In Case You Missed It
(New York, NY) - The Wall Street Journal, The Best Books of 2021: Children's Books has recognized acclaimed children’s book writer Jeff Gottesfeld for his best-selling picture book for children Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Candlewick, 2021), with illustrations by Matt Tavares. Previously. Gottesfeld has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies.
The book has topped the Amazon Best Seller list in multiple categories, and has been a featured title for the Hidden Heroes Caregiver Community for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, United Through Reading, and Purple Star Schools. A version of its cover won the VAntage Point, Veterans Administration Veterans Day 2021 poster contest. Gottsfeld presented on it for the National Archives just before Veteran’s Day.
Endorsed by the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and prepared with the assistance of many Tomb Guards past and present, Twenty-One Steps is an American treasure. An outlier of a children’s book in this age of identity, it has captured the hearts and minds of our nation's future leaders and will have an impact for decades to come.
About the creators:
Jeff Gottesfeld is an acclaimed writer whose work has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies. His The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window was a 2016 New York Times Best Illustrated Book for Children. He has previously written for adult, teen, middle-grade, and picture book audiences. Jeff Gottesfeld is based in Los Angeles. Matt Tavares is the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps, and the author-illustrator of Crossing Niagara, Henry Aaron’s Dream, There Goes Ted Williams, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Growing Up Pedro, as well as Zachary’s Ball, Oliver’s Game, and Mudball. He is the illustrator of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, Over the River and Through the Wood, Lady Liberty by Doreen Rappaport, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, and Jubilee! by Alicia Potter. He is also the creator of the modern Christmas tale Red and Lulu. He lives in Maine.