Matthew Burgess is a poet, an educator, and the author of many celebrated picture books, including Fireworks, Words With Wings and Magic Things, and Drawing on Walls: A Story of Keith Haring. Matthew recently received a Charlotte Zolotow Honor and a Golden Kite Honor for outstanding writing in a picture book text for Fireworks, and his poetry collection, Words With Wings and Magic Things, was named an 2026 ALA Notable Children’s Book in the All Ages category. Several new titles are publishing his year: Mungo On His Own (HarperCollins, January), Serafina Makes Waves(Penguin Random House, March), and If The Moon (Stonefruit Studio, August). An Associate Professor at Brooklyn College, Matthew lives in New York City and Berlin.