Author Mo Willems Teaches BK Kids on Opposites And Abstracts

Opposites can abstract each other - that is what children's author Mo Willems taught Brooklyn children on Saturday at the Brooklyn Children's Museum.

The Brooklyn-born author visited the museum because of Opposites Abstract: A Mo Willems Exhibit, which is based on his 2021 picture book, "Opposites Abstract." The book uses questions and artwork to help children explore the many opposites and abstracts in the world, which includes the concepts of big/small, dark/light, fix/broke and messy/tidy.

"Willems is a former Brooklynite and we are excited for him to come back to Brooklyn," said Hana Elwell, the museum's vice president of Exhibits and Education. "Mo Willems' books are playful, creative, endearing, and have really great messages." 

The exhibit began in the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh in partnership with The Mo Willems Studio in the spring of 2023 and came to Brooklyn in November. The exhibit includes 20 pieces of artwork by Willems, but also includes activities such as a drawing machine that asks users to create lines and shapes opposite to what a screen would ask for. There is also a word abstractor, which allows users to change how words look and ask themselves if their meanings change as well.

"Opposites are an interesting concept and are hard to explain, but easy to see," said Winston Williams, the museum's manager of communications. "Using abstracts helps to explain opposites. It is not an easy concept to intellectualize but it makes it tangible."

As families waited to enter the theater, children explored the concepts at the exhibit. They also took photos with the Pigeon, the main character from Willems' book series, while Wolf van Elfmand from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music demonstrating opposites and abstracts by the use of sound and music.

By 3pm, Willems appeared on the museum's movie theatre stage in front of an audience of nearly 175 people for a 30-minute storytime; Williams told BK Reader that the tickets sold out in less than a minute. During the event, the best-selling author read three of his books and encouraged his fans to ask him whatever questions they had for him.

"You ask anything you want," Willems said as he animatedly paced across the stage."I'll answer anything I want."

The questions he got were about writing, illustrating and how many books he had written.

"Twenty-three billion, nine hundred books," he said. "Now, how many have I published? Because I have a mortgage, over 60 books."

Willems read three books: "Opposite Abstract," "Listen to My Trumpet," and "Are You Big?" A screen over his head gave a close-up view of the books' pages to make the reading more intimate for the audience.

At the closing of the storytime, Willems asked the children to say out loud the name of someone who made them a different person. When they did, the author and illustrator told the audience filled with delighted children: "One day, you'll get to change someone's life."

Opposites Abstract: A Mo Willems Exhibit will close on May 12th.