Works in progress

This story is based on a real kid, Don Heath Jr., who passed secret messages between his parents and members of the resistance in Berlin during World War 2

My cover art for the upcoming Backpack, Boy, Berlin written by Kip Wilson

4 of my drawings on coasters for Nucleus Portland’s 10th annual “Salut!” group show which opens tomorrow

An illustrated book cover. Title: Cut! How Lotte Reiniger and a Pair of Scissors Revolutionized Animation. Author/illustrator names at top: C. E. WINTERS, MATT SCHU. The illustration shows a white woman with short dark hair standing in a small boat. She's raising a pair of scissors in her right hand and holding a large red flag in her left. She's wearing a white blouse with a black tie, a black skirt, and black tights. The setting sun, the stars, and waves are behind her, plus a brilliant blue and orange sky.

I just learned that my picture book, CUT!: HOW LOTTE REINIGER AND A PAIR OF SCISSORS REVOLUTIONIZED ANIMATION, illustrated by @mattschu.bsky.social, is a nominee for the Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Awards program! What an honor!

library.la.gov/media/fo5m0o...

@marthamihalick.bsky.social

THE TONTINE CAPER by @diannesalerni.bsky.social; illus. by @mattschu.bsky.social (Holiday) www.hbook.com/story/2025-s... #SummerReading #HBFamilyReading #FamilyReading #kidlit #Intermediate #MiddleGrade

A black and white photo of a blue whale skeleton exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History History superimposed with the question: "Is it dead?"

Illustrations from the picture book I KNOW THE WHALE by Robin Yardi with Illustrations by Matt Schu, published by Little Bee Books. A girl and her father beside a beached blue whale (top left), a girl and her father walking across the sand toward home as the sun sets behind them (top right), a girl drawing the outline of a blue whale on the asphalt outside her home with white chalk (bottom left), a girl exploring the articulated skeleton exhibit of the same beached blue whale at the Natural History Museum (bottom right), book cover of I KNOW THE WHALE (center).

"Is it dead?” a kid asks…

I’ve heard this question many times from kids on field trips to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History where it was my task to answer them.

Today, this book, illustrated by @mattschu.bsky.social and published by Little Bee, hopes to honor their question honestly.

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30x40” oil on canvas from my 2023 show with @nucleushouse.bsky.social

Artist: Matt Schu @mattschu.bsky.social
Title: Backyard
Medium: Ink and Acrylic Gouache on Paper
Art Size: 11 in. x 14 in.
Frame Size: 11.5 in. x 14.5 in. x 1.625 in.

I did black line art first, then watercolor on top!

3.5x5.5” ink, watercolor, & gouache in Moleskine pocket watercolor notebook.

If you are looking for a delightful #NF #KidLit #Poetry read-aloud, take a look at STAR AND THE MAESTRO by Thor Hanson, illustrated by @mattschu.bsky.social about an unlikely pair of musical collaborators. www.10000birds.com/star-and-the...

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Artist: Matt Schu @mattschu.bsky.social
Title: Tree House on Hill 3
Medium: Ink and Acrylic Gouache on Paper
Art Size: 8 in. x 10 in.
Frame Size: 8.5 in. x 10.5 in. x 1.625

B/w illustration of a person in silhouette being pushed out a window. Text reads: THE HORN BOOK calls THE TONTINE CAPER a feisty puzzle mystery with a hearty dollop of humor. The inept murder-minded antics ... are just one example of the hilarious hijinks sprinkled throughout this farce, which registers surprise after surprise until, in a final sleight of hand, Salerni delivers a heartwarming ending that few will see coming.

Thanks to @thehornbook.bsky.social for this scrumptious review of THE TONTINE CAPER! 🎉🎈

In celebration, I am sharing one of the hilarious illustrations by @mattschu.bsky.social. The book releases on April 22!

@smorgridge.bsky.social

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Artist: Matt Schu @mattschu.bsky.social
Title: Tree House on Hill 2
Medium: Ink and Acrylic Gouache on Paper
Art Size: 8 in. x 10 in.
Frame Size: 8.5 in. x 10.5 in. x 1.625 in.

5x7” each, ink & acrylic gouache

#sketchbook

Cover image shows shadowy figure running into darkness with key in hand. Text announces Jr Libary Guild selection and adds *A Fortune in Cash *3 Elderly Finalists *3 Families that will do Whatever it Takes *One 11 yo boy Caught in the Middle ~~~ Shenanigans Begin April 22, 2025

THE TONTINE CAPER is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! Woo Hoo! Looking forward to putting this book, with illustrations by @mattschu.bsky.social, into the hands of readers young and not-so-young this spring!

What would YOU do for $150k?

The cover depicts a shadowy figure running down a hallway with a key grasped in his hand. The Tontine Caper, by Dianne K Salerni, illustrated by Matt Schu

Delighted to reveal the cover for my 4/22 release, THE TONTINE CAPER, illustrated by @mattschu.bsky.social! It's a comedy mystery for MG readers set in a crummy inn on a mountain in the Poconos in 1900. Shenanigans ensue when $150k is at stake for the last surviving member of a tontine.

Drawings for Nucleus House gallery’s current group show. 5x7” ink & acrylic on paper.

“Starlight.” 8x10” ink & acrylic

Drawing of a house on a rock at sea with a figure approaching on foot from a red sailboat

8x10” ink & acrylic on paper