Kids author Mo Willems and The Pigeon stare down the future in a new book

By BROOKE LEFFERTS NEW YORK AP Author Mo Willems has sold millions of books and won numerous awards but the accolade that means majority to him is when a parent says their child read aloud for the first time from one of his books Related Articles Isabel Allende has a new novel and a message Don t give up An Irish family takes in The Boy From the Sea Ocean Vuong s new novel The Emperor of Gladness is Winfrey s latest book club pick Book Review Ron Chernow s Mark Twain gives readers an honest assessment of beloved author s life Hamilton author Ron Chernow s new book takes on an icon of American letters Mark Twain The author illustrator and animator is best known for his bestselling picture books like the Caldecott Award-winning Don t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny His latest book Will the Pigeon Graduate may look like it s aimed at children but the titular Pigeon s fear of failure and an uncertain future are sure to resonate with people of all ages especially during graduation season Willems and his trusty friend The Pigeon charmingly represented by puppeteer Bradley Freeman Jr in the last few days sat down with The Associated Press for an interview about graduating Sesame Street and the purpose of life Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity AP How did graduation come to mind for a book topic WILLEMS As I am getting older which I am I m getting into a new part of my life And I m wondering am I equipped to be living in this part of life And as I ask that question and I don t have the answers then I think well what is that metaphor that kids are going through And graduation seemed like the perfect thing I m graduating to a new stage in my life and kids do this all the time You graduate to tying your shoe You graduate the first time you read THE PIGEON Like driving a bus WILLEMS Yeah well except for driving a bus That is something you cannot graduate to if you re a pigeon but thank you for contributing to the conversation THE PIGEON Of discipline AP People may think this is just for graduates but could it be about any transition WILLEMS I think it s about asking yourself Am I equipped for something that scares me The real world is scary We re invariably asking ourselves those questions And often the answer is I don t know And that s something that might feel uncomfortable to sit with but it s also something that s very very exciting So like right now I m doing an interview with you and a giant pigeon Is this gonna work out If I m going to get a little bit philosophical I would say often we re trying to give the answers and I think kids get exhausted from it I want to give them the questions I want them to have a chance to live with these questions themselves and work their way into an answer rather than telling them Oh you ll be fine AP Mr Pigeon what is your favorite part about collaborating on this book THE PIGEON I really like how all of the books are about me I like how I m on like almost every page You know all of these books go through an approval process and I get sent advanced I call them screeners nobody likes when I call them that but I get to look at them And if I m not on the first page and the last page it does not get approved AP to Willems Can you reflect on your nine seasons as a writer and animator on Sesame Street winning six Emmys and helping to develop Elmo s World WILLEMS My love of puppets my love of sketch comedy my love of counting to all these things that I really really love came from Sesame Street And when it came time for me to make books one of the things that I got to do that we didn t get to do on Sesame Street at the time was write about failure Write about not driving the bus rather than driving the bus So on one level it was like going to grad school I loved it I learned so much I met all of these great puppets and puppeteers On the other the restrictions of the show allowed me to find my own voice AP Obviously one of the book s messages is you have to believe in yourself WILLEMS I don t know I m glad that you think that that s one of the messages because you brought something to that book I only write of the book You put the meaning in the book if the book is meaningful that is because you are putting yourself within it I try not to have messages as much as I can I really try to live in the question AP Mr Pigeon do you think your participation in this makes you a little bit of a philosopher THE PIGEON Yeah I think there s a lot of very powerful things going on up here in this little bird brain There s a lot of really deep questions like I don t know can I drive the bus maybe You know wondering maybe if I can stay up late That would be really great WILLEMS These are all fundamental Greek philosophical questions THE PIGEON And what is the purpose of life WILLEMS What is the purpose of life Why are we here Why are people mean Why are people nice Can I drive the bus THE PIGEON Can I have a hot dog