Mo Willems

Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, and creator of children's books.

Early life

Willems was born in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines, Illinois and was raised in New Orleans, where he graduated from Trinity Episcopal School and the Isidore Newman School. He graduated cum laude from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He married Cheryl Camp in Brooklyn, New York, in 1997. Willems now resides with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Willems first became interested in cartoon art when he was just a child. When he was 3 or 4 he started to draw and create his own characters. Willems enjoyed writing stories about his characters to share with others. However, he became very disappointed when adults would constantly praise his work out of politeness. To fix this dilemma Willems started writing funny stories. He knew that even polite adults could not fake a laugh. So when the adults laughed he knew his story was good and if the adults still gave polite comments then he knew his story was bad.