Mo Willems Writing Style:
Where does he find Inspiration...
Mo Willems is an award winning childrens literature author, so how does he do it? Willems basically claims that he takes it back to the basics. He says that when writing he bases his stories after core fundamental issues that young children can relate to. He writes his books about jealously, love, hatred, joy, etc. Willems also has said that he tends to put less words on each page, he feels that the less text on the page the more the children become engaged with his stories. He is leaving it up to them to use their imagination where he doesn't put words. Willems said in an interview with Scholastic that if you give readers every detail they'll have nothing to do. .
When writing his literature Willems also uses a few techniques that really make his stories come to life. Willems frequently uses onomatopoeia in his stories. Like I said before he doesn't tend to put many words on his page so sometimes a simple sound word can really get his point across. In Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus for example, when The Pigeon is imagining driving the bus he makes a vroom vroom sound.
Willems has a couple very unique technique when writing the text in his books. the first thing he tends to do frequently is use speech bubbles and thought bubbles in his writing. In The Pigeon Collection and in the Elephant & Piggie books all of the dialogue between the characters is in speech bubbles. Another interesting technique that Willems uses is that normally when there is an exclamation point at the end of a sentence he makes the text really big. Or when a character is trying to be quiet, he makes the text much smaller. This small technique he does portrays a ton of emotions, especially to his young readers. They can tell that the character is really mad or excited if the text takes up the whole page, or they can tell if the character is sad if the text is written in a much tinier font. I've seen him use this technique in Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, A Big Guy Took My Ball, and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog. And I am sure he uses this technique in a ton of his literature.
The point of views that Willems uses varies. In some of his literature that I've read he uses first person, and in other literature I've read he uses third person. In his stories that involve first person like The Pigeon series and the Elephant & Piggie books the dialogue is usually just a conversation between the two main characters. Frequently in The Pigeon books Willems has him talk directly to the readers. You don't see this technique done often but I think it is a great way to keep the readers engaged.
When asked about his drawing techniques, or where he comes up with his illustrations Willems says that he looks for simple things to draw. He doesn't want to make any of his illustrations too in depth. He has said that he wants his illustrations to be so simple that a five year old can copy them. In an interview with CNN Willems said that he is constantly getting Pigeon drawing from his little fans, and he loves it.
Another technique that Willems used in his illustrations in the Knuffle Bunny series in particular was the use of real life photographs in the background. He would lay his art work over photos of real places for the setting. Willems took a risk by trying this technique, but it turned out to be a hit.
Mo Willems can also get a little sneaky with his techniques, when reading some of his literature that isn't in the Pigeon Collection, sometimes if you look really close you can find the Pigeon hanging out in some of his other books.
Overall, Willems has a very unique writing technique, as well as a unique illustration technique. I think one thing that we can all take from Willems is to think outside the box. His books are different in almost every aspect from any other children's books you can read. They are engaging, cute, hysterical, informative, and he teaches kids valuable life lessons while doing all of this.
When writing his literature Willems also uses a few techniques that really make his stories come to life. Willems frequently uses onomatopoeia in his stories. Like I said before he doesn't tend to put many words on his page so sometimes a simple sound word can really get his point across. In Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus for example, when The Pigeon is imagining driving the bus he makes a vroom vroom sound.
Willems has a couple very unique technique when writing the text in his books. the first thing he tends to do frequently is use speech bubbles and thought bubbles in his writing. In The Pigeon Collection and in the Elephant & Piggie books all of the dialogue between the characters is in speech bubbles. Another interesting technique that Willems uses is that normally when there is an exclamation point at the end of a sentence he makes the text really big. Or when a character is trying to be quiet, he makes the text much smaller. This small technique he does portrays a ton of emotions, especially to his young readers. They can tell that the character is really mad or excited if the text takes up the whole page, or they can tell if the character is sad if the text is written in a much tinier font. I've seen him use this technique in Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, A Big Guy Took My Ball, and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog. And I am sure he uses this technique in a ton of his literature.
The point of views that Willems uses varies. In some of his literature that I've read he uses first person, and in other literature I've read he uses third person. In his stories that involve first person like The Pigeon series and the Elephant & Piggie books the dialogue is usually just a conversation between the two main characters. Frequently in The Pigeon books Willems has him talk directly to the readers. You don't see this technique done often but I think it is a great way to keep the readers engaged.
When asked about his drawing techniques, or where he comes up with his illustrations Willems says that he looks for simple things to draw. He doesn't want to make any of his illustrations too in depth. He has said that he wants his illustrations to be so simple that a five year old can copy them. In an interview with CNN Willems said that he is constantly getting Pigeon drawing from his little fans, and he loves it.
Another technique that Willems used in his illustrations in the Knuffle Bunny series in particular was the use of real life photographs in the background. He would lay his art work over photos of real places for the setting. Willems took a risk by trying this technique, but it turned out to be a hit.
Mo Willems can also get a little sneaky with his techniques, when reading some of his literature that isn't in the Pigeon Collection, sometimes if you look really close you can find the Pigeon hanging out in some of his other books.
Overall, Willems has a very unique writing technique, as well as a unique illustration technique. I think one thing that we can all take from Willems is to think outside the box. His books are different in almost every aspect from any other children's books you can read. They are engaging, cute, hysterical, informative, and he teaches kids valuable life lessons while doing all of this.
