This article is about the illustrator. For the similarly named Canadian musician, see Matthew Tavares.
Tavares at the 2019 Texas Book Festival.
Matthew Manuel Tavares (born December 4, 1975) is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books.[1]
Biography
New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Matt Tavares was born in Boston, and grew up surrounded by books and reading. From the time he was very young, his mother read to him every night, and his family made countless trips to the public library. Years later, as a studio art major at Bates College, he rediscovered his love for picture books and decided to create his own.
As his senior thesis at Bates, Tavares wrote and illustrated "Sebastian's Ball", a story about a boy who catches a magical foul ball at a Boston Red Sox game. Three years later in 2000, after much revision, it became his first published picture book, Zachary's Ball from Candlewick Press. Zachary's Ball went on to win a Massachusetts Book Award Honor and to be named one of "40 Classic New England Children's Books" by Yankee Magazine.
Texas Bluebonnet Award, master list: Lady Liberty: A Biography, 2009-2010
Other listings:
ALA Notable Books (Growing Up Pedro, 2016; Helen's Big World, 2013; Twenty-One Steps, 2022)
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (Mudball, 2005; Lady Liberty, 2008; Becoming Babe Ruth, 2013; Jubilee, 2015; Crossing Niagara, 2016)
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Awards: Zachary's Ball, Lady Liberty, Over the River and Through the Wood, Becoming Babe Ruth, Jack's Path of Courage, There Goes Ted Williams
