Bedford Village ES Students Enjoy Virtual Visit from Author Dan Gutman

Third through fifth-grade students at Bedford Village Elementary School were recently treated to a virtual visit from author Dan Gutman. Many students were already familiar with Gutman’s work, which includes the My Weird School series and the Wait! WHAT? series of biographies.

Students were rapt as they listened to Gutman, who was in his New York City apartment, talk about his writing process and persevering through rejection.

Gutman shared that his writing goal is pretty simple.

“My goal in writing these books is not trying to teach you lessons or make you smarter,” he said. “I want to make you laugh. I want you to open a book, lift your head an hour later and say, ‘Wow. That felt like I was watching a movie.’”

Judging by the giggles that erupted in Joan Spector’s fifth-grade class throughout his presentation, he has found the magic formula.

“All of my books are about an ordinary kid in an extraordinary situation,” he said. He told students that he likes to imagine wild “what if?” scenarios and then see where they take him.

To write his books, Gutman starts by putting ideas on 100-200 index cards that he then groups together to create an outline before “throwing ideas” on his computer screen. He told students that, even with fiction, research is important.

“I know kids don’t really like research,” he said. “But professional writers do it all the time. Why? Because it makes the story better.”

Gutman also showed students his giant binder filled with rejection letters. He pointed out rejections from different big-name magazines and publishers, noting that he never listened to them. He believed in himself, so he just kept trying.

After reading an excerpt from a chapter in “Uncle Fred is a Knucklehead” — which comes out in June — Gutman fielded questions from students.

Some asked about his favorite baseball player (Babe Ruth) and color (green), while others wanted to know more about publishing and the writing process.

“What is the biggest publisher that accepted you?”

“What was your favorite book or series to write?”

“You said that you weren’t very into reading. What book did you read that got you into reading?”

The behind-the-scenes look at writing a book captured students’ attention and was a perfect experience on the heels of the school’s successful Readathon.