Episode 9: Where do you get your ideas? With Mo Willems

*Please note that these episodes were all all recorded pre-pandemic!

Welcome to Episode 9! Where do you get your ideas? Please join us with author Mo Willems.

TRANSCRIPT:

Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin children's book author and illustrator of many books including the middle grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the picture book a Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Mo Willems, the author and illustrator of the Elephant and Piggy books and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Hi Mo.

Mo Willems: Hi, how are you, Grace? Good.

Grace Lin: Okay. Are you ready for today's question?

Mo Willems: Ah, yeah, I sure hope I get to go to the bonus round.

Grace Lin: Well, today's question is from a young girl named Leah. Hi Leah.

Grace Lin: She asks, Where do you get your ideas?

Mo Willems: Well, Leah, that's a very good question and I'm afraid you may not like the answer because ideas are not things you get. People tend to think that ideas are things like diamonds. And then you go out and you get them and you grab them and you bring them back. But that's not what ideas are. Ideas are things that grow.

Mo Willems: And so the way to make a book or a story is to have the tiniest inkling of an idea and then to plant it and you plant it in a notebook and in that notebook you move it around and you see what it needs, what sort of nutrients will help it. And you draw and you draw it over time and slowly, some of those seeds will grow and die. And then some of those seeds will become invasive and they'll just sort of choke up your whole garden of ideas and that's not fun.

Mo Willems: And then every now and then, one idea sort of grows up and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and starts to bear fruit and become a tree and get so big that you can cut it down and burn it for profit, which is called writing or making a book. So every day I am planting little seeds in my notebook.

Mo Willems: Matter of fact, today I just finished a notebook filled with all kinds of little seeds and when I finish a notebook on the front page, I write all of the story ideas that are inside that notebook. And then I go back a month later or two months later or a year later and I see how they've grown.

Grace Lin: Wow, that's great. I get asked this question a lot and I always say that I get my ideas from real life. That everything I do from going to for a walk or even washing dishes or feeding my chickens, all those things they give me ideas for stories that everything I experience in life is where I get my ideas. And the trick is for me to remember and picking the good ones.

Grace Lin: So just like you, I have a notebook and though nowadays sometimes I use my phone. I'm always putting little notes of ideas down so I can remember later. Of course, later when I look at most of them and I usually think, Gosh, these ideas are awful," but every once in a while one idea will kind of shine and keep shining and shining. And that's the one I tried to make into a book, but I think I like your metaphor of ideas being seeds much better.

Grace Lin: I think I'm going to use that from now on. Wow, that's great. That is a really, really great, I have to say, great idea. I'm trying to think of ideas.

Mo Willems: It took a a long time for me to grow that idea.

Grace Lin: But I think that's the perfect metaphor. I think that is the perfect way of thinking about ideas is that they're little seeds and so I hope you have lots of little seeds, Leah, and thanks so much Mo.

Mo Willems: Yeah and Leah, be patient. Some ideas grow faster than others, so just be patient and trust the seed.

Grace Lin: Wasn't that great? If you'd like to learn more about today's author, please go to our website kidsaskauthors.com for more information. Special thanks to first book and their friendiversary celebration, the Annual Celebration of Friendship and Reading, as well as the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for helping to facilitate today's interview.

Grace Lin: Also, thanks to the High Five Books and Art Always bookstore and Ms. Carlton's 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.

Grace Lin: Grownups, remember, if you know a kid that has a question, a book review, very short story, a poem, or even a joke they would like to share on this podcast, please submit it to kidsaskauthors.com and if you'd like to reach me, you can sign up for my author newsletter by clicking on the little link icon at the top of kidsaskauthors.com or you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I use the handle @pacylin .

Grace Lin: Also, if you enjoy this podcast, please spread the word, tell your friends and family and colleagues to listen. And of course, please leave a review on iTunes. That really helps me know that you like what we're doing so we can keep doing it. So let's end today's episode with a book review from Alison Morris, the Senior Director of Title Selection at First Book.

Today’s Book Review by Alison Morris:

If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be? In the book Alfie by Thyra Heder, Nina gets a turtle for her 6th birthday. This is the sweetest turtle. His name is Alfie. He's really entertaining until she gets a little bit bored with him. But Alfie is not bored with Nina.

Alfie loves Nina and Alfie wants to give her the perfect birthday present, so he gets out of his tank and goes in search of one. Nina has no idea where he's gone and you, the reader will get to find out what it is he finds to give her for her birthday.

Though, spoiler alert, he arrives a little bit too late. Take a look at Alfie by Thyra Heder. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.

More about today’s author:

Mo Willems is a number one New York Times best-selling author and illustrator, has been awarded a Caldecott Honor on three occasions (for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity). Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! was also an inaugural inductee into the Indies Choice Picture Book Hall of Fame. Mo's celebrated Elephant & Piggie early reader series has been awarded two Theodor Seuss Geisel Medals (for There Is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside?) and five Geisel Honors (for We Are in a Book!, I Broke My Trunk!, Let’s Go for a Drive!, A Big Guy Took My Ball!, and Waiting Is Not Easy!). In 2019, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC named Mo the first-ever Education Artist-in-Residence. Mo began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards.

Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook,  instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.

Thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore and Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews. Also, special thanks to the Eric Carle Museum of Picturebook Art for helping to facilitate today's interview.