Arts & Entertainment

From Pulitzer Prize Winning to Children's Book Writing

Wilton's own Matt Davies finds publishing success with a kids' book about standing up for yourself against bullies.

Written by Heather Borden-Hervé

Being unafraid to stand up for yourself and your beliefs is nothing new for Matt Davies, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist who calls Wilton home. He does that for a living in his day job, drawing political cartoons with a very opinionated point of view.    

Finding an engaging way to teach kids how to do that, however, is a different story—literally. Davies wrote a children’s story about it called Ben Rides On [Neal Porter/Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan]. Published in late May, the book has been very well received, winning positive reviews in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly, as well as earning a coveted star from Kirkus Reviews.    

“For the New York Times to say that, ‘Davies’ debut cries out for a follow-up,’ I was just like, Whoa!” the author shared. “My editor wrote to me after we saw that, saying, ‘Good thing we’re planning a follow-up.’”    

Davies’ book centers on Ben, a scrappy third-grader whose beloved bike lets him fly through the air with ease and surmount every obstacle in his way—almost every challenge, that is, save those from the hulking neighborhood bully, Adrian Underbite. Being quite the nogoodnik, Underbite steals Ben’s treasured two-wheeler, but thankfully karma has good timing, and the villainous Adrian crashes and finds himself in a bit of a predicament. You guessed it, the only person who can save him is Ben, who then has to make his own ethical choice about simply taking back what’s his, or doing what he can to rescue his tormentor.    

“The book has a bully in it, but it’s not just about bullying. It’s about the choices you make. Most other books about bullying have the bully getting his comeuppance at the end—that wasn’t the lesson I wanted to teach. It’s a bigger conversation. As an editorial cartoonist, I’ve created this persona of super-cynical irony trawler. Politics is very black-and-white. It’s fun but that’s not all of me that exists.”    

Because a lot of kids will read the book with an adult in their life, Davies wanted it to resonate for grown-ups as well as children.  “We all have people in our adult lives who can be considered ‘bullies’ or unpleasant. And I ask myself, ‘What would I do if they needed my help?’ To write about it has made sense. People who have done you wrong, what if they really needed you? What would you do? That’s a real test of who you are, forgetting them, but examining what kind of person you are,” said Davies.    

Davies had another motive for shifting gears from the editorial arena to publishing something for a younger audience.    

“The reason I chose to write a children’s book—apart from the fact that I kind of know how to draw, it helps—was that when I think back to my own childhood reading books, an actual physical book, they’re some of the strongest memories. Going to a library, picking out a book, the cover just kicked [butt], opening it, and smelling the book as you turned the pages. There’s something about books that are stunning. Those were the most important books in my life. I thought if I could give that to some kid, that would be amazing.”    

There was one other poignant thing Davies kept thinking about while creating Ben Rides On, something deeply linked to Wilton, and he felt strongly enough about it to mention it to Patch in a post-interview e-mail.    

“I very much had Nick Parisot on my mind when I drew Ben Rides On. It actually drove me to get more involved in Nick's unresolved case, to the point that I got into a bit of a[n e-mail] fight with the prosecutor. Growing up as a free spirit on all things two-wheeled [myself], I was basically the same kid as Nick.”    

Davies will be appearing at the Wilton Library this Saturday, June 8 from 11 a.m. to noon for a reading of Ben Rides On and book signing. He will also be the featured speaker the following day, Sunday June 9, at the library’s annual meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. Books will be available for purchase at both events, courtesy of New Canaan’s Elm Street Books.  


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