Homebound Letter 5 – March 25, 2020   Dear Parents and Caregivers of Stuck-at-Home Students:   This letter is a little different. Instead of writing to students today, I’m writing to parents. Many of you are exhausted. Just like my wife and I are exhausted. When we put our two children down at the

Homebound Letter 4 – March 23, 2020   Dear Stuck-at-Home Student:   Before I begin, I have some exciting news. This Wednesday illustrator Loren Long and I are going to do a special Instagram Live session about our book LOVE. I will read the book, and Loren will talk about the art. Then we

Homebound Letter 3 – March 20, 2020   Dear Stuck-at-Home Student:   Hi, my name is Matt de la Peña, and I write books. Usually I’m out on the road, visiting schools. Or I’m working on a new book. But right now I’m staying at home with my family. You probably are, too. Since

Homebound Letter 2 – March 18, 2020   Dear Stuck-at-Home Student:   Hi, my name is Matt de la Peña, and I write books. Usually I’m out on the road, visiting schools. Or I’m working on a new book. But right now I’m staying at home with my family. You probably are, too. Since

Homebound Letter 1 – March 17, 2020   Dear Stuck-at-Home Student:   Hi, my name is Matt de la Peña, and I write books. Usually I’m out on the road, visiting schools. Or I’m working on a new book. But right now I’m staying at home with my family. You probably are, too. Since

We are in a golden age of picture books. I was honored to be asked to talk about some of my favorite on NPR this week. To listen to the interview click here!  

Dr. Molly Ness has a wonderful and important podcast centered around ending book deserts. I was lucky enough to be a recent guest. Listen here.

  Sharing this short piece I wrote for NCTE. Thanks for reading . . . .

  When I was a newer author I dreamed of writing a great novel. A great picture book. I dreamed of getting positive reviews, maybe even awards, and meeting readers who had been moved by my words. I think a lot of writers begin in this head space. We want to make something great

Immigration is a complex and loaded issue. Obviously. I don’t believe the job of the fiction writer is to come up with answers to such issues but to ask interesting questions. Two of my recent books are set atop our country’s current struggle with immigration. When Clark discovers his alien background in Superman, he