Knuffle Bunny Too

A blog that I LOVE to keep up with is Mo Willems. The doodlings on his dining room chalkboard wall are enough to keep me coming back to his blog. There is also great information about his books - and book signings. We were visiting chicago on the day of a book signing! We spent a couple hours at the Chicago Art Institute before the event and then went to the lecture hall for a book reading of Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo himself. Oh man! He is so funny and lively and entertaining and smart and intriguing..the hour of book reading and questions went by in an emotive swirl of laughter and clapping and delight and wonder.

(Our cherry on top of the cake was that he read us a book that is in the process of being published even as I write this. It is a NEW ELEPHANT AND PIGGY and it's hitting stores in October. Today was his first public reading..and all cameras and recording devices were put away in sacred silence as this book is in the works. A treat. Bragging rights are our that we heard it first!

If you ever have the chance, I recommend that you do anything possible to spend an hour with Mo Willems at a book reading. It will delight readers - young and old




Here is my family with Mo during the book signing. What a delightful afternoon with Mo!




One final note: The reading took place at the Art Institute of Chicago. We were able to see the new Modern Wing, which just opened recently. They have a great room of my newest favorite artist, Gerhard Richter. They have a candle oil painting that compliments the ones we saw in Vienna. They also have this oil painting where he paints out of focus - wild. It feels like looking through a camera before it focuses correctly on an item. How does he paint that?

The regular Art Institute collection has one of my most loved self portraits of Van Gogh. It was uplifting to see this after we saw his other two in Paris and felt the pain of his mental illness in both of those. A bold, straight forward face with gripping eyes and brush strokes. I enjoy it every time I get to visit it at the Institute.