Make Mo Willems Inspired Collage Art

Summertime is one of our favourite times to sit back and enjoy reading. Last year we developed a Summer Reading Club, which we'll be using again this summer. We thought it would kick off our summer reading by focusing on the prolific and popular Mo Willems. We are taking inspiration from his artwork to create our own awesome collage art! 

Do you know Mo? We didn't really know Mo Willems all that well. Of course, we are familiar with his pigeon and his Knuffle Bunny, but we had never really explored his books. Our first stop was our local library, where we borrowed "Knuffle Bunny Free" and "Amanda and her Alligator". After reading these books I asked my daughters if the books inspired them. (I like to see where their imaginations will take us) My youngest daughter thought that we should sort through their stuffies and give some to people who do not have stuffies...just like Trixie does in Knuffle Bunny Free. Awesome idea! We took some time to sort out a small bag of stuffies to be taken to our local Goodwill shop. Fantastic idea!

Mo Willems Inspired Collage Art

old magazines
scissors
glue stick
pencil
white paper

We also took some time to examine the Mo Willems artwork. We were fascinated by how Willems uses real photography with cartoon-like people placed in the photographs. We decided to give this collage technique a try. We collected a few pictures from magazines and a couple of photographs. The pictures had to be void of any people or animals.

My girls then sketched people and animals to add to the photographs, to make the pictures come to life. Working on this activity led to a discussion about perspective in the artwork. They gained an understanding of how items in the foreground are larger than objects in the background.

My eldest daughter finished her picture quickly and then focused on writing a supporting story.

My youngest daughter created a Christmas picture, with a removable Knuffle Bunny!

We moved on to the photographs...I even tried my hand at this style of art.

Finally, my daughter observed that some of Willems pictures have frames...so frames were required.

All in all, these books were a lot of fun. These books demonstrate how in children's books the story is important, but the artwork is equally important.

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Create more amazing art inspired by our collection of cool art projects for tweens

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