The Making of... Over the River and Through the Wood

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how I made one of my illustrations for Over the River and Through the Wood.

For this spread, I started with this verse of the poem:

Over the river and through the wood, 
When Grandmother sees us come
She will say, Oh dear,
The children are here,
Bring a pie for every one.

I decided to show the grandmother looking out the window, watching the family arriving in their sleigh. Here's my sketch:

The idea was to show the scene from right outside the window, so we see the grandmother inside, and we see the reflection of the family in the sleigh. I knew it would be tricky, but if it worked, it would be a great way of showing all the different elements of that moment.

My art director loved the sketch, so then I started painting. Here's my finished painting. Well, the first version of the finished painting...

So I put this up on my wall with all my other finished illustrations and moved onto the next picture. I was pleased with how it came out. But then something happened that made me question it. Any time anyone visited my studio and looked at the artwork on my wall, they stopped at this one. Sometimes people said they liked it, but then there would be a moment of confusion, where they'd say, "Wait a second... so is she... oh, I think I get it..."

People liked the image, but apparently they couldn't quite tell what they were looking at. Was it a reflection of the grandmother, or a reflection of the sleigh? I realized that maybe the picture was a bit confusing. So I decided to add more frost to the window, to make it more clear. Here's how it looked after I made some changes:

I liked this one better... or at least I thought it showed more clearly that we are outside, looking in at Grandma who is inside, and we see the reflection of the horse and sleigh. Done and done.

But then I had another idea (uh-oh...). What if I showed the scene from inside the warm, cozy house? What if we're looking out the window with Grandma, and we see her reflection in the glass? Hmmm...

I liked the idea. But honestly, I didn't like the idea of starting completely over, after all the time I had already spent on this picture. But the more I thought about it, I figured I should give it a try.

I started over, and I made a whole new painting. Here it is:

And that's the one that ended up in the book. I think it works better this way. I like the contrast of the warm interior and the cold, snowy outside. And the curtains make it completely clear that we're inside, looking out.

It's always hard to go back and do something over, especially after I've already spent 5 or 6 days on it. But it's almost always worth spending that extra time to make sure I get it right.

And there was a silver lining here- when I was just about done with this book, a tour group from The Mazza Museum in Findlay, Ohio came to visit my studio. I showed them both versions of this illustration and explained this whole story. The people from the museum loved the paintings, and ended up buying both! So now both of these illustrations are part of the permanent collection of the Mazza Museum! So it all worked out.

Here's another behind-the-scenes look at Over the River and Through the Wood:

Find Over the River and Through the Wood at your favorite bookstore, or at any of the usual places online.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Watch me work, hear me whistle!

Since Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away...



Find Over the River and Through the Wood at your favorite bookstore, or at any of the usual places online.

New OVER THE RIVER Reviews

With Thanksgiving just a day away, Over the River and Through the Wood has been getting some nice mentions lately. Here's a quick rundown of a few new blog reviews, with links to the full reviews:

"A stunning book of song with the feel of yesteryear.  Beautiful matte pages with the slightest texture.  Stately red endpapers.  Exquisite artwork... An ideal picture book."  -Picture Book Reviews

"Matt Tavares has created a fantastic version of the song “Over the River and Through the Wood. The pictures of the snowy 19th century New England town and landscape are beautiful, setting the blues and grays of snow and horse with the vivid reds of the sleigh and brick houses. He’s livened these lyric illustrations also with a story of a dog sometimes teasing and sometimes chasing after the sleigh holding in his teeth a boy’s hat that had flown off in the wind.... It's a song and book everyone can enjoy." -Sing Books With Emily, the blog

 "One read through Over the River and Through the Wood and readers will long for the pastoral life, to be swept up the side of a mountain by horse power, to hear the quiet of the woods settling deeply around. Beautifully done and so peaceful it made me yearn to be in it, Tavares's edition is just the thing to slow readers down and keep their thoughts centered." -Where the Best Books Are

"We are touched by the beautiful and detailed illustrations and the loving attention to each inch of the book." -Bellissima Kids 
 
"Echoing the language of Child's time and sparkling with Norman Rockwell-like detail, the book may well carry your young readers - and singers - away into history in the rushing sleigh, in the snowy woods, and in the busy New England town, right beside the poem's characters and their spirited horse! -Great Books For Horse Lovers

Thanks to all the bloggers who took the time to enjoy my book and share it with their readers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the River and Through the Wood comes out today!

Visit Indiebound.org to find it at a bookstore near you!

Over the River and Through the Wood trailer

Watch me work! Hear me whistle!!

 Over the River and Through the Wood will be available in bookstores on September 27.