LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems! Variant EditionFor the second anniversary of LUNCH DOODLES, Mo returned to the studio to unveil his FUN ART THING EMITTER and reminded himself how improvisational artmaking gives solace and space to feel. Will you join him and be an art maker?

This episode is best watched with two different-colored markers, paper, and this episode’s activity pages.

Author and illustrator Mo Willems has been awarded the American Library Association’s Caldecott Honor three times for his picture book illustration. Additionally, he is the recipient of two Theodor Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors for his Elephant & Piggie early readers. Mo began his career as a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards. His work has been exhibited around the world, including solo retrospectives at the High Museum in Atlanta and the New-York Historical Society. Over the last decade, Mo has written three musical theater works based on his books, two of which were commissioned and toured by the Kennedy Center. His papers reside at Yale University’s Beinecke Library.

The creator of The Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie, during his residency, Mo developed and presented multidisciplinary programming and performances across the Kennedy Center including theater, jazz, dance, classical music, comedy, digital experience, and outreach. Audiences played, participated, and created with cross-genre experiences and world premieres seen nowhere else.

Highlights in Mo’s residency included the world premiere of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical); the world premiere orchestral rendition of Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (a Symphonic Spectacular) with music composed by Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor Ben Folds for the National Symphony Orchestra; Mo Willems & the Storytime All-Stars present: Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime!, a comedic celebration of reading; an interactive Jazz Doodle Jam! in partnership with Jazz Programming and Jason Moran, Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz; and an augmented reality tour of the Kennedy Center led by The Pigeon! 

With a career spanning television, theater, books, and exhibits plus a ten-plus-year association with the Kennedy Center, Mo Willems was a delightful choice as the inaugural Kennedy Center Education Artist in Residence who made an indelible impact on our work and the lives of many young people and their families. Thank you, Mo!

Kennedy Center Education

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; Annenberg Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bank of America; Bender Foundation, Inc.; Carter and Melissa Cafritz Trust; Carnegie Corporation of New York; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; Estée Lauder; Flocabulary; Harman Family Foundation; The Hearst Foundations; the Herb Alpert Foundation; the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The King-White Family Foundation and Dr. J. Douglas White; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; 

Music Theatre International; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Newman’s Own Foundation; Nordstrom; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Prince Charitable Trusts; Soundtrap; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; and Volkswagen Group of America. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts.

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.