Matt Tavares Books
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There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived 
written and illustrated by Matt Tavares

2012 Junior Library Guild Selection
2012 Oppenheim Gold Seal Award
2012 Booklist Top Ten Sports Books for Youth
2012 Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year list
Museum of American Illustration at the The Society of Illustrators "The Original Art 2012" exhibit
2012 New England Book Award finalist
2013 Massachusetts Book Award, Honor Book
2014-15 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award, finalist


There Goes Ted Williams:
The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, by Matt Tavares


A Junior
Library Guild Selection

He was an ordinary kid who wanted one thing: to be able to hit a baseball better than anyone else. So he practiced his swing every chance he got. He did fingertip push-ups. He ate a lot of food. He practiced his swing. And then practiced some more.


Ted Williams, the legendary Red Sox slugger, lived a life full of dedication and passion. From his days as a young kid playing ball in North Park to his unmatched .406 season in 1941 to his stints as a fighter pilot in World War II and Korea, the story of Teddy Ballgame is the story of an American hero.

In this engrossing biography, Matt Tavares makes Ted Williams' life story accessible to a whole new generation of fans who are sure to admire the hard work, sacrifice, and triumph of the greatest hitter who ever lived.


"Exhilarating... Tavares's full-bleed spreads alternate with sepia-toned spot drawings, all beautifully arranged in this old-fashioned but evergreen tribute."
-The New York Times

"Kids 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."
-The Washington Post

"Tavares's present-tense narrative lends drama and immediacy... and the watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations depict Williams as large as a double-page spread can hold. On one spread, Williams's head, torso, and baseball bat, in typical home run swing, consume the available space. Turn the page, and an F9F Panther fighter jet all but flies out of the book. Turn again, and Ted is in the reader's face, fleeing the burning wreckage of his plane.... Published in time for Fenway Park's centennial celebrations, this full-of-life biography will be a hit with young baseball fans."
-Horn Book Magazine

"Following his outstanding Henry Aaron's Dream, Tavares has written an equally stunning book about another Baeball Hall of Famer.... a glorious tribute..."
-School Library Journal


"With smooth, sweeping lines and naturalistic details, Tavares's mixed-media artwork conveys Williams's joyful devotion to his sport."
-Publisher's Weekly


"Tavares 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."
-The Boston Globe






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THERE GOES TED WILLIAMS. Text and Illustrations copyright © 2012 Matt Tavares.
Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Inc., Somerville, MA.