Matt James – illustratör

Belle draws the best owl in class, but she doesn’t say why: she sees them in the park, where she and her mother sleep. Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner!Belle and her mother used to have a house, a table, and chairs, a home like any of Belle’s classmates’. But things changed. Now, they curl up each night in a blanket nest in their old blue car, with their things packed in around them. The first night was hard, but they’ve never been alone: their friend the owl has always been nearby, hooting in its tree, looking out for them. Belle longs to catch sight of it, and one night, she finally does. That’s how she learned to draw an owl. No one knows that story. But when a new boy comes to school, a boy whose car looks like Belle’s, a boy who looks lost and scared, it’s Belle’s turn to watch over someone. Hilary Horder Hippely’s soulful text pairs with Matt James’s atmospheric illustrations in a book all too relevant to the realities of many families. Neither flinching nor sensationalizing, I Know How to Draw an Owl is a deeply empathetic and age-appropriate portrayal of a family experiencing housing insecurity.A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the YearWinner of the Frostburg State University CLC Book AwardNominated for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book AwardA Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Award-winning creators Laurel Croza and Matt James have come together once again to tell the story of what happens when a bullying seagull and a rock meet on the beach. When a seagull mistakes a small rock for food, it angrily spits it out. “What do you think you are?” the seagull demands. “I am a rock,” the rock responds. But the seagull refuses to accept this, insisting that the rock is more like a pebble, or a stone. It predicts that the rock will be thrown into the water and sink, and even if it manages to be washed ashore, the same thing will happen again and again, until the rock is worn down to a mere speck. After all, the rock has no shine, color, crystals or speckles … In short, it is nothing special.But a child enjoying a day at the beach sees the rock differently, and their creation in the sand affirms what the rock has known about itself all along.A quirky, vibrant and very memorable picture book about staying true to yourself.Key Text Featuresdialogue;illustrationsCorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

A gorgeous picture book about the connections created through music, and how music can reach loved ones with dementia.A young boy learns to play guitar from his grandfather, and the one about the blackbird is their favorite song. Years later, the boy visits his grandfather, and while his grandfather doesn't recognize him, now grown-up, he does still remember how to hold a guitar.A beautiful full circle moment ensues when the boy plays his grandfather their favorite song.The moving text and dynamic, gorgeous art celebrate the connection that music can create between two people and the joy that music, and the shared love of it, can bring at any age.

Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Children's IllustrationIn this delightful bedtime rhyme a young child bids good night to the moon, recalling all the familiar things surrounding her -- from her pillow, her book and her kitten to the swing outside, the robins in the trees and the starry night.Written by award-winning novelist and poet Pamela Porter, the book is complemented by the swirling, joyful and whimsical illustrations of Matt James, an acclaimed visual artist. The words and music for "At the Gate of Heaven" ("A la puerta del cielo"), a New Mexican lullaby, are included.

Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's IllustrationAward-winning artist Matt James takes the iconic song "Northwest Passage" by legendary Canadian songwriter and singer Stan Rogers and tells the dramatic story of the search for the elusive route through the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific, which for hundreds of years and once again today, nations, explorers and commercial interests have dreamt of conquering, often with tragic consequences.For hundreds of years explorers attempted to find the Northwest Passage - a route through Canada's northern waters to the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Others attempted to find a land route. Many hundreds of men perished in the attempt, until finally, in 1906, Roald Amundsen completed the voyage by ship. Today global warming has brought interest in the passage back to a fever pitch as nations contend with each other over its control and future uses.The historic search inspired Canadian folk musician Stan Rogers to write "Northwest Passage", a song that has become a widely known favorite since its 1981 release. It describes Stan's own journey overland as he contemplates the arduous journeys of some of the explorers, including Kelsey, Mackenzie, Thompson and especially Franklin. The song is moving and haunting, a paean to the adventurous spirit of the explorers and to the beauty of the vast land and icy seas.The lyrics are accompanied by the striking paintings of multiple award-winning artist Matt James. Matt brings a unique vision to the song and the history behind it, providing commentary on the Franklin expedition and its failure to heed the wisdom of Inuit living in the North. The book also contains the music for the song (as well as a final verse that was never recorded), maps, a timeline of Arctic exploration, mini-biographies and portraits of the principal explorers, and suggestions for further reading.Following on the success of Canadian Railroad Trilogy, this is another beautiful book in which a memorable song illuminates a fascinating history that has taken on new resonance today.

A little girl and her family have just moved across the country by train. Their new neighborhood in the city of Toronto is very different from their home in the Saskatchewan bush, and at first everything about “there” seems better than “here.”The little girl’s dad has just finished building a dam across the Saskatchewan River, and his new project is to build a highway through Toronto. In Saskatchewan, he would come home for lunch every day, but now he doesn’t come until supper. The family used to love to look at the stars, and the northern lights dancing in the night sky. But in the city, all they can see is the glare from the streetlights. All the kids used to run and play together, but now older brother Doug has his own friends.Then one day there is a knock on the door. It is Anne, who lives kitty-corner and is also eight, going on nine, and suddenly living in Toronto takes on a whole new light.Laurel Croza and Matt James have beautifully captured the voice and intense feelings of a young child who, in the midst of upheaval, finds hope in her new surroundings.

Winner of the 2011 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the 2011 Ezra Jack Keats and New York Public Library New Writer Award, and a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Children's IllustrationThe little girl in this story lives with her family in a trailer in northeastern Saskatchewan, where her father is building a dam. She knows everything about the place she lives -- her road, her school, the forest where she plays hide-and-seek and where the wolf howls at night, the hill where she goes tobogganing in winter . . . But the dam is nearly finished and when summer comes the family is moving to Toronto -- a place marked by a big red star on the map at school. Have people in Toronto seen what I've seen? the little girl asks. And with her teacher's help she finds a way to keep everything she loves about home.This simple, beautifully written story, complemented by Matt James's vibrant, imaginative illustrations, will resonate deeply with anyone who has had to leave their home for a new place.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

The African-American football player Chuck Ealey grew up in a segregated neighborhood of Portsmouth, Ohio. Against all odds, he became an incredible quarterback. But despite his unbeaten record in high school and university, he would never play professional football in the United States.Chuck Ealey grew up poor in a racially segregated community that was divided from the rest of town by a set of train tracks, but his mother assured him that he wouldn’t stay in Portsmouth forever. Education was the way out, and a football scholarship was the way to pay for that education. So despite the racist taunts he faced at all the games he played in high school, Chuck maintained a remarkable level of dedication and determination. And when discrimination followed him to university and beyond, Chuck Ealey remained undefeated.This inspirational story is told by Chuck Ealey’s daughter, author and educator Jael Richardson, with striking and powerful illustrations by award-winning illustrator Matt James.