Mo Willems: The Beloved Author Who Inspired Leonardo!
Posted on December 6, 2024
Mo Willems is an author, illustrator, animator, and playwright best known for his #1 New York Times bestselling picture books. Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster, at CTC January 8-March 9, 2025, is inspired by the Mo Willems’ favorites, Leonardo the Terrible Monster and its sequel Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World.
Q&A with Mo Willems
In this exclusive Q&A, we sat down with the one and only Mo Willems to learn more about his childhood imagination, favorite childhood books, and his experience working with puppets.
CTC: When you were a child, did you believe there was a monster hiding under your bed or in your closet? If so, what did you imagine the monster look like? Did it have a name?
Mo: I didn’t have a monster in my young life, but I did have an Invisible Boss who oversaw my work at the Invisible Invention Factory. The factory was located in my room, so the commute wasn’t too bad.
CTC: What was your favorite children’s book when you were young?
I am originally Dutch, so even growing up in the States, many of my kids’ books were from Holland. I loved the illustrations of a Dutch artist named Fiep Westendorp and really enjoyed a large book of silly rhymes called Songs and Verses from the Old Box.
CTC: Do you have a favorite puppet?
My first job in TV was writing for a puppet comedy show called Sesame Street, where I learned that puppets make even a mediocre script seem pretty funny. I am in awe of puppeteers’ endurance and entranced by how quickly kids relate directly to puppets; it’s as if the puppeteers disappear instantly!
Background & History
Mo Willems is an author, illustrator, animator, and playwright. He was the inaugural Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence (2019-2022), and he continues to collaborate in creating fun new stuff involving classical music, opera, comedy concerts, dance, painting and digital works with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Ben Folds, Yo-Yo Ma, and others.
Willems is best known for his #1 New York Times bestselling picture books, which have been awarded three Caldecott Honors (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!; Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale; Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity), and his celebrated Elephant and Piggie early reader series, which has been awarded two Theodor Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors.
Mo’s art has been exhibited around the world, including major solo retrospectives at the High Museum (Atlanta) and the New-York Historical Society (NYC). Over the last decade, Willems has become the most produced playwright of Theater for Young Audiences in America, having written or co-written four musicals based on his books. Willems started his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street!
Mo Willems’ favorites, Leonardo the Terrible Monster and its sequel Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World have been put together into a production staged by Chicago-based theatre troupe Manual Cinema.
See Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster at CTC January 8-March 9, 2025!
Source: MoWillemsWorkshop.com
