Zooming in from Boston, Jerry Pallotta, author of approximately 100 books, including 26 titles in the “Who Would Win?” reader series, visited boys in pre-k through fourth grade on Friday, November 19. Pallotta’s fast-paced presentation was filled with stories about his book-writing process and his life growing up near the ocean. The fun facts and props he shared, such as a giant shark jaw, kept the students interested and engaged.

“Once I got stuck in an airport for five hours because of thunderstorms,” he said. “And I decided I’m not going to cry or complain; I’m going to think. And I thought of [the idea for] this book.” He held up his first book from the “Who Would Win?” series, “Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark.” Pallotta showed the boys the outline he wrote for the book; it resembled a March Madness basketball bracket.

He showed a photo of himself with his young granddaughter standing on his head and said, “People ask me: Where do you get book ideas? When my granddaughter stands on my head, ideas come out of my ears.” But it was obvious from Pallotta’s stories that he always keeps his eyes and ears open for ideas wherever he goes. He showed video clips of an expedition trip he took to Antarctica where he saw penguins and an elephant seal. He once found a huge tuna that had washed ashore. From all the photos he shared, it seems he has spent a lot of time crabbing, fishing, and exploring sea creatures and other animals that are the subjects of his books.

In addition to his “Who Would Win?” books, he also has written dozens of unique alphabet picture books, including “The Ocean Alphabet Book,” “The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book,” “The Skull Alphabet Book,” and “The Icky Bug Alphabet Book.”

Several times, Pallotta snuck in some lessons about navigating decisions as an author. He showed book covers with small differences, like a purple background versus a yellow background or blue letters versus red letters, and asked the boys which they preferred.

At the end of each presentation (the visits were broken up into three groups: pre-k and kindergarten, prep-one through second grade, and third and fourth grade), there was a little time for a Q&A. Many boys were interested to know how long the books take to write. Pallotta said that the “Who Would Win?” books usually take about six months to complete, but others have taken him up to two years. A first grader suggested he write a wolf versus hyena book. Pallotta countered his idea: “Maybe a pack of wolves versus a pack of hyenas.” And then as he considered it some more, he said with a smile, “Maybe a pack of first graders versus a pack of second graders,” which elicited cheers around the Zoom. He then clarified it would of course have to be an academic contest, and not a real fight.

A kindergartner asked how old he was when he started writing books. “I was 32,” Pallotta responded. “But you can start writing books now, even at 5 years old.”

A big thank you to Lower School library assistant Blair Exter for planning the youngest Greyhounds’ first author visit this year.