Image Credit: Marty Umans

Cartoonist Mo Willems likes to say he doesn’t write books — he makes them. And children and parents who’ve enjoyed his numerous award-winning stories — Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny, Elephant and Piggie, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Cat the Cat — understand the distinction. His simply-drawn but complex characters leap off the page, and their comical adventures have a rhythm that makes reading them a fun group activity. “If you really love your kids,” he jokes, “every time you read a book [of mine] it should be a new copy.” That might just be his secret: His most recent book, Elephant and Piggie’s Happy Pig Day! is currently a New York Times best-seller. The author chatted with EW about his most pliable characters — the sensitive pachyderm and the irrepressible swine — and discussed his first app, Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App, which becomes available today.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: My wife and I have read all your books to our two children, including your Knuffle Bunny series, and I’ll just throw it out there, we’re a nuffle family, not a k-nuffle family.
MO WILLEMS: It’s all fine. I don’t really care much. The knuffle/nuffle thing became so brother against brother and it split up families. So if you’ve figured out a way to make that work, I’m all good.

A knuffle kerfuffle.
Right, when people ask me how to pronounce it, I often say, “It depends on how you pronounce it.” READ FULL STORY »