(marker gliding)
- Today is March 30th,
which is pretty exciting.
And I'll tell you why in a second.
But first, let me see what I can,
oh, here I can do this.
(marker gliding)
(laughing)
Opera singer.
That was kinda fun.
Today's March 30th.
It's an exciting day becausetomorrow is an exciting day.
That's right, tomorrow is March 31st,
which is the birthday ofmy wife, Cher Willems.
I'm very excited about Cher's birthday,
and I'm gonna make some birthday cards
and some traditionalWillems birthday gifts.
Now, maybe you have a birthday this year,
and you know how exciting itis when you do have a birthday,
because let's say, maybeyou're six years old
and you're about to get seven.
Wow, seven, that's a bignumber and it's exciting.
And maybe you're nine years old
and you're about to go double digit.
That's even more exciting.
You're gonna be 10.
Well guess what?
It gets more exciting as it goes along.
It just keeps getting excited.
And oh, I can remember when mywife Cher Willims turned 40.
She was so excited.
She was really excited.
I mean the expression on her face
was something I don'tthink I'd ever seen before.
And then, when Cher became 50,
oh wow that was amazing because every year
it's more exciting.
Well this year, Cher isgonna be 51 years old.
You can imagine howexcited she is about that.
I mean she's really thinkingabout that a whole bunch.
So, let's start off by the simplest thing
that we do, let's justmake a birthday card.
So I got a nice piece of paper.
Now, I'm making a birthday card for Cher,
but you don't have to makea birthday card for Cher,
you could make a birthday cardfor someone in your family.
Or, maybe just an I love you card.
Or, something like that.
All right, I'm gonna take my pen
and I'll start here.
I am going to makesomething anthropomorphic.
Anthropomorphic means that it's something
that isn't a personthat acts like a person.
So, I usually deal withanthropomorphic characters.
Elephant and Piggy, or Pigeon.
But, it doesn't just have to be an animal
to be anthropomorphic.
You could make it a plant,
or a table, or really anything.
So, Cher loves gardening.
So, I am drawing an anthropomorphic plant.
That is very very happy.
See, it's a flower.
Now, I want the flower to say something,
and you know, often, I get this question
from kids like, how doyou get all the words
to fit into the word bubble?
It can be tricky sometimes.
You have to move them in the side,
or something like that.
Well, here is the cartoonistsecret that you may not know.
Write the words firstand then draw the bubble
around the words.
So, I am gonna write the words first.
It says I love how old you are.
Now, when Cher sees that,she's gonna be reminded
of how old she is,
and it's gonna make herreally really happy.
So, I hope.
So, I'm gonna make the bubblewith a different color.
But see, now I know where the words are,
I can just draw the bubble,
and it looks like it fits perfectly.
And then, do the little arrow.
And I'm gonna color that in.
And it's smudging a littlebit of the black line,
but that's okay.
Let's make it a yellow flower too.
As long as we got the yellow, all right.
And, we'll be fairlytraditional with this flower.
Now the green there.
And, I'll make the pot a good red.
Okay now, I'm gonna say,another little note.
I love you, Cher. Mo.
Now, I said, I love you Cher,
and then I signed it Mo.
And then, I'm gonna date stamp it.
Here's when we get a little tricky.
It is March 30th right now,
but I am gonna move this,so it says March 31.
And that way, it's a birthday card.
So, I'm gonna save that
and give that to Cher in the morning.
Now one of the things that we do,
if you wanna know a littlebit more about my wife,
my wife runs my company.
So, she does all the business stuff
that is needed when you writebooks and things like that.
And she also is a potter.
She makes this beautiful pottery.
I really like her pottery.
So, a traditional thing to do
for a birthday in the Willems household,
is to wear a crown.
You get to get a crown,
and I always make the crowns.
So, I thought today wewould all make crowns,
they don't have to be birthday crowns,
they could just be special person crowns.
And you're gonna need a bunch of things.
So, I'm gonna press pause,
well not yet, oops, sorry,let's show you what we need.
You're gonna need paper, and this time,
probably, like, construction paper,
something a littleharder than normal paper.
A stapler, two paper clips,
they don't have to be red,
but it's nice how they match,
scissors, now what youneed with the scissors,
usually, is a grown up to go with that.
And if you want, a ruler.
And I'll show you why I use a ruler.
Okay, so, pause.
Okay, get your paper (mumbles)
and then your stapler, and paper clips,
two paper clips, scissors,
and the adult that goes withthe scissors, and the ruler.
All right, you got it? (mumbles)
if you don't have the stapler,you can get some tape.
Tape will be fine.
Okay, ready? And, play.
So, we're making a crown.
The first thing that wewanna do is make the bands.
Now, you can do that with scissors.
You can just go cut, cut, cut, cut, cut,
I do this special trick with a ruler,
I put it on the side of the table,
and then I have it exactly that width,
I hold it down really tight, and slowly,
I rip it, and I get this fun little strip.
That was fun.
I'm gonna do that again.
And again, you can do it with scissors,
here we go, press down really hard.
And if this doesn't workfor you, that's okay.
It's hard and it takes practice.
So, I've got my two strips,
which are gonna be my headband for later.
But since it is a birthdaycrown, or special person crown,
depending on what you're doing,
I'm gonna get two colors
and I'm just gonna make a little pattern.
That makes it a little more fun.
That's the oranges.
Now we go more.
And look, see how the littleorange dots got there?
That's okay, that's why Ihave this construction paper
on my table, so that if I make a mistake
or a mark goes over, I'm nothurting the actual table,
I'm just getting the paper.
All right, there we go.
Little blue and orange happy stripes.
There we go.
So, I'm going to be,
let me just finish this up here.
I am going to be assemblingthis as a collage.
Now, sometimes peoplethink that collage means
that it's something whereyou have to have magazines
or pictures and you glue them together,
but that's not actuallywhat Mr. Collage had in mind
when he came up with collages.
It's just an assemblageof things put together,
and I'm gonna use my stapler later
to put these things together.
But everything issomething I'm gonna draw.
So now, I'm gonna think aboutthe big piece of the crown,
the big royal piece,
and what I'm gonna do is I'mgoing to draw a letter M.
And then another letter M.
And then another letter M.
And then I'm gonna have thisblack line go down like that.
And this black line go down like that.
And I'm gonna put littleO's, like in the word Mo,
on the bottom.
And then this is gonnabe part of my crown.
Now, that seems a little tall,
so I think what I'll do is I'mgonna make it just like that.
So, that is part of my crown.
And I'm gonna make it gold.
Oh, that's nice.
Fancy, this is gonna be very fancy,
because it's a big year.
Color that crown very fancy.
See those M's and then those O's.
Whoop. Whoop.
Those O's are gonna look like jewels.
I'm gonna make them like little jewels.
All right now, herecomes the grown up part.
We're gonna cut this. There we go.
And that's why I did a thick, black line,
then I don't have toworry about the line work.
So, now I cut all theway across like that,
and I'm gonna cut that little thing off.
And then the littleV's that are remaining,
they go right like that,
and if I have this big thick, black line,
I don't have to worryabout those little bits
of white paper or anything like that.
Sometimes I don't do itexactly right, but, all right.
Now, I have my crown.
So that's pretty exciting.
But, the most important thing is,
we need to know why we have this crown.
So, we need to do the special thing.
Now, what is special about Cher today,
and what is special about youand what you wanna say today?
For Cher, it is howexcited she is going to be,
knowing that she wakes up so very old.
I am a little older than Cher,
so I know how exciting it is to turn 51.
Oh man, that was a big deal.
And I wrote a 51.
And I'm gonna put that51 in an orange box.
And now, traditionally,when it's your special day,
your birthday, you wear the crown all day.
So, Cher, when she hasbusiness meetings on the video,
when she's working with the various groups
that she works with,
like the Survival Center, to help people
who need to get more food,
she, in all of those meetings,
will get to wear this crown,
and everyone will say,
"oh, is it your birthday?"
and she'll be able to say,
"how did you know?"
all right, here comes the collage part.
We have first, our crown.
Let's put the 51 on the crown, like that.
And I just do that with the stapler.
Staple. Staple.
That's the crown.
Same thing with the straps.
Do the straps here.
That's one strap. Staple.
And staple.
And then, here's the other strap.
Staple. Staple.
All right I can put the stapler away.
I'm gonna do that stamp again,
so we know what day it is.
And, I'm just gonna sign the bottom here,
so that if Cher's wonderingwho made her a crown,
she'll be able to see that.
Now, this is where the paperclips come in.
Very exciting.
The paperclips, if you round it here,
I'll put the Mo on the top,
put one paperclip, two paperclip,
and then you can sizeit to different heads.
Like, that is too big.
If it's too big for me,
it's gonna be to big for Cher for sure.
Like that, see?
Oh man, Cher is gonna like that.
And that's gonna go rightwith her card like that,
put the card there.
All right, we have one more
very special thing thatwe do for birthdays,
but I thought, first,
we'd answer some questions.
'Cause I do like the questionsthat have been coming in.
Today is Monday, March 30th,
the day before Cher's birthday.
Madeline asks, "are your pictures based
on your emotions sometimes?"
yes, Madeline, that'sa very good question.
I am what is known as a method cartoonist.
That means that when I make a cartoon,
I feel the emotions of the characters.
So, if Elephant is really sad,
I get a little sad.
And if Piggy is really excited,
I get a little excited.
And if the pigeon is really angry,
I kinda get a little angry.
And that's why, by my drawing table,
there is a little sign that says,
"please do not startle the cartoonist"
because I get really into my characters
while I'm drawing them.
"How do you make a freehandcircle so good?" Sonia asks.
"Is there a trick to it?"
Yes, Sonia, there is a trick
to making circles freehand so good.
And I'm gonna tell you thattrick right now, I'll show ya.
Here is the secret.
Practice.
Practice, practice, practice.
I have been makingcircles for over 51 years,
just remember I'm olderthan Cher, and what happens
is after a certain amount of time,
your circles get your personality.
'Cause anybody can make a perfect circle.
You just go on a computer andyou type in perfect circle,
and there it is.
And that's kinda boring.
I like being able to make a Moey circle.
So, Sonia, if you practice,
you will be able to make a Soniaey circle,
and that will be anexciting circle to see.
All right, here we go.
Thank you Sonia.
Lilly is seven and would like to know,
"what was your favorite subject in school?
Do you like pink? Do you like bunnies?"
Oof, rapid fire questions.
Science. Yes. Yes. Thank you Lilly.
Olivia is age five and says,
"thank you for doodlingus, doodling with us,
how come you wanted to do that?"
Oh Olivia, that's a good question.
Olivia, I wanted to dothis, the Mo Lunch Doodles,
because I was afraid.
I was scared when I sawthat all these people
were getting sick,
and I saw that, if I hung out with people,
I might get them sick.
And I was a little nervousabout the idea of being home
for weeks and weeks and weeks.
And so, then I thought,
"wow, if I'm scared, otherpeople must be scared too."
So maybe, I could be less scared
by spending time with other people
and doing the thing I love the most,
which is doodling and drawing.
So, that's why I did that.
And that's why I write a lotof the books that I write.
I think about something that matters to me
and then I think,
"oof, it probably mattersto somebody else too."
So, thank you for your question, Olivia.
So, do you, Sara Beth is nine,
"so, do you have to dochores at your house too?"
asks Sara Beth.
(rumbles lips) Yeah.
Tyler is 10. How excitingto turn 10, double digits.
"Dear Mo, have you ever drivena bus? Like, for research?"
Tyler, wow, on April 1st in two days,
Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus
will have been published 17 years ago.
That's a long time.
And I have been invited totravel all over the world,
and to speak to all kinds of people,
and to do all kinds ofreally interesting things,
but never, not once, in the last 17 years,
has anyone offered to let me drive a bus.
It is a great, great sadness.
All right, this is themost fun part of birthdays.
The last birthday activity.
I'm gonna do it with this piece of paper.
There's a downloadable that's pre setup.
We give each other,
every holiday and every birthday, coupons.
Coupons of love and things thatwe will do for that person.
So, coupon for Cher, 51,
exclamation point, exclamation point.
And then I'm gonna put the date,
because that is where it starts,
We'll put it up here.
And, I'm gonna give Cher three things.
First coupon is goingto be for a dance party.
And I have three checks.
So, each time Cher wants a dance party,
she'll bring this coupon to me,
and I will check it off afterwe have had the dance party,
so that she does not try tohave to many dance parties.
All right, you can do whateveryou want for your coupon.
You can make your coupon,well not for Cher,
Cher already has a coupon,
maybe for someone in your house.
Maybe for a grownup.
And maybe you could say, adance party with a grownup.
Or something that you knowthey would really like.
So that is one.
Let's see what else I'm gonna do.
Oh, here's a good one.
I'm gonna do three of those as well.
A laundry party.
Now, I am usually the sock combinerizer.
I like to find all the different socks
and put them together.
That is my thing.
But, I don't like doingthe rest of the laundry.
So, if Cher says, "youknow, socks aren't enough.
Do some of the other laundry."
She'll come and (pops mouth) get that.
Ah, and this is another one.
Boy, this is something that
she is not going to beable to check off just yet,
and it's only going to be one,
'cause it's super special.
Dinner party.
Have our friends over to the house,
and draw on the table and have dinner.
That's gonna be good.
And then, always at the bottom,
it's a Willems tradition,
to write unlimited hugs.
And I'll sign it so that Cher knows that
that is my coupon forCher on her birthday.
All right, so maybe you can come up
with some really funny or interesting,
or silly ideas as a couponfor someone in your life,
a grownup in your life, who could use
a little bit of a breakor something like that.
Well, thank you for lettingme get most of this stuff
together for Cher for her birthday.
And I wanna end with a song,
I'm gonna practice mybirthday song for Cher.
I am not gonna sing Happy Birthday,
the traditional HappyBirthday song to Cher,
because if I do, everyone is
just gonna go and wash their hands.
Right? And then no onewill be in the room.
So instead, I'm going to sing
the Dutch traditional birthday song,
and you get to be part of it.
When I raise this up, you say hooray.
The rest of the time,just listen to these,
what will sound to youprobably like silly words,
even if you're Dutch, 'causemy accent is very silly.
All right, Dutch birthday song for Cher,
practicing for tomorrow morning.
(makes silly noise)
That's not part of the song. Here we go.
Lang zal ze leva,
Lang zal ze leva,
Lang zal ze leva in de Gloria,
in de Gloria,
in de Gloria,
Hip, hip.
Hip, hip.
Hip, hip.
Hooray for you.
Thank you for coming today,
in the beginning of ourthird week of doodles,
and thank you for helpingme get all this stuff ready
for Cher's birthday.
I'll tell you tomorrow how it went.
Have a good, good day.
LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems! Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence at Home #MoLunchDoodles Mo invites you into his studio, doodles, and makes special gifts for a special friend. Visit http://www.kennedy-center.org/mowillems to download a worksheet for this LUNCH DOODLE! A note from Mo with more about the project: When I became the Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence, I didn’t realize the most impactful word in that title would be ‘Residence.’ With millions of learners attempting to grow and educate themselves in new circumstances, I have decided to invite everyone into my studio once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons. We are going to doodle together and explore ways of writing and making. If you have questions for me, send them to LUNCHDOODLES@kennedy-center.org and I might get to answer them. You might be isolated, but you’re not alone. You are an art maker. Let’s make some together. Subscribe to The Kennedy Center! http://bit.ly/2gNFrtb