BRAD HERZOG’S SCHOOL VISITS – from A to Z:

A is for author. You can’t aspire to that which you can’t imagine. My goal is to show students that the writing life can be a reality, to open their ideas to possibilities.

B is for books. I always tell the students that the best way to become a good writer is to be a good reader. Meeting an author motivates kids to read more, especially the kinds of reluctant readers who tend to gravitate toward my books.

C is for creation. For older audiences (usually grades 5-8), I take them on a trip through the process of creating a book – from concept to proposal, research, writing, illustration, editing and promotion.

D is for decisions.  My young audiences (usually grades 1-4) and I create a sort of choose-your-adventure tale together (complete with PowerPoint images). I explain that writing a story simply means using your imagination to make one choice at a time.

E is for evening presentations. I offer two presentations for adult audiences (which are adaptable to a high school crowd). “Hemingway was a Sportswriter” is a discussion of using sports passion to stimulate literary passion. “What’s the Big Idea” is a journey through the genesis of great ideas.

F is for firsts. In my presentations, I tell the students the incremental steps I took to become a writer, telling the story of my first published article (about being a White Sox bat boy) and showing them my first book (a miniature book of poetry, published when I was 18).

G is for gift. My 1 ½-day option includes a series of workshops in which older students and I create an alphabet book about your school. Several schools have illustrated and published them, often giving proceeds to the library, the PTA or even a village in Africa.

H is for Hobbit. I explain that J.R.R. Tolkien’s book is the one that did it for me. When I read it, I was amazed that one man turned a blank piece of paper into a whole world. I wanted to do that.

I is for inspiration. I tell the students how my job is to grab ideas when they come to me at odd times – driving my car, watching TV, playing with my kids – and turn them into stories.

J is for journalism. Unlike most children’s writers, this is still a big part of my career, as I’ve written for dozens of magazines over the years. It’s a part of writing that young kids aren’t always introduced to, but it provides some of my best stories and lessons.

K is for kindergarten. I like to spend 15 or 20 minutes in each kindergarten class, showing the kids a pop-up book of The Hobbit, telling them how it inspired me, telling stories of how I got other ideas for books while at the zoo or suffering through hiccups.

L is for library. Schools have found it useful to pre-order my books and have them available in the library in an effort to prime the kinds for my visit. They have trouble keeping them on the shelves.

M is for Masters of Miniature golf. The kids enjoy my stories about participatory journalism, so I tell them how I finished last in the national championship of mini golf – and that made for the best story.

N is for notify. If you’re interested in bringing me in to your school, notify other schools that I’m coming to the area. The more, the merrier, and it reduces travel expenses for everyone.

O is for options. My varied options of types of presentations have proven to be valuable not only from school to school, but also for the various age groups within a school.

P is for PowerPoint. I’m not sure a picture is worth a thousand words, but it helps.

Q is for questions. In discussing my magazine writing, I remind the students that interviewing skills can be a significant part of creating a good nonfiction story. It’s all about asking good questions. At the end of my presentations, I hope the kids do just that.

R is for research. I also tell them that much of my best writing comes before I craft a sentence. I explain how, for a four-page magazine article, I do enough research to fill 15 pages. Then I pick and choose the most compelling nuggets.

S is for states. I live in California, but I have visited schools from coast to coast, including  New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Arkansas, Florida, Colorado, and Texas.

T is for teachers. I have designed my talks so that they’re not only enjoyable for the students, but also for the teachers. It makes my visit more fun and more fruitful in the long run. My bestselling book, H is for Home Run, is dedicated to my fourth-grade teacher.  

U is for uniforms. Schools have been known to ratchet up enthusiasm for my visit by asking students and teachers to wear the jerseys of their favorite sports team.

V is for variety. My multifaceted career allows me to show the kids the various writing possibilities – from travel books for adults to children’s literature, from essays to magazine articles, from profound stories to silly ones. I touch on all of them in my presentations.

W is for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I tell this fun story, too – my appearance on the show many years ago turned into a perfect example of participatory journalism. Good book publicity, too!

X  is for… well, very little. When I talk to students about the process of creating an alphabet book, I explain how I put the alphabet puzzle together. X is always a challenge.

Y is for “You Are Here.” That’s the name of my year-round blog about my experiences on the open road during my annual summer-long family RV excursions. Teachers, students, anyone can subscribe for free. Just visit blog.gorving.com. 

Z, regarding my school visits, is for zero complaints so far.