Matt Tavares 
Matt Tavares 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 try to make his own.
For his senior thesis project, Matt wrote and illustrated a story called Sebastian’s Ball, about a boy who caught a magic foul ball at a Boston Red Sox game. After graduation, he called a few publishers, but they all told him they only accepted work through literary agents. Then, in a fortunate stroke of serendipity, Matt’s friend went to visit her cousin who lived right near New York City, and it just so happened that Matt’s friend’s cousin’s best friend’s mother was a children’s book agent.
At first, literary agent Rosemary Stimola was reluctant to take time out of her busy schedule to review the portfolio of a twenty-one-year-old college student, but as a favor to her daughter’s best friend’s cousin’s friend, she kindly agreed to look at Matt’s book. He went into the meeting hoping to gain some insight into the world of children’s books, and learn a bit about how to break into the business. Matt didn’t expect Rosemary to become his agent – but that’s what happened. Soon after that, she submitted Sebastian’s Ball to Candlewick Press. And two years later, after much revision, Sebastian's Ball became Zachary's Ball, Matt’s first published picture book.
Since then, Matt has written and illustrated several award-winning picture books, and his illustrations have been exhibited at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators, and at the Brandywine River Museum.
Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine, with his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters.
More books for Matt’s readers to enjoy:
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, written by Anonymous (Candlewick Press)
Oliver’s Game (Candlewick Press)
Mudball (Candlewick Press)
Jack and the Beanstalk, retold by E. Nesbit (Candlewick Press)
Iron Hans: A Grimms’ Fairy Tale, retold by Stephen Mitchell (Matt Tavares) (Candlewick Press)
Lady Liberty: A Biography, written by Doreen Rappaport (Candlewick Press)
The Gingerbread Pirates, written by Kristin Kladstrup (Candlewick Press)