Naperville Reads author introduces young students to his offbeat books
Naperville Unit District 203 students may not have teachers who are quite as loopy as Mrs. Roopy or as nuts as Mr. Klutz, but they had no trouble relating to author Dan Gutman, who created the characters.
Gutman, who pens the "My Weird School" and "My Weird School Daze" series, spoke to second- and third-graders this week as part of the Naperville Reads program.
Decked out in a Phillies baseball T-shirt, the author talked about becoming a writer and what his life is like.
Gutman admitted he wasn't a big reader when he was young, but he hopes his writing will help today's youngsters appreciate books more than he did.
"I know there's a lot of kids, especially boys, who don't like to read," he said. "What I really try to do in all my books is get those kids so that you're reading a book and maybe an hour later you don't realize the time has passed, you're so captivated reading this book you feel like you're a part of it, you're not actually reading, it's effortless."
Gutman has written about 80 books, including numerous volumes about sports such as his series, "The Baseball Card Adventures."
He said he loved sports when he was growing up but was never very good at them. He found a way to make them part of his career anyway.
"I know some of you love sports, but some of you love music. ... Some of you love art like my daughter, Emma, loves art and some of you love something completely different. And even if you're not good at that thing, there might be some way you can make it your career someday too," he told students.
He gave them a glimpse of his "glamorous" life in Haddonfield, N.J., showing a slide show of pictures including being woken up by his cat, Scrumpy, dressing up like SpongeBob SquarePants for Halloween, helping his children with their homework and riding around town in his "limousine," a Honda sedan.
District 203 students also were among the first in the country to get a sneak peek at Gutman's new book, "Officer Spence Makes No Sense." Gutman read the first chapter but told them they'd have to wait until it hits shelves in April to find out how it ends.
His writing style, he said, is to keep descriptions to a minimum.
"I try to get right to the point and right to the action," he said. "I figure a lot of kids, especially kids who don't like to read, that's the kind of writing they want."
Kingsley Elementary second-grader Lena Sichelski said Gutman's books are "really good and funny" and "Ms. Hannah is Bananas" from the "My Weird School" series is her favorite. She was excited to meet Gutman and even got to ask him a question.
"I'm glad he showed his life and I'm glad he shared a drawing of (book character) A.J. and showed some of the book covers," she said.
Naperville Reads author Gary W. Moore also will be in town this month. He is scheduled to appear at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at North Central College's Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave.
The Naperville Reads program is a partnership of Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville Public Library, Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204. It aims to spark an interest in reading for residents of all ages and is partially funded by a Special Events and Cultural Amenities grant from the city. For information, visit napervillereads.org.