Author Dan Gutman entertains while teaching writing at Hilldale Elementary

“Award winning author Dan Gutman coming to #Hilldale tomorrow. Be ready to be amazed!” is what District Communications Officer, Susan Marinello, Tweeted, as @MontvilleTwpSch, on the eve of Gutman’s arrival in the district.

@DanGutmanBooks shortly Replied: “Quick! Lower your expectations! That’s too much pressure!”

But Gutman, the award-winning author of several series of popular books, including THE GENIUS FILES, MY WEIRD SCHOOL and BASEBALL CARD ADVENTURES, did not disappoint.

“We have prepared all year for his arrival,” said Hilldale Elementary School Principal, Jill Cisneros. “This school, these students, and this staff, we are all very excited to have Dan Gutman here to talk with us today.”

Gutman, who conducted three separate assemblies, one for grades one and two; one for grades three, four and five; and one for kindergarten, was indeed amazing.

The author, who told the students, “I’m not an illustrator,” drew cartoons.

Wearing a Mets jersey, with the name “Gutman” on the back, he also attempted to make third grader, Nicole Swords, a Yankee fan, disappear.

When the trick failed he explained, “I am not a very good magician. But do you know what I am good at? I can take a blank piece of paper and turn it into a what?”

“A BOOK!” roared the crowd.

In assembly after assembly, Hilldale’s 360 students cheered and shouted, as Gutman asked them question after question about his books, his characters and what it is to be a writer.

With each question the students replied in enthusiastic unison.

He asked them about the MY WEIRD SCHOOL series: “Miss Daisy…,” he said.

“…IS CRAZY!” shouted the students as they completed is sentence.

“Miss Lazar…’”

“…IS BIZZARRE!”

He asked who the main characters are in THE GENIUS FILES series.

“COKE AND PEPSI!” exclaimed the crowd without missing a beat.

When explaining how often many of his books had been rejected by publishers, he asked: “Did I give up?”

“NO!” the students definitively confirmed.

The author read from his new book, Miss Brown is Upside Down.

“You will be truly the first kids in the world,” he said, “to hear this story.”

The text was met with great laughter and excitement.

Following the reading he presented his manuscript, a galley, complete with notes and corrections, to first grade teacher, Kelly Forst.

“That’s literally the first time I’ve read it out loud to an audience,” Gutman added.

Forst, along with fourth grade teacher, Marci Craig, and Media Specialist, Jason Jones, coordinated the event with Gutman, and helped the staff and students prepare all year for his visit.

“We played the interactive games on his website, wrote book reviews of his many works, and learned about his life,” said Craig.

Fourth and fifth grade students also had the option of competing for a chance to talk about writing, over lunch with the author. The contest was essay-based. Students wrote about why they wanted to meet Dan Gutman. Ten were chosen for the lunch meeting. Those who had the opportunity to discuss writing with the award-winning author were fourth graders, Olivia Barragan, Ananya Bhat, Savannah Fragetti, Jesse Kirschner and Alexa Pepperman, as well as fifth graders, Chase Blumenthal, Mihail Bogdanoski, Angelina Fardo, Aryanna Pepperman and William Templeton.

Gutman’s assemblies were both funny and practical. He advised the students to write and rewrite and rewrite some more.

“Things can always get closer to perfect. You can’t write a story just once,” he explained. “That is why your teachers make suggestions. They want your writing to be as good as it can be.”

Gutman talked about his process as a writer, how, before he begins writing the actual story, he uses index cards to organize his thoughts. Once written he asks his children, his wife and his editors to read and react to his books. He then rewrites his stories again and again based on their notes.

“Sometimes we even make changes after it is published,” he explained. “We make them in the second printing.”

The writer also talked about managing time, the publishing business, character development, story structure, working with an illustrator, cover designs, conflict, conflict resolution, and rejection.

Armed with a binder filled with rejection letters, Gutman explained how important it is to not give up. To rewrite and make things better. To learn from others, and to never stop believing in yourself.

Gutman has been a working writer for 30 years. He told the students he stopped counting how many books he had written when his body of work reached 120 books.

He credited his children with making him a better writer because it was the stories that he told them as young children that have been the most popular or have provided him with the most successful ideas.

Gutman’s rapport with both teachers and students was evident throughout the morning. Between presentations, faculty stopped by to have worn copies of their favorite Gutman stories autographed. One student even brought him a toy truck full of Kit Kat bars.

“How did you know Kit Kats are my favorite candy,” a surprised Gutman asked the crowd?

Fourth grader Ananya Bhat explained that she and her classmates had spent the year studying Gutman’s books and his life as a writer. They had seen an interview on-line where the author had been asked what he would do with $1 million dollars and he had responded that he would buy a truck load of Kit Kat bars.

Following lunch, Gutman signed more books, answered more questions, toured the school to view the bulletin boards that each class had prepared in his honor and ate some more Kit Kats.

The District Communications Officer for Montville Township Public Schools left the presentations feeling upbeat and inspired to keep on writing. Before pulling out of the parking lot she Tweeted a picture of Gutman with the students who joined him for lunch: “Author Dan Gutman amazed students & faculty at #Hilldale this morning!” read the caption.

Once back on Twitter, Gutman, as @DanGutmanBooks replied, “And they amazed me too!”

The students, faculty and staff agree that Dan Gutman is a visitor they will long remember at Hilldale Elementary School in Montville, NJ.