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Quote by Laurie Keller

“Mo Willems was so helpful. I had met him a number of times, and I knew from his books how funny he was, of course, but it was really neat to be able to have his feedback. He's so great with comic timing. Working with him was like taking a master class in comic timing, because he could pinpoint right away if a section wasn't working. I remember him saying once, "No, you need a beat between this page and this page," and it was like, oh yeah, of course. I hadn't seen it, but being so good at what he does, Mo noticed it right away.”

Quote by Laurie Keller

Author

Laurie Keller is a renowned author known for her unique writing style and popular appeal among readers. Her exact birth and death dates are unknown. more

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“I've been lucky enough to have made enough of these types of children's books that while I don't necessarily know what works, I know what doesn't work. I've got a sense of the rhythm and the form. With this series, I get to play with ideas that I would never have myself.”

Book Enough Lucky Rhythm

Author:Mo Willems

“I also learn a lot about everybody else's process. People create in different ways, so that has opened me up to different processes and experimenting. Laurie Keller is a character person, so she came to the project with these blades-of-grass characters that we were able to literally grow a story around.”

People Different Character

Author:Mo Willems

“My questions did surprise some people. Others didn't bat an eye. That happens with all my books - I'll read them in a certain mood and think, "Gosh, what was I thinking that day? This is really kind of odd." But on other days it seems totally normal to me.”

People Thinking Kind Book Eye Surprise Mood Odd

Author:Laurie Keller

“When you make a decision, you don't have to be locked into it. One of the ways that you grow is by starting over. There are all kinds of really powerful things in that moment, which is what makes story work. Part of Laurie's Keller personality is this ability to revise, to come back and to look at things from a different angle. I don't want to tell stories too much out of school, but Laurie Keller is the only person who sent me a card on my birthday and then sent me a revision.”

Kind Different Moments School Ability Decision Powerful Personality All Kinds Starting Over My Birthday Really Powerful

Author:Mo Willems

“Kids are super-independent. This is the time when you don't need your parents for a story anymore. You have a great degree of agency and independence.”

Kids Parent Independence

Author:Mo Willems

“I think Laurie's Keller story 'We are growing', resonates because when you have that amount of independence, you're starting to ask yourself questions that the grownups in your life have been answering for you. Before that, you are a good kid, or you are a funny kid, because you're told that's who you are. But when it's just you and the book, you have to figure out who you are.”

Thinking Book Kids Independence Who You Are Grownups

Author:Mo Willems

“The common thread of the series is that these are the books that Elephant and Piggie like to read. Elephant and Piggie are retired, so this is what they do in their spare time. What will they end up wanting to read? Time will tell. We've got to let that evolution happen as the series goes on. Any return of a character would have to be organic, would have to be, for example, Laurie Keller saying, hey, I really want to do this, and me feeling that there's a story there, rather than just saying, yeah, we can get three books out of these characters.”

Book Character Feelings Common Evolution Retired Just Saying

Author:Mo Willems

“Elephant and Piggie have a very large input. They have a distinct aesthetic taste. They like books that are philosophical. They like books that are dialogue-driven. They like books that are about issues that they live with, in their own elephantine and porcine ways.”

Book Philosophical Aesthetic

Author:Mo Willems

“I had to be careful. A mistake I made when I submitted ideas initially was that one of them was too much like Elephant and Piggie, thinking that was what it needed to be. That's not what Mo was looking for. But I did definitely keep them in the back of my mind. It was tricky. Like Mo Willems was saying, it had to be something that Elephant and Piggie would like to read, yet we shouldn't make anything that was too much like Elephant and Piggie, because why would you want to do that?”

Thinking Mind Mistake Careful Be Careful Tricky

Author:Laurie Keller

“Elephant and Piggie could just Google themselves! With the Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series, we're picking artists who have a voice already. They have a sensibility. I don't want to make a book about blades of grass. That doesn't interest me. I want to make a book that Laurie Keller uses to express herself in this format. That's the key. That's what's going to keep it individual.”

Book Artist Reading Individual Interest Google Sensibility

Author:Mo Willems