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Grammy Award Winning Musician
Children’s Picture Book Author
Travels from: Hartford, CT and Tampa, FL

“An upbeat demonstration that working together can make the world a more loving, supportive, and welcome place.” — Kirkus Reviews

Ben Gundersheimer (known onstage as MISTER G) is a Latin GRAMMY Award-winning artist, author and educator. Hailed as “a bilingual rock star” by The Washington Post, he was originally dubbed MISTER G by his young students while pursuing a Master of Education degree. His dynamic, interactive bilingual performances aim to dissolve borders and foster cross-cultural connections.

Throughout Ben’s career the crafts of music and storytelling have intertwined seamlessly propelling him as performer and author. Ben has published four picture books with Penguin Random House based on his original, multicultural songs. His first book Señorita Mariposa is a bilingual telling of the monarch butterfly migration from Canada to Mexico. Now in its 13th hardcover printing, it has been used widely in classrooms, StoryWalks and is a bestseller at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History bookstore. Scholastic has published a paperback version of Señorita Mariposa for the school market.

MISTER G has released 12 albums of original, multicultural music and received numerous accolades including a Latin GRAMMY Award and five Parents’ Choice Gold Awards. His music weaves together a wide variety of musical styles and languages, and hetours internationally headlining performing arts centers, festivals, and theaters, schools and libraries. Selected venues include: Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza (Chicago), the National Theatre (Washington, DC), JazzFest (New Orleans), ,Hard Rock Café (Philadelphia), the Getty Center (Los Angeles), Central Park SummerStage (New York City), JW3 (London), Parque Chapultepec (Mexico City).

Throughout his career the two crafts have intertwined, propelling him as a performer and author. By age nine he was writing his own original songs, and as the son of children’s book author/illustrator Karen Gundersheimer, composing stories was a constant activity as well.

Ben's Featured Titles

We’ll Make Things Better Together

Nancy Paulsen Books |
Children’s Picture Book

A joyous ode to friendship that shows that everything is better when we work together!

Working together can make everything we do—like playing music, gardening, and helping our neighbors—a whole lot more fun. Whether it’s cleaning up the mess in the kitchen or in a public park, joining together on a shared project allows each of our talents to shine through. And some things are simply better when we do them together—like celebrating a job well done! Young readers are sure to be inspired by this cheerful story of friendship and teamwork that shows how we can all make a positive impact on the world, starting in our own homes and communities.

How Many Squirrels Are in the World?

Nancy Paulsen Books |
Children’s Picture Book

A lively, humorous counting book featuring a kid trying to keep up with a load of sassy squirrels.

Some days it seems like there are squirrels everywhere! When a curious little girl decides she must find out exactly how many there are, her mission has her searching high and low, counting squirrels all over town. Only problem is, these frisky squirrels sure move around. Will she ever get a grip on the squirrely squirrel number situation?

In this lively count-along book, Ben Gundersheimer’s playful rhyming text, based on a song from his album Pizza for Breakfast, pairs perfectly with Marcos Almada Rivero’s funny, eye-catching illustrations. As children marvel over our heroine’s persistence, they will have fun spotting oodles of rambunctious squirrels.

Lilah Tov Good Night

Nancy Paulsen Books |
Children’s Picture Book

A soothing Hebrew lullaby takes on added meaning for a refugee family in this visually stunning debut.

As the moon rises, a family steps into the night on a journey toward a new beginning. Along the way, their little girl delights in the wonders of nature, saying good night–lilah tov–to the creatures and landscapes they pass. Wherever she looks–on land, in the sky above and even, eventually, in the water below her boat–there are marvels to behold. “Lilah tov to the birds in the trees, lilah tov to the fish in the sea.” Then, when their travels are finally over, her parents tuck her in tight, safe and ready for dreams in their new home.

This lyrical lullaby celebrates the beauty of our world and the spirit of resilience in a refugee family.

Señorita Mariposa

Nancy Paulsen Books; Bilingual edition |
Children’s Picture Book

A captivating and child-friendly look at the extraordinary journey that monarch butterflies take each year from Canada to Mexico; with a text in both English and Spanish.

Rhyming text and lively illustrations showcase the epic trip taken by the monarch butterflies. At the end of each summer, these international travelers leave Canada to fly south to Mexico for the winter–and now readers can come along for the ride! Over mountains capped with snow, to the deserts down below. Children will be delighted to share in the fascinating journey of the monarchs and be introduced to the people and places they pass before they finally arrive in the forests that their ancestors called home.

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Let's Write A Story To Change The World

Ben demystifies the creative process to illustrate how great stories, like great songs, follow a narrative form with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Employing basic concepts in literacy, students brainstorm specific imaginative details to create compelling characters and events and then translate these ideas into lyrics. Using this participant-generated material, Ben demonstrates how a range of musical styles including funk, rock, reggae, bluegrass, and jazz can be paired with lyrics to invent a fully formed new story and song.

This presentation can be modified to fit audiences from preschool through elementary, as well as professional development workshops for teachers and librarians.

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Mundo Verde/Green World: Protecting Our One Earth

Children’s inherent curiosity about the natural world is a great jumping-off point for inspiring budding eco-activists. By incorporating scientific information into his engaging, bilingual stories songs, Ben helps students learn important facts about biology, ecology, and physics. In this interactive assembly, Ben guides students to draw the connection between exploration and appreciation of nature and the desire to conserve, protect, and defend the world in which we live.

This presentation can be modified to fit audiences from preschool through elementary, as well as professional development workshops for teachers and librarians.

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The Multi-Sensory Classroom: A Toolkit for the 21st Century Teacher

In this dynamic, interactive keynote presentation, Ben empowers teachers to use stories and songs in their classrooms. Regardless of artistic background, teachers will learn to incorporate musical techniques such as call-and-response, simple rhythms, and dynamics to increase experiential learning opportunities, facilitate language acquisition, and teach common core topics. Teachers will leave with a toolkit which includes a free download of MISTER G’s Latin GRAMMY Award-winning album Los Animales, sample teaching guides, song lyrics, and online resources based on Ben’s picture books, along with current research about the connection between music, cognitive development and education.

Mister G’s Education Programs for Children & Adults

Mister G’s Tour Dates Link

Mister G’s Shop Link

Mister G’s Live Performances Link

Mister G’s Programs Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Latin Grammy Award Winner
5X Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
Official Partner of the United States Forest Service
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Performed and produced virtual Hanukkah concert for all the JCC’s in North America (2021 & 2022)
All Ben Gundersheimer books are created in collaboration with acclaimed international illustrators (Mexico, Thailand, Israel)
Onstage and in the recording studio, Ben has collaborated with Grammy winners from 5 continents and 14 countries.
Theatrical adaptation of Señorita Mariposa will premiere at the Stages Theatre Company in Minneapolis

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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