By Jaclyn Withers – Sales Coordinator, Candlewick
Can you imagine it? The gentle falling of snow outside your window, the fireplace lit, a warm beverage placed onto your nightstand as you sit down to read the latest title in the Dasher series to your little ones. They look up to you, eyes full of sparkles and anticipation to hear about Dasher as you open the book.
Yes, you read that right. There’s a new title in Matt Tavares’s delightful holiday series starring Dasher, Santa’s first reindeer. Follow her on her new journey as she befriends another furry friend from the North Pole.
Dasher and the Polar Bear came out September 30, and to celebrate the newest addition to the series, we reached out to Matt Tavares and asked him a few questions.
Where is your favorite place to go for holiday shopping?
Book and toy stores, of course! Especially when I have a new holiday book coming out, I spend a lot of time in these stores in the weeks leading up to Christmas. So a lot of people on my Christmas list get books!
Do you have a memorable moment from any of your author events while touring for the Dasher series?
There are so many memorable moments. I remember an especially fun event at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, New Hampshire, in 2023, when I was on tour for Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas. Santa Claus arrived toward the end of my presentation, and the whole place went wild. It was fun to be part of a magical moment like that.
What is the hardest part of the artistic process for creating books in the Dasher series?
The hardest part of the artistic process for the first book, for me, was painting all the night skies with watercolor. I was going for a smooth, even, dark blue, but that proved to be a very hard thing to achieve. Those skies drove me bonkers! I have moved to a mostly digital process for the other Dasher books, so the night skies are much less of a problem now.
Do you have a favorite winter activity?
I love winter during the holiday season, and my family did take up skiing a few years ago, so I could say skiing. But honestly, my favorite winter activity is traveling to places where it is not winter. Last February we went to Portugal, and it was amazing! Winter is nice for a month or two, but after that, I need a little break from it.
If you’re already in the holiday spirit like we are, check out Dasher and the Polar Bear as well as the rest of the Dasher series below!
Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of the New York Times best-selling picture book Dasher and its sequel Dasher Can’t Wait for Christmas, Red and Lulu, the graphic novel Hoops, and several sports biographies, including Becoming Babe Ruth and Growing Up Pedro. He is also the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, and Over the River and Through the Wood by L. Maria Child, among many other picture books. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.
