PEWAUKEE — For years, third-grade students in Cate Riekkoff’s class at Horizon Elementary School wrote persuasive letters to the creator of the Ballpark Mysteries series asking for a book about the Milwaukee Brewers.
The creator, David A. Kelly, listened, thanks to some persuasive letters from the students.
The students’ campaign ultimately led Kelly to write two Brewers-themed books, “The Sausage Race Chase” and “The Bobblehead Bunt,” even dedicating one of them to Riekkoff’s class and Horizon Elementary. In February, the effort came full circle when Kelly visited the school to meet the students who helped inspire the stories.
Riekkoff said the project began years ago during a reading unit focused on mysteries, when her class read Kelly’s books “The Fenway Foul-Up” and “The Pinstripe Ghost.”
“We decided following our mystery unit in writing, we would have a persuasive opinion writing unit,” Riekkoff said. “We would either write together as a class or they could write him (Kelly) back separately to try to convince him to write one about Miller Park.”
Riekkoff, who volunteers at the stadium now known as American Family Field, said students researched facts to strengthen their arguments. Some even suggested possible storylines, including one about someone stealing the Brewers’ Famous Racing Sausages.
Over time, Kelly began offering virtual visits with the class.
“He was phenomenal in his presentations,” Riekkoff said. “He would show the kids how he does his research. He would show an example of a page that he had to edit and the mistakes in a slideshow.”
The class also ordered his books, which he signed for students.
Years later, Riekkoff received exciting news from Kelly: He had written two mysteries set in Milwaukee.
When Horizon Principal Christie Johnson joined one of the virtual sessions, she was impressed by Kelly’s presentation, and the school began planning an in-person visit.
“We started the process of planning on him coming. Everybody jumped on board,” Riekkoff said.
During planning, a staff member who once performed as Bernie Brewer contacted the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Soon it was confirmed that Bernie and the Racing Sausages mascots would also make an appearance.
Kelly also shared he had dedicated one of the books to Riekkoff and the school.
“I emailed him and said not only did you make my day, you made my week, month, year and decade because we’ve been writing to you for so long,” she said.
More than 600 students packed the Horizon Elementary auditorium Feb. 19 for Kelly’s visit. Before his presentation, music teachers led students in singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
After the presentation, Mrs. Riekkoff’s class met with Kelly in the library to share their work and have books signed. Kelly also stayed to sign books for students across the school.
SPECIAL: $6 FOR 6 MONTHS | Start a new
FREEMAN digital subscription for only $6 for the first 6 months.
The visit highlighted the power of literacy and the impact students can have with their writing.
“Writing matters, their letters mattered, he listened and he did it,” Riekkoff said.
Getting kids excited about reading
Kelly, who visits about 25 elementary schools each year, said his goal is to inspire both reading and writing.
“I’m getting them excited about reading because they’re really at an important part in their reading journey and sharing chapter books like the Ballpark Mysteries are really helpful because they get kids comfortable with reading. It gets them familiar with the characters and the locations and the setup, but they can have new books with those same characters that take them on new adventures,” he said.
During visits with schools, he teaches students about the editing and feedback process before a book is done.
He tells children about his “unusual progression” to becoming an author. He started out in a career in technology and computer science and wrote white papers and case studies.
“Even though I wasn’t a good writer in school, when I was working in technology, I became a good writer by working at it. And I realized if I worked at it, I could become a good writer. I did, and then I ended up writing a lot about business and technology in a variety of ways,” Kelly said.
It was after seeing his two sons, who were in elementary school at the time, playing baseball and reading mysteries and sports books, that a light bulb flashed.
“It occurred to me that would be kind of fun to put all those things together. So, I had this idea for creating a series of mysteries set in baseball stadiums, and that’s what became the Ballpark Mysteries,” he said.
As an author, receiving letters from Horizon Elementary felt rewarding.
“It’s wonderful when I find teachers and students or schools that are really engaged with my books or the ideas of my books, and they take care enough to write to me or invite me to their school to do a presentation or spend some time with me on a virtual visit through Zoom,” he said.
Kelly said he was able to visit Milwaukee and do some research on the team and ballpark before writing the books.
“It was fun to complete that circle after having received, I’m going to say three, four, possibly five letters,” Kelly said. Kelly is already writing about football mysteries and has plans to write a Green Bay Packers-themed mystery.
For aspiring writers, Kelly encourages reading to become a better writer.
“It helps you learn to understand language and use it better. So reading is really important. The second piece of advice is to write. It’s always hard to sit down with a blank piece of paper, but I find that if you start writing, once you start, it’s easier to keep writing.”