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"Mo Willems: Even if Maurice Sendak (or Morose Sendak as James Marshall reportedly called him) had never created Where the Wild Things Are, he would be in the pantheon of great illustrators for his direct, dynamic draftsmanship (particularly his ink work in the 1950s). His originals are tremendous, all the more so as he usually drew and painted at half the size of the published work. Where the Wild Things Are is rightly considered the pinnacle of children's picture books, for its structure, draftsmanship, and content. Certainly, I used the book as a template for my first effort, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Where Sendak increased and decreased the size of the drawings to indicate the slide of emotion from reality to fantasy and back to reality, I used colored backgrounds to underline the character's emotional state. If you're going to steal an idea, steal from the best, right? It is a book that, when deconstructed, teaches you that good design is good storytelling, that it works best on the subconscious (when you notice it, the potency disappears), that posing and strong silhouettes create motion and emotion, and (most importantly) that childhood sucks. I am very glad he lived and made the books he did."

Great words by Mo Willems- about Maurice Sendak- the thing that stands out for me is how Mo Willems discusses how "good design is good storytelling" - this is something that could be discussed in media literacy- the importance of storyboarding