This month’s Creator Spotlight shines on Matt Forrest Esenwine.
He’s one of those picture book creators whose poetry background shows up on the page in all the right ways. His books have music, momentum, and a sense of wonder, and they clearly come from someone who understands how picture books work as visual experiences. That combination makes him well worth a closer look.
He’s got plenty of books worth considering, but I’m limiting myself here to three favorites.
Here’s the setup for Flashlight Night: three kids head out into the backyard with a flashlight, and that ordinary nighttime adventure keeps opening into something bigger, stranger, and much more bookish. Along the way, they encounter tigers, pirates, and more before circling back to the books that sparked it all.
Some craft things worth noticing:
- Matt gives the book an imaginative engine right away. The flashlight beam becomes the doorway, and sure enough, that just gives the whole story instant energy.
- The language has a lovely musical quality (which makes sense given Matt’s poetry background), and he still keeps the story moving.
- The book keeps one foot in the real world and one in the imagined one. That tension gives the illustrations a lot to do (in a good way).
- This is a terrific example of a book that celebrates reading by showing what books do to a kid’s mind instead of simply announcing that books are wonderful.
In I Am Today, a young girl finds a sea turtle tangled in wire on the beach near her town and realizes she doesn’t have to wait until she grows up to take action. The publisher describes it as an empowering story about a child who chooses to make change now, and that feels spot on.
Some craft things worth noticing:
- Matt builds the book around a big idea, though he gives it a very concrete starting point.
- The text is spare and poetic, which leaves a lot of storytelling room for the illustrations. In fact, the turtle-saving narrative is carried heavily by the art, which is part of what makes the book so worthy of studying.
- The title itself has oomph. It turns the usual “what will you be someday?” question into something much more immediate.
- This is a useful book for anyone trying to write toward activism, stewardship, or social awareness in a way that still feels kid-centered and alive on the page.
The publisher frames A Beginner’s Guide to Being Human one as a humorous and heartfelt look at what it means to be human and how to be a good one, and that’s a pretty apt summary. And Matt runs with that idea.
Some craft things worth noticing:
- Matt takes a potentially heavy social-emotional topic and keeps it light on its feet.
- The voice speaks directly to the child reader in a way that feels inviting rather than finger-waggy.
- The book appreciates that warmth can carry a lot of wisdom.
- This is a first-rate mentor text for anyone trying to write a concept-driven picture book with an emotional or behavioral focus that still has a lively reading experience.
If you’ve got a favorite Matt Forrest Esenwine title, drop it in the comments.
