Opening Day!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year: Opening Day of the baseball season!

To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed copy of Growing Up Pedro with an original ink drawing of Pedro Martinez inside. Head over to my facebook page to enter.

I'll announce the winner on Friday, just before the Red Sox play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Play ball!

signed copy of Growing Up Pedro with original ink drawing on Pedro Martinez on front endpapers

Becoming Babe Ruth Giveaway!

It's been a very busy spring (traveling around for lots of school visits, finishing up my Pedro Martinez book, helping out with my daughters' little league teams...), so I haven't been keeping up with my "monthly" book giveaway on my facebook page. But here it is!

I'm giving away this signed copy of Becoming Babe Ruth, with an original ink drawing of Wade Boggs inside. To enter, just visit my facebook page and like, share, or comment on this post to enter. I'll set a deadline of midnight on Friday, June 6, 2014, and I'll announce the winner on Saturday morning. If you're not on facebook, you can enter by leaving a comment on this post.

Boggs, like Ruth, was a star for the Red Sox and the Yankees. He was also one of my favorite Red Sox players when I was a kid, and I remember what a bummer it was when I heard he signed with the Yankees. He was part of the first Red Sox team I really knew (Boggs, Barrett, Rice, Clemens...) and even though he spent those years with the Yankees, I'd like to see his number 26 retired at Fenway someday.

 Here are some pictures of the book:

Becoming Babe Ruth, with original pen drawing of Wade Boggs on page 1

And here's a picture I drew of Wade Boggs when I was a kid:

Find Becoming Babe Ruth at an independent bookstore near you.

Zachary's Ball Giveaway, World Series Edition!

The Red Sox made it to the World Series!! And it starts tomorrow!!! To celebrate, I'm giving away this autographed copy of Zachary's Ball, with an original pen drawing inside, of Shane Victorino hitting his amazing game-winning grand slam in game 6 of the ALCS.

To enter, just leave a comment with your prediction for the World Series (you know, Sox in 4, Sox in 6, Sox in 7, etc...). I'll just pick a winner randomly. I'm thinking I might do a few more of these during the series, especially if a lot of people enter to win this one.

Here's the drawing of Victorino on the title page:

This copy is a Fenway Centennial Edition of Zachary's Ball, which came out in 2012. Here's the cover:

And even if you don't win, if you're looking for a good Red Sox bedtime story to read to your kids during the final days of this magical season, you can buy signed first edition copies of Zachary's Ball through my web site, or unsigned copies at all the usual places.

GO SOX!!

Happy 100th Birthday Fenway Park!

To celebrate the 100th birthday of Fenway Park, I'm giving away a copy of There Goes Ted Williams, with an original pen drawing of Fenway inside (which I just drew a few minutes ago). Here it is:

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. Feel fee to share a Fenway memory if you want.

I'm also posting the giveaway on Twitter, so if you're on Twitter, please help me out and retweet it! Thanks.

THERE GOES TED WILLIAMS in The Horn Book Magazine!

One of my favorite gifts this past Christmas was a subscription to The Horn Book Magazine. I just got my first issue yesterday, and it was truly an honor to see a really nice review of There Goes Ted Williams, along with my illustration of Ted Williams on a combat mission during the Korean War. Here's a peek:

And here are some quotes from the review:

"Tavares’s present-tense narrative lends drama and immediacy to the all-smiles-and-heroics biography, and the watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations depict Williams as large as a double-page spread can hold. On one spread, Williams’s head, torso, and baseball bat, in typical homerun swing, consume the available space. Turn the page, and an F9F Panther fighter jet all but flies out of the book.... Published in time for Fenway Park’s centennial celebrations, this full-of-life biography will be a hit with young baseball fans." -The Horn Book Magazine

Not too shabby! But the real gem of the January/Febraury issue of The Horn Book Magazine is the incredible cover art by Sally Mavor. I got to see the original art when I met Sally at the Connecticut Children's Book Fair in November, and seeing it in person really made me appreciate how much work must go into making art like this. It's mind-boggling, and truly amazing...

To learn about Sally's process, read this.

By the way, you can still enter to win an advance copy of There Goes Ted Williams, here!

THERE GOES TED WILLIAMS book giveaway!

My next book, There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, comes out just three weeks from today! I have a few advance copies, and thought it would be fun to give one away.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post anytime between right now and Friday night, January 27. In your comment, please answer this question:  

Who do you think is the greatest hitter who ever lived? 

Of course, if you don't know or don't have an opinion, that's okay too. Any comment enters you to win. No baseball knowledge required! (You can always just write "Ted Williams"!) Looking forward to seeing people's answers.

I'll announce the winner here on Saturday. I'll also post it on my facebook page and on twitter. So check back on Saturday to see if you won! And if you're on facebook and/or twitter and haven't liked/followed me, please do!

Thanks, and good luck!

Book Giveaway! Zachary's Ball w/ Dustin Pedroia drawing

signed hardcover copy of Zachary's Ball with original pen illustration of Dustin Pedroia

During school visits, kids often ask me who my favorite baseball player is. When I was a kid, I always had a favorite baseball player. The first "favorite player" I can remember was Jim Rice. During the summer of 1987, when I was 11 years old, I switched from Jim Rice to Mike Greenwell. I still remember the thrill of opening a new pack of cards and finding a 1987 Topps Mike Greenwell rookie card.

Now that I'm a grownup, I don't really have a "favorite player" the way I did when I was a kid. Back then I watched Mike Greenwell and tried to copy everything he did on the field. I wanted to play left field for the Red Sox when I grew up, just like Mike Greenwell. Now that I'm 35 years old and it's pretty clear that I'm not going to make it to the big leagues (although I'm still a half-decent slow-pitch softball palyer), I really just root for whoever happens to be on the Red Sox each season. But if I had to pick one favorite player these days, it's Dustin Pedroia.

I remember watching him play at Hadlock Field in Portland back when he was a AA player for the Sea Dogs. It's always fun to root for players I knew as Sea Dogs when they make it to the big leagues. And it's fun to watch a player who goes all out every second he's on the field. Even when he struggles, you know he's trying as hard as he can.

When I tell kids that Dustin Pedroia is my favorite player, I usually hear a whole bunch of kids say, "Me too!" So for this month's book giveaway, I drew a picture of Dustin Pedroia inside a hardcover copy of Zachary's Ball.

For a chance to win this book, just leave a comment below.  Include your name and the answer to this question:

Who is and/or was your favorite baseball player?


You can just write the player's name, or share a whole story if you want. The winner will be chosen randomly, so don't feel like you have to have the best story. Looking forward to reading your answers! The contest runs until June 29 (it was originally June 30, but then I realized I'm going to be on an island on June 30, with no internet).

Thanks,

Matt

note: I'm hosting the book giveaway on my blog now, because apparently the way I was doing it before was against facebook's rules. Whoops.

MUDBALL book giveaway!

APRIL BOOK GIVEAWAY!! In honor of the rainiest, muddiest month of the year, I'm giving away a signed copy of Mudball, with an original pen drawing of the main character, Little Andy Oyler, inside. Anyone who "likes" my facebook page between now and Friday, April 29 is entered to win.

Kiddo Award Sweepstakes

Henry Aaron's Dream Book Giveaway

BOOK GIVEAWAY!! This time I'm giving away a signed copy of Henry Aaron's Dream, with an original pen drawing on the title page, of Hank Aaron hitting his 715th home run. Anyone who "likes" my facebook page between now and Friday, March 25 is entered to win.

Book Giveaway!

My first book, Zachary's Ball, came out 11 years ago today. To celebrate, I'm giving away this signed hardcover copy, with an original pen drawing of Ted Williams on the title page. Anyone who "likes" my facebook page between now and Friday, March 4 will be entered to win. If you already "like" my facebook page (thanks!), you can enter by "liking" this photo on facebook. Good luck!