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Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator! spends it's second week on the New York Times Bestseller List (chapter book) at #8.  It's also on the the National Indie List (children's interest) at #6 for it's 2nd week! Thanks, you. Here's an interview with People.com about Amanda.   I am also pleased a punch to report that Elephant and Piggie's WE ARE IN A BOOK! has been given Page Ahead's Best

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

In preparation for the Hooray for Amanda and Her Alligator Tour that begins Sunday, I will be spending tomorrow (Tues, the 26th) talking to a bunch of folks on the radio.  If you're in the listening area, please tune in (but keep in mind that these radio things notoriously reschedule at the last second). The plan is to be chatting tomorrow morning at: 7:20 am EST USA Radio's DayBreak USA 8:

DC Theater Scene has posted a series of interviews with the nominees for this years Helen Hayes Awards.  I'm happy to say that Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical  has been nominated for 2 awards, including new play. There are short interviews by all of the nominees including Knuffle's composer Michael Silversher, orchestrator Deborah Wicks LaPuma, and myself. The awards ceremony is on

In preparation for tonight's performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical at the Academy of Music in my town of Northampton, MA there has been a flurry of local press including this story in the local paper (they did a great profile a few months back as well). I also sat down with irrepressible local DJ & pal Monte Belmonte for an interview (including some music from the show) on funky

Here's a nice short interview with a local magazine about my work, living in a small town, and the Knuffle Bunny Musical Tour. I hope you enjoy. Speaking of local, the animated THE PIGEON FINDS A HOT DOG! will be screened in Northampton's beautiful ACADEMY OF MUSIC on Tuesday, Feb. 22nd.

I'm afraid that this month will be light on public appearances. On Sunday January 30th I will be speaking at the SCBWI NYC conference on a panel on humor.  The panel is at 10:15 in the morning, but I'll be there at 10:14.  Pal and scholar Leonard Marcus will be leading the discussion. There will be a book signing afterwards. I'm afraid that the event is only for SCBWI conference attendees, but

No, that's not a stick figure being squashed by a lead-weighted ribbon. That's the logo for James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead.com site which has just started the Kiddo Awards Voting, where you get to choose your favorite book of the past year. I'm happy to say that CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG is among the excellent nominees. So, drop by the site and vote your conscience, especially if it likes books

questions answered for Canada's oldest bookstore, Woozles, including a real stumper, "What is a Woozle?". Check it out here.And Parents Magazine recommends Knuffle Bunny for big kids.

The folks at SLJ are having a fan-voted contest for your favorite book video trailers. This adorable student created one is on the docket. Take a look at all the SLJ Trailee Nominees and vote! Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the BusSpeaking of video, here's a clip of Knuffle Bunny & I chatting on a local news show before the Knuffle Bunny Free Tour. We did a bunch of these. It's always nice when

If you've already read your copy of KNUFFLE BUNNY FREE and are looking for some back story, then the following audio clips might interest you.Here, I talk about the process of creating the book and the production process:Here, I chat with my daughter about the differences between the real and literary Trixie and how the Knuffle Bunny Trilogy has effected us both:You can access both of these (and

Here's a fun interview and profile relating to my work and appearance in Princeton, NJ tomorrow.And here's a quick review of the book as well.Enjoy.

I just did a fun interview with pal Monte Belmonte, the DJ who is as funny as his name. We chatted Knuffle Bunny Free and Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Book!Take a listen if for no other reason than he reads Elephant & Piggie to his kids they sound like they're in an episode of Speed Racer.The link is HERE.(& scan down for some of his other fun interviews while you're there)Also yesterday, I

I'll be chatting live on WAMC's The Roundtable on Monday Sept. 20 starting at 9:30.The Roundtable is heard on NPR stations throughout the North East (it also streams, info here)Host Joe Donahue and I chatted at the Eric Carle Museum a few years back and had great fun trying to get audiences out in radio land to draw the Pigeon solely by listening to instructions.Tune in if you get a chance.

With all of the excitement of the my upcoming Knuffle Bunny Free book tour and the Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical nationwide tour, I've neglected the Pigeon. And he's not happy about it.In October & November, Big Wooden Horse's production of Pigeon Party! will tour in Texas and Florida. The full schedule is here! (BWH is also touring Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! in the UK, but I

Today's New York Times Book Review has some nice things to say about CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG including:"The text is both efficient and beautiful, and with Willems's witty word play, it builds two clear characters rather than just two familiar animals -- picture-book writing at its best."which is flattering to say the least.You can see the whole review here and as a bonus you can hear two friends,

This Friday my local paper had an in-depth story about me, my work, my studio, and my new town. The piece is, in my opinion, exceptional and accurate, except that it makes me look much cooler than I actually am. (Trixie even gets a shout-out in a sidebar).I also recently chatted with local morning DJ Monte Belmonte about films, books, and the craft of animation. Monte is always great fun and

A month or so back I was interviewed for the excellent NPR/PRI/WNYC show Studio 360, an interview which will be running this weekend on your local NPR station (schedule is here).You can hear it here! The piece includes a snippet of a song from the Knuffle Bunny Musical.Oh, then have a listen to some of the great interviews they've done.I doodled this:While listening to this.

Here's a nice interview with me from Follett that covers how I work, why I work, what I'm working on, and my background in sketch comedy.If you're in the mood for interviews, here are a bunch of extraneous quotes from animation folk about making TV including Craig McCracken, Doug TenNapel, Butch Hartman, & myself given during interviews with animator/author/pal Dave Levy for his books on making

Today is Meltdown! in Northampton, MA. I'll be there reading and signing with a bunch of cool book pals and kid rockers. My pal JJK has all the details (he also made the awesome poster).Here's a radio interview with DJ Monte about my work, Sesame Street, Elmo, & Meltdown...Oh, and here's a picture of the Pigeon from Portland's production of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! running this

Here's a recent interview from Chicagoland and Anderson's indie bookstore.

Booklist's starred review of the upcoming City Dog, Country Frog is quite flattering about my collaboration with Jon Muth. They say:It’s hard to imagine a picture book that more consistently (and touchingly) hits all the right notes. Willems, never one to overwrite, is gracefully spare here, making every word count. That leaves room for Muth’s watercolors, richly seasonal, which fill each page.

Last week while on tour I spent a morning speaking with over 20 local news stations, chatting about my work and the new Cat the Cat series.The interviews ran the gamut of great fun by folks who were obviously jazzed by kids books to folks who couldn't be less interested in "Joe Williams".Here are links to some of the fun ones (please forgive my occasionally repeating myself).The most fun.Another

The fine folks at BWI have an in-depth interview with me about my early career in sketch comedy, my books, and upcoming work. While you're there, check out all the other great interviews on the site with cool pals like Walter Dean Meyers & Christopher MyersKadir NelsonMatthew Holm & Jennifer L. HolmLaura Amy SchlitzJon ScieszkaMark TeagueMelanie Wattand more!

Plus an interview about upcoming projects with School Library Journal.