New Orleans native Mo Willems has been a stand-up comic and a writer and animator of children's TV shows such as "Sesame Street" and Cartoon Network's "Sheep in the Big City."

But young kids and their parents know him best as the author of the Caldecott Honor-winning picture books, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!", "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale," and "Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity."

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Mo Willems knows what Pigeon wants, but you'll have to wait to find out.
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AUTHOR READING Mo Willems will read from his latest Pigeon book at 4 p.m. Thursday at Little Shop of Stories, 515 North McDonough St., Decatur. For more information, or to pre-order or reserve books, call 404-373-6300. RELATED LINKS: • The Pigeon has a Web site • Decatur bookstores on the move • Go see the mole rats

On Thursday, the Brooklyn resident will be at Decatur's Little Shop of Stories to read from his latest book, "The Pigeon Wants a ..." and celebrate the Pigeon's birthday, which he says was April Fools' Day.

Willems recently answered a few questions by e-mail.

Q: What is it about the Pigeon that kids love so much?

A: That's a question for the kids, not me. I just dig watching them yell "Noooo!" at the top of their lungs in libraries. Awesome.

Q: Is the Pigeon's birthday really April 1? How old is he? (Considering his behavior, I'm guessing 4?)

A: The Pigeon hatched 5 years ago on April 1 when his first book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" was published. But remember, we're talking pigeon years. In human years that's a solid 3 1/2.

Q: What's the best part of reading your books aloud to children?

A: When I read them silently, I don't get nearly as good a reaction.

Q: Do you get ideas or suggestions from kids?

A: Kids' ideas are invariably better than mine; so their drawings and thoughts can't help but inspire and inform my own meager jabs at making a fun story.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Oh, I've got all kind of cool stuff in the pipeline, including a slew of "Elephant and Piggie" books, a Pop-Out story, and a tale about a Naked Mole Rat who loves clothes.