Matt wrote and illustrated his first picture book as his senior thesis at Bates College in 1997. That book, Zachary’s Ball, was published by Candlewick Press in 2000. Since then, Matt has published fifteen more books, and is working on more. Matt lives in Maine with his wife and two daughters.
☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: Coffee, with a bit of Hood golden egg nog (when seasonally appropriate), preferably out of my Mazza Museum mug.
☕ HOT OFF THE PRESS: Growing up Pedro: How the Martinez Brothers Made it from the Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues (Candlewick, February 2015). Forthcoming: Crossing Niagara: The Death-Defying Tightrope Adventures of the Great Blondin (Candlewick, April 2016).
☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner (Clarion, 1992).
☕ Visit Matt Tavares’s Official Website. Don’t forget to check out his online shop, where you can order signed giclée prints and hardcover copies of all his books!
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Yes, you need to see this one soon, Bridget. It recently earned an Orbis Pictus Honor and was listed as an ALA Notable Book.
As a BIG Boston Red Sox fan, this book is a must for my library, Jama. Thanks for sharing it!
Yes, you definitely need this one, Tara!
Everything baseball is of interest at our house. Thanks for telling me about this man and his work.
Ooh, what a fun load of creative nonfiction books! I LOVED stuff like this when I was a kid, and when I was teaching my kids LOVED books like these about sports figures because they felt like they *knew* them.
I don’t remember having good nonfiction PBs when I was growing up — so many good ones being published these days.
Re mugs: Yes, they do have amazingly cool mugs because they are amazingly cool people :).
(Chuckling at Tanita’s mug theory…) Thanks for the scoop on Matt Tavares, Jama! I can see why kids (of all ages) love his books. Great videos!
Thanks for visiting, Robyn. Read some of Matt’s books soon!
I love his books! Also I saw him speak once at a book festival, and his enthusiasm was just amazing (you can see it expressed in the dedication he applies to getting historical accuracy just right in his books).
Lucky you getting to see him in person!
My speakers (I’m hoping it’s as simple as that) quit working so I haven’t been able to view the videos yet, but I hope to. Quite by accident (I won tickets in a Dunkin’ Donuts promotion), I was in the stands when Pedro’s number was retired at Fenway this past July. It was magical. And I’m not a big sports fan! I hope Matt was in attendance that day, too.
Wow — what a lucky win! I’m not a big sports fan either, but baseball is something I do enjoy watching (along with tennis).