Showing posts with label Matt Tavares. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Tavares. Show all posts

7.15.2013

Becoming Babe Ruth


This post joins other
Nonfiction Monday blogs
hosted today by Wrapped in Foil
and joins It's Monday!
What are you reading?

Candlewick Press
(pub. 2.12.2013) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor and Illustrator: Matt Tavares
    
haracter: Babe Ruth

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "Before becoming the Babe, George Herman Ruth is just a boy who lives in Baltimore and gets into a lot of trouble. But when he tuns seven, his father brings him to the gates of Saint Mary's Industrial School of Boy, and his life is changed forever.
       At Saint Mary's, George is expected to follow a lot of rules - and he gets to play baseball almost every day. Under the watchful eye of Brother Matthias, George evolves as a player and as a man, when he sets of into the wild world of big-league baseball, his family back at Saint Mary's is never far from his heart.
      Matt Tavares's striking homage ... conveys an important message about honoring the place from which you came."

T antalizing taste: 

"A fire has swept through
Saint Mary's Industrial School for Boys.
Nearly every building has been destroyed.
Babe Ruth has an idea.
He writes a letter to Brother Matthias...
For the final two weeks
of the 1920 baseball season,
the school bank form Saint Mary's
gets to join the New York Yankees
on a road trip across America...
The fifty boys from Saint Mary's
get to go to all the games.
They play a concert in the stands
before each game
and another concert every night...
to help rebuild the place where
the 'Sultan of Swat'
learned how to play baseball." 

and something more: I've been featuring baseball player picture books lately -- must be a summer series!  I like that this story not only pays tribute to the enormous influence of Father Matthias in helping Babe Ruth develop into a star baseball play, but also the focus on the need to practice, practice, practice one's passion. As author/illustrator Matt Tavares explains in the Author's Note: "As a lifelong baseball fan, I've always been fascinated by Babe Ruth. As I researched his life, one thing that struck me was the fact that even the 'Sultan of Swat,' who seemed to possess superhuman abilities, needed lots of help along the way. Becoming the king of baseball took countless hours of practice and plenty of support and guidance from his school and from his teacher and mentor, Brother Matthias." 

11.25.2012

Helen's Big World

The Life of Helen Keller

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday hosted today by
and joins It's Monday! What are you reading?
at Teacher Mentor Texts

Disney Hyperion Books
(pub. 10.16.12)  48 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Doreen Rappaport
     and Illustrator:  Matt Tavares

haracter: Helen Keller

O verview from the jacket flap: 

      "Blind, deaf, and unable to speak from toddlerhood, young Helen Keller lived in a dark, silent world. Despite her handicaps, Helen wanted to experience every part of life; with her passion for discovery and the help of an unrivaled teacher, Annie Sullivan, Helen found that knowledge would soon lead to freedom... And with knowledge and freedom came wisdom... And with her wisdom, Helen knew that she could change the world by speaking out against the injustices she witnessed...
       With her signature style of prose laced with stirring quotes, Doreen Rappaport brings to life Helen Keller's poignant narrative. Acclaimed illustrator Matt Tavares captures the dynamism and verve of Helen Keller's life and legacy, making Helen's Big World an unforgettable portrait of a woman whose vision for progress changed America - and the world - forever."
        
T antalizing taste: 

           "But some people questioned how Helen could describe things that she could not see or hear. They did not understand that she could smell lilacs and roses and feel the golden rays of the sun on her face and the soft, springy earth under her feet."
          
and something more:  In the Illustrator's Note, Matt Tavares explains the challenges of illustrating Helen's Big World: "[At first] I was overwhelmed by the challenge of trying to visually capture the story of a person who could not see or hear. It seemed impossible... I realized that maybe I was thinking about Helen Keller the wrong way. I was defining her by her deafness and blindness, but there was so much more to her story. Helen Keller never saw the ocean or heard the sound of crashing waves. But she could feel the exhilaration of jumping in the water. She could ride in a sailboat, and feel the fluttering in her stomach as the sea rose and fell. She could taste the salty ocean spray, and feel the cold water as it splashed on her face. I ... tried to make sure my pictures focused on all the things she could do ..." 
            Two of Matt Tavare's illustrations (one of which is the cover) echo Doreen Rappaport's text by showing Helen Keller, in profile as a young woman and then as an older woman, reveling in the smell of a rose "and feel [of] the golden rays of the sun on her face."