Playing Catch with Fred Bowen

Attention sports fans! Have you read books by sports author Fred Bowen? If you haven’t, you should! He is the author of 22 sports books for kids AND he writes the sports opinion column for The Washington Post‘s KidsPost page. In his fiction titles, he takes a true story in sports history, and creates a story for kids to help them understand it.

“Most of my books are sports fiction that loop in real sports history and include a sports history chapter in the back.”

His books and columns are action packed – and after you read his work, I think you will agree! Fred will be a featured presenter at Gaithersburg Book Festival 2018 (Jim Henson Pavilion, 1:15-2:05pm), as well as lead a writer’s workshop for kids (Journal Writing for Young Sports Fans, 3:30-4:15pm). Check out the full schedule!

I recently caught up with Fred and asked him a few questions:

McDonald: How did you first hear about the GBF?

Bowen: I heard about the GBF because I was invited to speak at the first one. I accepted because I like to support local events. Since then, I have been a presenter every GBF except one (the second one). The event gets better and better with every year. It really is one of my favorite book festivals.

McDonald: What do you like most about the event?

When you go to the Baseball HOF you are surrounded by people who love baseball. So you can talk to anyone there because you automatically have something in common … your love of the game.

It’s the same with the GBF. When you are walking around the grounds or going to the author talks you are surrounded by people who love books and ideas. So you can talk to anyone about the books you have read or want to read. It is a wonderful gathering of like-minded souls.

One more thing … the folks at the GBF throw a wonderful party for the authors the night before the event. That is always great fun.

McDonald: What do you like most about working with kids in the workshops?

Bowen: I do a workshop on keeping sports journals. In other words, I encourage the kids to keep a writing journal about the teams they play on. So they can be sportswriters too!

Kids are always full of enthusiasm and surprises. The talk is very interactive with me asking lots of questions. Believe me, the kids always come up with answers I would never have thought of.

McDonald: Anything we should look forward to in this year’s author presentation or workshop?

Bowen: Well, I have a new baseball book called “Lucky Enough.” My books are for kids ages 7-12. They combine sports fiction, sports history and there is always a chapter of sports history in the back. The sports history in “Lucky Enough” is about baseball superstitions. So there should be lots of talk about baseball superstitions – there are some crazy ones!

Find out more about Fred Bowen and his books on his website or follow him on Twitter @FredBowenBooks. See you at Gaithersburg Book Festival 2018!