Don't Pigeonhole Me! by Mo Willems (review)

With an engaging, conversational style, wisecracking illustrator Willems invites readers into the inner workings of his artistic process as he reflects upon the last twenty years of sketches, scribbles, and doodles. As a starving artist living in New York, Willems began drawing cartoons for a 'zine in 1993, eventually putting his sketches together in a special edition, the first Mo Willems Sketchbook. The single-panel, editorial-like cartoons that make up that early publication and its subsequent iterations are presented here, along with more narratively structured sketches, several of which eventually led to some of Willems' best hits, including Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (BCCB 5/03) and Leonardo, the Terrible Monster (BCCB 11/05). Overall, though, the material here is aimed at an older audience; the tendency toward mischief and naughtiness that threads through so many of Willems' children's book is given free, adult-oriented rein in this particular format and his characteristic cleverness is on display alongside a penchant for dark comedy and existential contemplation (and a drunken bunny). Eric Carle provides a brief, amiable foreword, while somewhat adulatory quotes from various authors, illustrators, and celebrities introduce each chapter. The oversized pages and clean, focused layout keep the viewer's attention on the art, mostly black and white sketches that range from frenetically cartoony to solemnly abstract. While this has potential curricular use in a high school or college art class, its main audience will be interested adults; it would certainly make a fine gift book for those parents who match their children in their enthusiasm for the antics of Elephant and Piggie.