Funny and gross, author’s stories engage students

WILLIAMSBURG — The stories author Matt Eicheldinger told students at Mary Welsh Elementary School April were funny, and sometimes gross, and elicited the actions he wanted to see from the students.

The children laughed, they applauded, they cringed.

Eicheldinger’s visit was part of Reading Month at the Williamsburg school. This year’s theme was “A Story of Perseverance,” said Reading Interventionist Heather Subbert.

Every day in April, students and staff have read about and discussed perseverance, Subbert said.

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Two authors visited April 11, Matt Eicheldinger, who wrote “Matt Sprouts and The Curse of the Ten Broken Toes” and Rachel Klein, author of “The Give Up Queen.”

The authors talked students during two assemblies, ate lunch with select students and signed books.

Eicheldinger didn’t start out writing books, he told students. He’s a teacher.

At 21 years of age, Eicheldinger began teaching sixth graders.

“I can remember my experiences really well,” said Eicheldinger. That means that he remembers every embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to him.

So one day he asked his students if they wanted to hear an embarrassing story. He started with the story of his first attempt to kiss his first girlfriend. As he leaned in, he tripped and butted her in the head.

The students laughed, and Eicheldinger found his calling. He keeps story jars full of scraps of paper reminding him of embarrassing memories which he shares with his students.

The stories become book ideas. Nearly 85% of what’s in “The Curse of the Ten Broken Toes” happened to him, Eicheldinger said.

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Eicheldinger thought if students liked his stories, perhaps they would make a good book.

He wrote a manuscript and sent it with a letter to an agent in New York. The agent sent the manuscripts to publishers. All of the publishers rejected the book.

Over the next 10 years, Eicheldinger sent 300 letters, he told students. His manuscript was rejected each time.

But Eicheldinger believed in himself, so he decided to publish the book himself. He sold advance copies to pay for it and asked family and friends for money to help pay for it.

Eicheldinger had to design a cover, so he drew on the doodling talents he’s honed since third grade. Eicheldinger asked his students what they thought of his cover art, and he took their feedback to heart.

All 1,800 students at Eicheldinger’s school voted on the final cover.

After books were printed, Eicheldinger went to hundreds of bookstores asking to sell his books there. Only one let him.

So he turned to social media. He offered the book on TikTok and sold a lot of copies, he said. He even won four international awards.

With 30 books left and no money to print more, Eicheldinger wrote to another agent who signed him. One company liked the book and asked if he could write more.

In March, Eicheldinger finally had a published book in bookstore. “I met my goal,” he said. But it took 15 years.

Eicheldinger made the New York Times Bestseller list, outselling “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Dog Man” and “Wings of Fire.”

He wept, he said, when he saw one of his characters in a chalk drawing on the sidewalk in front of Mary Welsh Elementary School the morning he arrived for his visit.

Though people told him no, Eicheldinger continued trying, he told students.

“There are some opinions you have to not listen to.”