Let's Get Busy Podcast

I'm honored to be today's guest on Matthew Winner's excellent Let's Get Busy Podcast. We talk about Growing Up Pedro, Candlewick Press, kickball, and more.

I often listen to Matthew Winner's podcast while I'm painting, and really enjoy it. If you like children's books and have never listened to this awesome podcast, you're in for a treat. I hope episode #166 lives up to the awesomeness of the other 165. Enjoy!

Three Events This Weekend!

blurry photo of me reading The Gingerbread Pirates at the 2009 Polar Express night at Barnes & Noble in Portsmouth, NH

As the illustrator of two Christmas books ('Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Gingerbread Pirates), this is always a busy time of year for me. I've got three fun holiday events planned for this weekend. Here's where I'll be...

Friday, December 7	6:00-9:00 pm. "Matt Tavares Catches a Ride on the Polar Express". I'll be reading and signing my Christmas books at Barnes and Noble in Newington, NH, part of their annual Polar Express night. I read at 6:00, then there's a reading of The Polar Epress, and lots of other fun stuff (like free cookies and hot chocolate!) This has become an annual tradition for me and my family, and it's always a lot of fun.
Saturday, December 8	12:00-2:00 pm, reading and signing my Christmas books at the Rowley Public Library in Rowley, MA. I'll do a drawing demonstration, and you can decorate (and then eat) your own gingerbread man!
Sunday, December 9	1:00-3:00, book signing at The Hill House, 127 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, MA... right in Beacon Hill, the setting of my version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This is the weekend when Beacon Hill is being decorated for the holidays, and it's always a fun time to be in the city.

	So if you're anywhere near Boston, Portsmouth, or Rowley, come say hi (and get some Christmas shopping done)!

This Comes Out Today!

"Swashbuckling gusto and a poignant finish should make this a new favorite."
*Publisher's Weekly (starred review) 

It's the mini, stocking-stuffer, gift edition of The Gingerbread Pirates, written by Kristin Kladstrup, illustrated by me, and published by Candlewick Press. It's just like the original version, but a bit smaller and much cuter. (And it's only $8.99 in hardcover... not too shabby!)

You should be able to find it at your local bookstore, or any of the usual places online.

Wenham Museum Exhibit Opens Today

An exhibit called Picture This: Ninety Years of Storybook Art opens today at The Wenham Museum in Wenham, Massachusetts, featuring original artwork by some of the true legends of children's literature, like Tasha Tudor and Leo Lionni, as well as thirteen original illustrations from my books, Zachary's Ball and The Gingerbread Pirates. It's such an honor to be part of this exhibit!

artwork from The Gingerbread Pirates, just before I packed it up to deliver it to the museum

Oddly, of all the illustrators featured in this exhibit, I am the only one who is still alive. I'm not sure if I should feel honored, or concerned... In any case, it certainly made it easy to schedule the book signing!

In conjunction with the exhibit, I will be signing books at the museum on Saturday, April 21 at 2:00 pm. The exhibit will be up from now until May 6. If you're anywhere near Wenham and you like children's books, don't miss it!

new batch of Gingerbread Pirates!

Arrrr, mateys! There are a whole lot of Gingerbread Pirate cookies being made these days! If you make your own crew, please send me a picture at matt@tavaresbooks.com or post it on my facebook page, and I'll post it here sometime before Christmas.

Here's this week's swashbuckling batch of homemade gingerbread pirates:

Last two events of the season!

It's been a busy fall, but I'm down to my last two events of 2011.

Tonight I'll be reading my Christmas books at Barnes and Noble in Newington, NH at 6:00, at an event called "The Polar Express Event with Matt Tavares and More!" The "more" part includes free cookies and hot chocolate!!

This is my 4th year doing this, and it's always a blast. After I read my books, a conductor will do a reading of Chris Van Allsburg's classic, The Polar Express, complete with music, cookies, and hot chocolate for all the kids.

Money raised during this event will benefit the Berwick Academy school library.

Here are a couple slightly blurry photos from last year's Polar Express event:

me reading The Gingerbread Pirates

The conductor taking a break from reading The Polar Exress, while Chris Cote plays holiday music

Then tomorrow morning at 10:30, I'll be signing my holiday books at my kids' favorite toy store, Animal Instinct in Ogunquit, Maine. If you're near Ogunquit, come make a day of it- you can meet Santa at the fire station at 9:30 then walk over to Animal Instinct for my signing.

There is a whole bunch of other fun stuff going on all day, part of Christmas-by-the-Sea. You can download a full schedule here.

Make your own Gingerbread Pirates!

When I was working on The Gingerbread Pirates, my wife helped me out by baking lots of gingerbread men. You know, for research. Sure, I'll admit it, I ate a bunch of them. But I did decorate a few as Captain Cookie, Wavy, and Dots, and attempted to use them as models for my illustrations. (Though it didn't really work, because real cookies don't run, or climb, or show emotion. In the end, I just made up the pirates in the book.)

I've heard from a lot of people who have made their own gingerbread pirate crew after reading the book. If you want to give it a try, Candlewick Press put together a great story hour kit that includes a recipe for gingerbread cookies. It also includes and a nice coloring sheet, so you can make your own Gingerbread Pirates ornaments.

Have fun! Just follow that link and click on "Read to us! Story hour kit!"

Here are a few Gingerbread Pirate creations I've seen recently:

A pretty amazing crew! It'd be tough to eat these guys, especially after all they went through to run away from Santa...

These pirates were made by a class of preschoolers.

Their focus was not so much on accurately portraying the characters, but on covering the cookie with as much sugar as possible.

If you're not up for baking, you can also make some great Gingerbread Pirates out of construction paper. I saw these at a recent school visit. Pretty great, huh?

Man, there are a lot of peg legs in this crowd!

Or you can always just keep it simple and draw a picture. Here's a pirate my 4-year-old daughter drew after reading The Gingerbread Pirates.

Captain Cookie...

...is hanging on my Christmas tree. Arrr!!

And I was very happy to see that he's on the big wall at Barnes & Noble again this year! Pretty cool to see The Gingerbread Pirates up there with Dr. Suess, David Shannon, and Charlie Brown (and Harry Connick, Jr... and Mike Huckabee...?) Go Captain Cookie!

artwork from kids

One of the fun parts of being a children's book author-illustrator is getting mail from kids. Usually it comes in big batches, from an elementary school class that just read one of my books, or from a school I visited. It's always so cool to look at art made by kids, and it's very inspiring to know that the books I'm working on here in my studio will (hopefully) inspire kids to make art of their own.

Here are a few pieces of artwork I've gotten in the mail recently:

Over the River and Through the Wood, by Grace

Over the River and Through the Wood, by Celia

Captain Cookie, by Marissa

Captain Cookie with the sleigh from Over the River, by Anonymous

Mudball, by a different Anonymous

A picture of me doing a drawing demonstration, by Kaeden

Indiebound bestseller list

Good news: The Gingerbread Pirates made the Indiebound bestseller list! It just made the cut, at #15 in the Children's Illustrated category.

New Indie Bookstore in southern Maine

Join me this weekend in Kennebunk, Maine to welcome a great new independent bookstore, Kennebooks, to the southern Maine community. It's a 3,500 square foot space with 11,000 books, but it also has the comforts of home- a wood stove, a couch, a front porch. And their knowlegable staff can help you find just the right book. Especially if you happen to be looking for a book about pirate cookies who come to life in Christmas Eve...

I'll be signing copies of "The Gingerbread Pirates" at 10:30 this Saturday, November 21, and there will be other fun stuff going on all weekend as part of their Holiday Open House. Hope to see you there!

Horn Book Magazine Holiday High Notes

The Horn Book Magazine came out with its annual list of recommended new holiday books, and The Gingerbread Pirates made the list!

first day of school

I've heard a lot of people say that having a new book released is like sending your child out into the world. Well, I have a new book that comes out today, and I started my day by watching my little girl get on the school bus for her first day of kindergarten. I'm proud of The Gingerbread Pirates, and I hope it does well and all, but after watching that school bus drive away, I have to say that having a new book released is nothing at all like sending your child out into the world. Not even close.

The Gingerbread Pirates Tour

The Gingerbread Pirates comes out on September 8, and Kristin Kladstrup and I will be spending some time this Fall traveling around, signing books, reading to kids, and eating lots of gingerbread men! So if you like books, cookies, Christmas, pirates, or all of the above, come see us! It's rare to get the author AND the illustrator together in the same place, so this should be lots of fun!

Here's where we'll be:

September 19 2:00-4:00 pm. Talk Like A Pirate Day! G. Willikers in downtown Portsmouth, NH (I need to practice for this one. So far I just know "arrrrr", "matey", and "swashbuckling".)

September 20 3:00 pm launch party and book signing at Book Ends in Winchester, MA
(we're working on getting The Gingerbread Construction Company bakery involved. Yummmmm.)

October 24 time TDA, at The Blue Bunny in Dedham, MA

November 22 11:00 am book signing and story hour at Barnes & Noble in Portsmouth, NH

December 5 2:00 at The Wenham Museum in Wenham, MA, as part of their annual Gingerbrad Express event.