Don't Pigeonhole Me!
In the foreword to this impressive coffee-table-size art book, Eric Carle calls Mo Willems “the master of the doodle.” Carle provides a doodle of his own: the iconic hungry caterpillar, waving a heart flag and proclaiming, “Mo Willems rocks!” A compilation of Mo’s sketchbooks from the past two decades, this offers a fly-on-the-wall look at where the illustrator’s ideas originate. Fun fact: Pigeon, of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, appeared in a sketchbook long before his 2003 debut; he was “born in the corner of a notebook, complaining about how he was better than other doodles I was making.” That sounds like Pigeon alright. In addition to Mo’s general introduction, he briefly introduces each of the 20 sketchbooks. For instance, Mo tells us that Sketchbook 5, called “I’m Fine,” was inspired by William Steig’s The Lonely Ones (1970). Other entries include “Lazy Day Doodles,” “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs” (now a picture book), and the hysterical “Olive Hue Show Mutts,” in which a drunk, slurring rabbit reminds adults just how hard it is to learn to read. The clean design and pastel background colors echo Mo’s picture books, and the volume will delight his numerous fans—his adult fans (but let’s not pigeonhole)—from beginning to end. --Ann Kelley