Meet the author

Matthew Forsythe.

Writer & illustrator · Canada

Matthew Forsythe: Canadian picture-book maker behind Pokko and the Drum, Mina and Ojiichan's Gift — loose, gouache-painted, gently otherworldly art-led picture books for ages 4–8.

Matthew Forsythe is a Canadian author-illustrator best known for Pokko and the Drum (2019, BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award-nominated), Mina (2022, Caldecott Honor) and Ojiichan's Gift. Forsythe's style is loose, gouache-painted, slightly otherworldly, with strong character work and a deceptively quiet emotional register, closer to Beatrice Alemagna or Wolf Erlbruch than to mainstream cartoon picture books. He works also in animation and editorial illustration. Strong giftability for ages 4–8 in the gentle-art-led picture-book register, particularly for adult co-readers who value visual craft.