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click to enlarge. I've just returned from a fun holiday.  While I was away, Universal Syndicate ran the comics I pinch hit for pal Richard Thompson's Cul De Sac.  It was great fun to play around with his characters.  You can see the work starting here (then click onto the arrow for the next day). Thanks again to Stacy Curtis for inking them. There's still as Sunday strip of mine coming

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

Google has just announced their annual Doodle for Google contest for kids K-12.  It's a nationwide contest with some pretty great grant and scholarship money attached for the winners. And it'll get KIDS DRAWING, which is always awesome. I'm happy to say I'll be one of the judges along with pals Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi, animation dude Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (whose Phinneas and Ferb employs a

We had a visit of extended family over the holidays, so what better way to celebrate during the big dinner than have the kids (ages 12-7) draw on the chalkboard walls? My kid's portrait of her cousin as an manga hero. Gotta love Yay Mouse Can't go wrong with an Owl. I can't get enough of these silly monsters! More Owls. A happy, gift bearing bear. You

Speaking of dining room doodles, here's a recent one: Speaking of doodles.  My pal Mr. Warburton doesn't have a paper table cloth in his house, but he has a very cool way of drawing with his boys.  They both get real-life, actual grown-up sketchbooks, just like their daddy! Then both the eldest and youngest kid get together and draw with dad. Awesome! Why not draw with your family soon?

It was my pal Holly Black's Birthday recently, so I doodled up this doodle:

A few new Pigeon games have hit the shelves.  Hope you enjoy them: First off there's The Pigeon Wants a Puzzle! 4 in 1 Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles 4 different puzzles, each a different number of pieces, in a box! Available at your favorite toy store or here. Then there's The Pigeon Match-ominoes!   "Have endless fun with Mo Willems' Pigeon in three classic games: Matching, Bingo and Dominoes

In honor of pal Eric Carle's latest book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, a gaggle of illustrators have made their own take on the idea as part of an online auction to benefit arts education around the country.  There are some truly amazing pieces out there.  My Orange Pigeon (poorly reproduced on the site, unfortunately) is in this batch of bidding. Go take a look!

In a nice review from the fine folks at Booklist comes the following flattering commentary: "Swift changes in text and image size provide much of the humor, though nothing is funnier than Elephant’s rationalizing: “Sharing a flavor Piggie does not like would be wrong.” Is it even possible to get tired of these books?"  Hopefully, the answer is "no". Thanks, Booklist! Over at PW,

After a lovely dinner with the Carles the other night, we found ourselves together again for a quick lunch with Eric and the always lovely Bobbie as part of a reciprocal studio tour.  Attached to the business offices, Eric Carle's studio is a joyful romp of color (much like the man himself).  Above his work station, as a reminder, are the lyrics to "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That

This weekend included a fun dinner with pals Bobbie and Eric Carle who were in town promoting Eric's beautiful new book, The Man Who Painted a Blue Horse*, and helping fundraising for the Carle Museum. As is tradition when folks come over, they draw on the walls and on the table.  This night, my wife asked me to come up with an theme for the walls.  As I've been drawing lots of vehicles lately,

I'm off to California to see family and friends and, if you're in Sonoma County, YOU at the Charles Schulz Museum on Sunday June 28 at 1pm.  But don't be afraid to show up early. The museum is awesome and they'll be showing some of my animated cartoons before the reading and serving free Ice Cream (while supplies last) in honor of Elephant and Piggie's SHOULD I SHARE MY ICE CREAM?  I'll also be

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

I sat down yesterday with local radio hosts Bill Newman and Monte Belmonte for a fun chat about books, naming rights for sandwiches, and more.  Take a listen here (interview starts at the 32:30 mark). Now, for a doodle.  Not one of mine (you can tell because it's so much better), but from my pal New Yorker illustrator Peter DeSeve of the two of us engaged in my favorite (and now his favorite)

Monday I had great fun as a guest lecturer for pal Rebecca Guay's Illustration Master Class along with pal Peter DeSeve and James Gurney (from whom I stole a few of this post's images). Rebecca Guay, Peter DeSeve, & myself with Chinese takout boxes. It was much more fun that I could have imagined.  The students were top notch and nice as could be.  Among the faculty were pals like Scott

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

Here's an interview with the folks at the comic-book review site Newsarama with myself and Jon Muth talking about the process behind City Dog, Country Frog. We did this one a while ago and it was fun to revisit my chat with Jon.  Such a good guy. If you want to hear us talking about the book, check out this older podcast with the New York Times. Thanks to you, Hooray for Amanda and Her

The Children's Choice Awards occurred a week or so back while I was touring for Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator and was ably hosted by pal and neighbor Jarrett J. Krosoczka (pronounced SM-ith). Hosting an event with such literary luminaries can be hard work, as I discovered when I hosted last year . Any-Hoo.  I was asked by the folks at the CBC which runs the Children's Choice Awards to

I'm back from the Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator Tour! and had a great time visiting with pals, meeting fans, reading and giggling. You can read about what I and my author pals eat for lunch when we're in LA for the Book fest here (and see pictures of the lunch here) (the book fest was fun, too!) The fine folks at BookPeople have a fun photo stream from the signing, including a

I'm happy to be joining Carmen Agra Deedy, David Baldacci, Tony DiTerlizzi, Sharon Draper, Neil Gaiman, John Grisham, Brad Meltzer, Pam Muñoz Ryan, Sara Paretsky, Kathy Reichs,  and Scott Turow for a pro-library poster being released by the American Library Association. (click to enlarge) My quote is: "All of the life-changingly awesome words and pictures and ideas inside your library are

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

It's time for the Children's Choice Book Awards voting, when real live kids and teachers and fans get to have their voices heard.  It was a thrill a few years back when The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! won an award and I had a great time wrestling Ambassador Scieszka to the ground while hosting last year's awards in NYC. This year the hosting duties go to my pal and neighbor Jarrett Krosoczka. I'm

Those of you who love cartooning know that Mr. Richard Thompson is the greatest living cartoonist whose name isn't Ronald Searle.  Mr. Thompson's greatness is thrown into sharp relief when you learn that he does his daily strip, Cul de Sac, while suffering from Parkinson's (which he calls his Slapstick Affliction). Richard Thompson & myself at last year's National Cartoonist Society Gala. 

I've just returned to Knuffle Manor (and a stack of correspondence) after a fun trip to Paris that included, work, pleasure, and old pals. First off was an afternoon & dinner with the very talented film writer & director Laurent Tirard and his kids. Laurent is an old pal from film school & a riotous trip to China.  Unfortunately, our time catching up was brief as Laurent is currently prepping