Author Study - Dan Gutman

Meet Dan Gutman

Dan Gutman is the author of over 86 books although not all of them written for children. The list includes a number of different series, as well as reading levels. Some of the more popular titles will be highlighted here but his website boasts a detailed list. Although he no longer travels for interviews, he offers a DVD for sale, as well as several online postings of past interviews. His website also includes information such as rejection letters, a video introduction, list of awards, excerpts from some of his books and study guides.

Dan was born in New York City but grew in New Jersey. After dropping out of graduate school, he decided to pursue what he had always wanted to do - writing and specifically, a writer of humor. After many failures and rejections, he started a computer game magazine in the early 80’s – think Pac-Man. He did this for several years, moved on to free-lance writing for some well-known

publications, and finally got into adult, non-fiction sports-themed writing. After having his first child, he began writing non-fiction books for children about sports. Finally, he came full circle and began writing humorous books about sports and other topics for children.

(Taken from the website: www.dangutman.com)

Highlighted Titles:

• Baseball card adventures – The reading levels range from about 3.5 – 5.2. The interest level could be from third grade through sixth grade. These are great books for a children second grade and up who love baseball.

• Weird School Series – Two related series offer books for beginning readers up through third grade and include almost 30 titles.

• The Homework Machine, 2007 and The Return of the Homework Machine, 2009

• If you were in 5^th grade, would you use a machine that automatically did your homework for you? These titles feature 5^th social angst and moral decisions.

• Back in Time with Thomas Edison, 2001; Back in Time with Benjamin Franklin, 2002 - Both of these titles involve famous historical figures and a time machine.

• The Million Dollar Shot, 1997; The Million Dollar Kick, 2001 – This was his first book featured a girl as the main character. Both books describe the chance to win money with one, lucky shot.
  

• Johnny Hangtime, 2000 – Mr. Gutman describes this as his best book. It is about a kid who is a Hollywood stuntman. It was not available in the Dekalb or Gwinnett County school system libraries.

References

1. Dekalb County Public Library. Retrieved August 29, 2009 from http://www.dekalblibrary.org/
2. GoodReads. Retrieved August 29, 2009 from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/53249.Dan_Gutman
3. Gwinnett County Public Library. Retrieved August 29, 2009 from http://www.gwinnettpl.org/index.html
4. Meet Me at the Corner. Interview with Dan Gutman. Retrieved August 29, 2009 from http://www.meetmeatthecorner.org/episodes/dan-gutman
5. The Official Dan Gutman Website. Retrieved August, 29, 2009 from http://www.dangutman.com/
6. University of Texas at Arlington. (n.d.). Guide to Juvenile Baseball Books: Dan Gutman. Retrieved August 29, 2009, from http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/baseball/juv/gutman.html.