RUSSELLVILLE, Ky .— Fifth-grade students at Russellville Elementary School were thrilled to see author Eric Litwin light up the stage Wednesday afternoon. Litwin is famous for his books "Pete the Cat" and "The Nuts" and "Groovy Joe." 

Originally a third-grade teacher, Litwin, saw that books weren't engaging enough to get students to interact with him, so he traded his red pen for a black one and began writing children's books. 

Incorporating elements of song and dance, he says every book is a fun time for the students. 

“If we want them to sing the books and celebrate the books then lets put a song right in there, if we want them to dance to books lets add a dance. So that’s what I did, I tried to make books that were as engaging and participatory as possible,” says Litwin. 

Litwin is a New York Times Best Selling Author having sold more than 12.5 million books. Having the platform to excite children around reading has always been a passion. Every place he goes he makes sure that students learn the two fundamentals of becoming a good reader — read a lot and love what you read. 

“When you actually love what you read, it actually registers more, there’s more learning. And when you combine that with reading a lot, skills improve and reading gets easier and easier,” says Litwin. 

Fifth graders joined Litwin as he danced and sang on stage. Genesis Terry joined Litwin on stage and says she not only had fun but learned a new way to love reading. 

“[[I learned]] How to be like a better reader and to be like more engaged into the story that you’re reading,” says Terry. 

Litwin travels across the country a hundred days out of the year and wants to leave all students with a new love for books. 

“Most important thing is they love what they read and it can be anything, just if you love it and you read a lot, good things, good things happen,” says Litwin. 

Here are free downloads of Litwin's books to share with your kids here.