JFK Library Event

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, and I was honored to be a part of the festivities.

I presented with Doreen Rappaport at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, and it was a wonderful event. We had an audience of 200 enthusiastic 5th graders from Boston Public Schools. The JFK library generously bought a copy of Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy for every single student, which really helped make it a special day for everyone. We started off the day by signing all the books (close to 300 in total, including the ones we signed for the museum shop).

Doreen with a group of students, just before we started signing. Look at all those books!

brand new camera = lots of blurry pictures.

Doreen and me signing.

Then we did our presentation. Doreen went first, and spoke about her memories of the 1960 election, and about her inspiration for making this book about John F. Kennedy, then I showed a powerpoint presentation about how I made the pictures for this book. Then we answered questions. After that, the students did a choral recitation of excerpts from John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. They did a great job.

Our host at the JFK Library, Sam Rubin, kindly treated me and Doreen (and Doreen's husband Bob, and my wife and kids, and my parents...) to a delicious lunch. The chef at the museum cafe recreated the menu from the 1961 Inaugural Luncheon, so we got to eat just what JFK himself enjoyed for his first meal as president. As you might imagine, it was very good. Yum...

Then Sam gave me and my family a personal guided tour of the exhibits. This was definitely worth taking my first grader out of school for the day!

My 6-year-old daughter giving her inaugural address

 
Of all the information my daughters learned about JFK yesterday, their favorite part was hearing about how he carved a message into a coconut when he and his men were stranded on an island during World War II. So the highlight of their day came when they actually get to see "The Coconut".

The Coconut.

And after all that, I drove to Candlewick to deliver all the artwork for my book, There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived. I always love visiting Candlewick, and delivering all the finished artwork for a book is one of the most exciting parts of the whole process.

Then dinner at my parents house, then back to Maine. Then to bed.

50th anniversary of JFK's inauguration

Believe it or not, next Thursday, January 20, marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. There are going to be a lot of events going on around the country throughout the day, and I'm very honored to be a part of one of them.

Doreen Rappaport and I will be presenting together on January 20 at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston, MA, for a group of 200 students from Boston Public Schools. The best part of the event is that the JFK Library generously purchased books for every single kid! So not only will the kids hopefully learn something about JFK, but each student will also get to go home with their own copy of Jacks' Path of Courage, signed by the author and the illustrator.

The only down side is that the event isn't open to the public. But some of the other events are.  Here's a full list of what else is going on that day.

November 22, 1963

Perhaps the greatest challenge I faced while illustrating Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy was deciding how to illustrate the page that deals with his assassination. I tried a few different ideas, but ultimately I decided to let Doreen Rappaport's well-chosen words tell the tragic news of his death, and I focused my picture on the last moments of his life, when he looked so young, vibrant and happy.

first reviews for JACK'S PATH OF COURAGE

The first reviews of Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy are in! So far, so good:

From School Library Journal:
      "[Rappaport's] descriptive narration is spiced with memorable quotations and Tavares’s larger-than-life illustrations. The realistic paintings portray the different periods in JFK’s life with depth and detail, capturing his emotions, courage, and sovereignty while remaining true to this unique time in history.... This beautifully illustrated and gracefully told story serves as a superior introduction to our 35th president."

From Publisher's Weekly:
      "As with these collaborators' Lady Liberty, the striking cover of this picture-book biography features a closeup portrait of the subject, all the more compelling in this instance with the omission of any type.... Tavares's light- and shadow-infused paintings balance lifelike portrayals of Kennedy with renderings of dramatic events, notably a Japanese destroyer ramming Kennedy's PT boat during WWII and the planting of the American flag on the moon. An evenhanded, graphically stirring biography."

And from Kirkus:
      "A striking cover close-up of Kennedy (with the title information on the back of the jacket, à la the author's Martin's Big Words, illustrated by Bryan Collier, 2001) introduces the reader to this biography of the 35th president of the United States.... The handsome and vivid illustrations pop."

Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy, book trailer

Jacks Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy

I just got my first real copies of Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy (Disney-Hyperion, October 2010). Here it is, front and back:

Going once...

On the evening of May 25, the Association of Booksellers for Children will hold their annual silent auction of children's book art during Book Expo America in New York City. Money raised in the auction is used to fund projects that support independent booksellers. It's always a fun event, and it's even more amazing this year because David Wiesner is the keynote speaker.


Since I have two books coming out in 2010, I donated two pieces of artwork. If you're planning on attending the auction, keep your eyes open for them! The first one is a painting I did for Henry Aaron's Dream (Candlewick), of Henry Aaron hitting his record-setting 715th home run. In the end, I decided to include a full page of his career stats in the book instead of this illustration. But even though it didn't quite make it into the book, hopefully it will earn a few bucks for independent booksellers and look nice on someone's wall. Here it is:

My other donation is a sketch from my upcoming collaboration with Doreen Rappaport, Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy (Disney-Hyperion, October). It's a pencil sketch I did for the page in the book that discusses Kennedy's bold and ambitious goal of landing an American safely on the moon before the end of the 1960's. One interesting side note to this picture- this auction is being held on May 25, which is the anniversary of the day Kennedy announced this plan to the nation, May 25, 1961. Here's the sketch:

I also included a signed proof of the final illustration. Not sure if this will be out on display at the auction, but here it is:

Sneak Peek: Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy

I got the f & g's for my next book, Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy, written by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by me. If you don't know what an "f & g" is- it stands for "folded and gathered". Before the real books are printed, all the pages and the jacket are folded and gathered together so the publisher can start showing it to booksellers and librarians, and so the editor, art director, author and illustrator can look it over for anything that needs to be changed. For example, the red needs to be toned down a bit on the jacket. He's supposed to have a tan, but it looks more like a sunburn.

The book comes out in October. Here's a sneak peek: