‘Words and Pictures by Mo Willems: Writing About Stories, Stories About Writing’ arrives March 30, 2027
Credit: Hidden Pigeon Company; Union Square & Co.
NEED TO KNOW
- Mo Willems’ new book Words and Pictures explores creativity and storytelling for an adult audience
- The author shares personal anecdotes, artistic influences and his creative process to inspire readers to create their own stories
- Willems, a six-time Emmy winner and Picture Book Hall of Fame inductee, aims to entertain and engage with this interactive book
Mo Willems is helping adults tap into their creativity through art.
The No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator is taking a personal, philosophical and pragmatic look at the art of writing for children but adding a couple of decades in his upcoming book, Words and Pictures by Mo Willems: Writing About Stories, Stories About Writing, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal.
“It is exciting to share my thoughts, personal history, artistic influences, creative experiments and writing process with a grown-up audience. There is no right or wrong way to create,” he tells PEOPLE.
Credit: Union Square & Co.
“I hope this collection of anecdotes, explorations, drawings, doodles and story breakdowns encourages readers to rediscover the joy that is central to the act of making up their own stories,” the author adds.
Willems, who previously earned six Emmy awards in his early career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, was inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame in 2009 for his debut picture book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
When choosing how to create, he tells PEOPLE there’s one rule he lives by: “Thinking of your audience doesn’t mean you should think for your audience.”
Willems adds that his goal for Words and Pictures is to “entertain and engage.”
“Like my books for children, this volume is not meant just to be read, it is also meant to be played,” reads an official synopsis. “This process (arriving, experiencing and creating) is what I call the Three Actions that apply to any creative work — a book, a play, an opera, an exhibit or even a letter to a pal.”
The author, who has been awarded three Caldecott Honors and an Eisner Award for his picture books, also includes a section where he gives insight into his life, admitting that he, in fact, is “a former young adult.”
Credit: Hidden Pigeon Company
Much of Willems’ younger years “involved day-job work, hustling to sell drawings or create performances.”
“Simple and easy are opposites,” he tells PEOPLE.
In his book, he calls his dedication to his dream during his 20s “a trust exercise: preparing for if (and when) luck came my way.”
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Additional discussions in Words and Pictures include honest conversations about confronting things he feared, realizing that the “intended ideal audience may not exist,” and being okay about things being out of your control.
He advises that while creating can oftentimes feel “daunting,” it’s also a fun and rewarding experience.
Words and Pictures by Mo Willems: Writing About Stories, Stories About Writing arrives March 30, 2027 from Union Square & Co. and
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