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HOW TO BECOME RICH AND FAMOUS IN ONE EASY STEP
(and other stuff that has nothing to do with making kids' books)
by your pal, Mo Willems
Okay, okay, I know you all want to get to the "Rich and Famous" part right off, but I'm not gonna give that away without making you read some of my earnest pontificating about kids' books first, all right? So, settle in (and no scrolling).
Now where was I? Ah, yes . . . Why make kids' books (or, as University students say, Children's Literature)? Well, let's go back to my childhood in New Orleans (or, as University students say, Party Central). Ever since I was quite young I dreamed of growing up and becoming, well, a gas station attendant. Unfortunately, children can't really be gas station attendants, just like they can't be astronauts, or lawyers, or dental hygienists. Sure, they can pretend to be those things, but that's just pretending.
One thing children can be (for real) is author/illustrators. All they need is paper, pencil, a bit of hard work, and Presto! they've created drawings and words that others can see and read! And, (even cooler) this is true for anyone. Just make up a story or comic strip and show it to a friend. You've now communicated with an audience, you've met a deadline, you're an author/illustrator!
So (partly to soothe my bitterness about the whole gas station attendant thing), I became a child author/illustrator at the age of 3 or 4, and I transformed. I filled with stories for others to hear. I wrote, I drew, I shared. It was wonderful. Until I encountered that most insidious evil, Adult Politeness.
Even if I knew my story was second rate, invariably patronizing Adults praised it to the skies. "How good for someone your age!" "Did you do that all by yourself?" "My, my, my . . ." My, my, WHAT? Soon, I couldn't tell if my stories were good or bad because these stupid adults pretended to like whatever I wrote.
That's when I hit upon my clever scheme.
I made my stories funny. Even foolish, patronizing adults can't fake a laugh. So, now it was easy to tell if my doodles and silly stories worked. Laughs = good. Polite comments = stinks.
Look, there's nothing special about this. I was like all those other children who take great pleasure in making up funny stories for others. I just forgot to stop. While my peers foolishly gave up storytelling for gas station attending or lawyering or hygienistizing, I drew comix for newspapers, told jokes in comedy clubs, made cartoon films, recalled stories on radio programmes (this was for the BBC so I'm allowed to spell "programs" wrong). I also wrote and drew for television, and finally made kids' books.
And, yes, these books are a return to those quiet childhood days when writing and drawing and making-up was the most fun thing imaginable. Even now, my drawings remain as simply constructed as possible, so that kids can copy my characters to create their own adventures (much as I did with Charlie Brown and Snoopy years ago). And I still try to make my stories funny, so I know when they work. My life is no different than it was in the early 1970's; I'm a working author/illustrator.
Pretty touching, eh? Oh, you're still waiting for the "Rich and Famous" part. Okay, here we go. . . . How to Become Rich and Famous in One Easy Step (by Mo Willems, who's neither, so I don't know why you're listening to him):
Step One: Go into Crime (robbery is most effective). You'll get lots of money from the stuff you steal (particularly if you're stealing money) and one day (when you get caught) you'll get in the newspaper (maybe with a picture of your face and a profile, to make sure they get your best side) and you'll be famous (or infamous, which is close enough)!
Wanna know how to be happy? Make a story for someone else and watch 'em read it. If they laugh, you'll be happy. Guaranteed. •
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About the Author/Illustrator:
Mo Willems' checkered past includes sporadic employment as an animator, stand-up comic, radio commentator, ceramicist, and bubble gum card painter. After a stint in television (during which he garnered six Emmys for his writing on Sesame Street, created Cartoon Network's Sheep in the Big City, and head-wrote Codename: Kids Next Door), Mo turned to picture books. His debut effort, the New York Times bestseller Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 2004. The following year Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (also a New York Times bestseller) garnered a second Caldecott Honor Award. Mo's doodles have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the nation including the Museum of Television and Radio, and his 9-11 inspired comix story resides in the Library of Congress' permanent collection. He is currently working on a book about an Invisible Invention Machine and annotating a cartoon journal documenting his year-long trip around the world in 1990-91. Among his achievements, the most precious is getting his daughter to laugh at one of his dumb jokes. To learn more, please visit his website at www.mowillems.com.
Recent Books:
The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too! (Hyperion, 2005)
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Hyperion, 2004)
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! (Hyperion, 2004)
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Hyperion Press, 2003)
Time to Pee! (Hyperion, 2003)
To contact this author or illustrator, please use the information for his or her publisher provided on our list of CBC member publishers.
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