and found my place and my audience. I cannot underestimate the impact those nine years had on my professional life.”

After Sesame Street, Willems went on to create two animated shows: The Off-Beats and Sheep in the Big City. When neither failed to garner a large-enough following, he worked as the head writer for Cartoon Network’s hit series Codename: Kids Next Door. Willems says his time as a standup comedian in New York City helped to prepare him to write material for children’s television. “Performing in front of an audience, you quickly learn what doesn’t work,” he says. “Really quickly. That’s a good thing. You’re developing a ‘that’s not working’ muscle that helps you when it comes to the heavy lifting of writing TV scripts.” 

In 2023, be on the lookout for Unlimited Squirrels, the animated series based on Willems’ popular early reader book series of the same name set to launch on Cartoon Network. “The show is predicated on the idea that squirrels have a lot to learn, science is real, humans in acorns telling a-corny jokes is funny, and you can make mistakes while being a friend,” says Willems. “Every episode has wonderful animation and a hilarious cast featuring guest voices from the world of TV comedy and Broadway. It’s just great fun to work on.”

In addition to his work for the small screen, Willems is an accomplished playwright, having written or collaborated on four musicals based on his children’s books. Willems describes the experience as a welcome change of pace for someone who is used to working solo. “The most fun part tends to be the big workshops where you get to see a bunch of ideas on their feet,” he says. “Often the team includes a lot of people who have worked together for years. It’s fun to play with pals.” Willems’ animated rock opera, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience recently premiered on HBO Max. He says he enjoyed experimenting with this genre. “Rock is fun,” he says. “It wears its heart on its sleeve. For some mole who’s just discovered sleeves, it’s the perfect way to express oneself.”

“Nothing is created alone. No one can make things happen by ignoring the work of those around them. Every opportunity I’ve had in my career has been due to the efforts of someone believing in my ability to grow into an original thinker. Gratitude is a way to remember to try and encourage others in finding their unique voice.”

In 2019, after years of working with the Kennedy Center on various interactive art exhibits, musicals, and more, Willems had the distinct honor of being named the inaugural Kennedy Center education artist-in-residence. The experience opened up new creative possibilities for him. “I’m always looking for two things: ways to terrify myself into trying something new and finding people who will say ‘yes’ to outlandish ideas,” he says. “The Kennedy Center takes its mission of being the nation’s performing arts center seriously, inclusively, and experimentally. Centering work for youth in theater, dance, music, opera, and exhibits is an important part of their mission and I’m grateful for the opportunity to collaborate there.”

Through the Kennedy Center, Willems launched Lunch Doodles during the early days of the pandemic, a daily virtual drawing lesson designed to help people stuck in their homes feel less isolated and more creative. Lunch Doodles inspired a recently released activity book, Doodling 101: A Silly Symposium, and encouraged families to spend time doodling together as a way to bond. “Drawing is a physicalized form of empathy,” says Willems. “When you draw something, you are communing with the idea of it. It’s a dialog between your efforts and your goals. Doing that with people you love only enlarges and enhances the conversation.” 

Clearly, Willems thrives wearing many different arts-related hats, but he continues to be best known for his children’s books. He released his first picture book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in 2003. The book went on to earn Willems a Caldecott Honor and become a New York Times bestseller. In it, Willems debuts his Pigeon character and took the risky step of breaking the fourth wall between the Pigeon and the reader, a decision that ultimately paid off. “Originally, there was a kid tasked with not letting the Pigeon drive the bus,” Willems says. “One day I had the idea of cutting out the middleman (or middle-child) and letting the bird appeal directly to the reader. Everything came alive after that and I didn’t have to draw that kid 40 times!”

Some of the more than 60 books by Willems include Opposites Abstract, a vivid and completely different type of book, which pairs abstract art pieces with probing, open-ended questions. Willems says he chose this format because he finds questions inherently intriguing. “Are questions, by their very nature, more interesting and thought provoking than answers?” he asks. “Yes.” He’s also authored Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, which both earned Caldecott Honors and his renowned Elephant & Piggie series about two unlikely best friends, which include two Theodor Seuss Geisel Award-winning books and five Geisel Honors books.

In 2016, when Willems released The Thank You Book, the 25th and final book in his beloved Elephant & Piggie series, he included cameo appearances of the entire cast of characters from each book in the series. Willems says he felt it was important to acknowledge the efforts of everyone who helped make those beloved books happen. “Nothing gets made without cooperation,” he says. “Nothing is created alone. No one can make things happen by ignoring the work of those around them. Every opportunity I’ve had in my career has been due to the efforts of someone believing in my ability to grow into an original thinker. Gratitude is a way to remember to try and encourage others in finding their unique voice.” 

For more information about Mo Willems and his books, visit mowillems.com and pigeonpresents.com.