There Goes Ted Williams

Tavares’s full-bleed spreads alternate with sepia-toned spot drawings, all beautifully arranged in this old-fashioned but evergreen tribute.—The New York TimesWith smooth, sweeping lines and naturalistic details, Tavares’s mixed-media artwork conveys Williams’s joyful devotion to his sport.—Publishers WeeklyTavares’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. Published in time for Fenway Park’s centennial celebrations, this full-of-life biography will be a hit with young baseball fans.—Horn BookThis is a glorious tribute to a baseball legend and a complicated human being.—School Library JournalKids will especially like that this wonderful picture book spends a lot of time talking about the childhood of the famous Boston Red Sox slugger… An exciting and inspiring story.—Washington Post KidsPostA baseball hero and an American hero, the last player to hit over .400 in a season; here, Ted Williams is introduced to a new generation of baseball fans.—Kirkus ReviewsStriking portraits, rendered in watercolor, gouache, and pencil, show the skinny young Williams and his gradual physical maturation into the lanky, muscular mature athlete and navy pilot.—Booklist OnlineMatt Tavares delivers a solid hit in his biography of this great baseball player.—Library Media ConnectionTavares writes THERE GOES TED WILLIAMS like a jazzy poem. There is musicality in every line and in every full-color painting. The nostalgia of the paintings plays beautifully against the straight-up clarity of the prose. It’s full of the statistics and details so dear to the hearts of baseball lovers.—The Boston GlobeFull of movement, the multimedia art is perfect complement to this tale of stellar performance and personal sacrifice.—San Francisco Chronicle

Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of Zachary’s Ball, Oliver’s Game, Mudball, and Henry Aaron’s Dream, and the illustrator of Over the River and Through the Wood, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, and Lady Liberty: A Biography by Doreen Rappaport. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.