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Blog of author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
Author of Punk Farm.
Statistics for the JJK blog
Number of Readers that added this blog to their MyJacketFlap: 15
What happens in the cafeteria when kids are in class? Not only does the school lunch staff fight crime, but they get their groove on! Check out the brand new Lunch Lady video below!
A HUGE thank you to Recess Monkey for putting together such a killer song! You can download the song here!
Thank you to the
School Lunch Superheroes at:
Rock Springs Elementary
Lawrenceville, GA
York Elementary
York, NE
Latimer School
Weatogue, CT
Center School
Hopkinton, MA
Parkview Elementary
Roseville, MN
Veterans Memorial Elementary
Naples, FL
Canterbury Woods Elementary
Annandale, VA
Simonian Center for Early Learning
Sutton, MA
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 3/13/2013
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I hit Kate Messner with all of the hard-hitting questions you've come to expect from The Book Report with JJK. Learn more about Capture the Flag and it's newly published sequel today at 5:40 ET /2:40 PT on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live channel 78!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 3/10/2013
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| An early sketch for the jacket. |
The book was inspired by a visit I paid to my sister Lynn's house. Her two youngest boys, Matthew and Griffin, were acting a bit hyper as she was trying to shuffle them off to the bath. My nephews, then six and four years old, had these pirate costumes strewn across the couch, as it was just a few weeks past Halloween. I went home and immediately started sketching the characters and drafting the story.
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| Here I am with Matt and Griff around 2002. |
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| And at a wedding in the summer of 2012. They're a bit bigger, right? I'm so proud of what they both have achieved already! Matt is a freshman in college and Griff is studying the culinary arts in high school. |
And here are a few shots of their youth immortalized in print:
The 2013 Meltdown shall soon be upon us!
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| My better half and me. |
It's hard to believe that this March 30th will be the 5th year for The River's Music Meltdown and Book Bash. Or, as it's known for short—MELTDOWN! When my wife Gina and I moved to the Pioneer Valley, we knew we wanted to get involved with our new community and we wasted no time doing so. We always loved the events that I had attended for Punk Farm, where music was incorporated into readings, and saw a big hole in our author-saturated town of Northampton: NO book festival! We floated the idea for a day where authors and kids' musicians would swap stage time to our new friends Bill Childs and Monte Belmonte, DJs at the local radio station. Next thing you knew, we were teaming up and the first Meltdown was staged in 2009!
Since its inception, we have brought Grace Lin, Jon Scieszka, Jeanne Birdsall, Jeff Mack, Jef Czekaj, Diane deGroat, Mo Willems, Timothy Basil Ering, Anna Alter, Jane Yolen, Heidi Stemple, Scott Fischer, John Bemelmans Marciano, Eric Wight and Lisa Yee to the stage! We love that the kids in our neighborhood have had the opportunity to see all of these authors!
And now that we're in our 5th year, our oldest daughter is four and will truly enjoy this year's Meltdown! She was all of three months during the first staging of this event!
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| Our girls helped us make a display for our local library! |
Much credit needs to go to WRSI The River. They do all of the heavy lifting to make Meltdown something that can happen. There are a lot of finances that go behind an event like this and their hard work allows Gina and I to program the author side without worrying about permits, etc.
So who do we have line up this year? Here's who you will see on Saturday, March 30th!
Please note that Meltdown is moving this year! We've outgrown our previous space and will now be at Smith Vocational High School, located at 80 Locust St!
10:40 AM
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| This guy. |
We really had to pull some strings for this one. But seriously, we kind of did. My publisher will be releasing LL #9 a few weeks early exclusively for Meltdown 2013. So if you want to read LL and the Video Game Villain before the rest of the country, this is your chance!
11:40 am
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Angela DiTerlizzi! |
Our copy of Ang's Say What? is already dog-eared. We can never read it just once, as the girls insist on repeated readings. Which is fine by us, this book ROCKS!
12:40 pm
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| Matthew McElligott! |
Matthew's books are a huge hit with our girls. (Do you see a theme here? Our daughters seem to be running the show...) Even Aliens Need Snacks is a sequel to Matt's equally hilarious Even Monsters Need Haircuts.
1:40 pm
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Judy Schachner! |
Skippyjon Jones, everyone's favorite kitty-boy who thinks he's a Chihuahua, will be represented at Meltdown 2013! These books are crazy popular, and crazy fun, as is Judy! Our daughter runs around the house dressed as Skippyjon. Esta un cabeza de loco. My Spanish is rusty. I need to go read more Sippyjon Jones books...
2:40 pm
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| Tony DiTerlizzi |
But wait! There's more DiTerlizzi to be had! Tony's books range from picture books (G is for One Gzonk gets our girls giggling) to chapter books (T's new WandLa series will keep you at the edge of your seats and inspire your imaginations!). We can't wait to see what T will conjure up on the Meltdown stage!
Not only do all of these authors write superlative books, but they also put on fantastic shows. That's a big part of what we look for in Meltdown authors—stage presence! You'll never be disappointed by who we invite to read, they're all stahs!
And of course, Bill Childs has another fantastic line up of musicians. Be sure to check the official Meltdown page for more info!
www.rivermeltdown.com
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 3/7/2013
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Jef Czekaj and I will rock the party.
See you there!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 3/6/2013
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We here in the Kroso house are huge fans of Courtney Pippin Mathur's picture book,
Maya Was Grumpy. We also couldn't be more excited for Courtney to have had her debut book published!
Learn all about it on The Book Report with JJK, this afternoon at 5:40 ET / 2:40 PT! SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, channel 78.
I've just visited with the students at Oak St School in New Jersey. And wow, what a creative community!
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| School librarian Sue Philhower greeted me in the parking lot as Lunch Lady! |
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PTO moms Elyse Rhead and Beth DiCesare "Vanna White" one of the many posters they created and plastered around school!
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The kids knew how to pronounce my last name and were WAY psyched:
The projects that the kids had on display throughout the school were unreal. Check out this model of Lunch Lady's school:
Over 300 kids made their own Lunch Lady gadgets out of items from their kitchens! Seriously impressive.
Check out all of the fun projects that the kids at Oak St School made after the jump:
I have just had the pleasure of visiting with schools in upstate New York. Smith School and Canisteo-Greenwood School both hosted family literacy nights while I was in town, and what a great way for the schools to bring their community together in celebration of the book! I spoke at both events and the students loved having that extra time with the author. They introduced me to their parents as if we were old friends!
And BOTH schools put on Punk Farm skits! The kids were psyched, as was I! I love watching creative (and brave) teachers put on performances of my books. A true honor.
Here is a photo of the players at Canisteo-Greenwood:
And a video of the performance at Smith:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/a5z_m3b1bDA?list=PLg9gpgNtuVmG5PY8Aw6l4Ttmy_Afkd8NU</a>" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>
Also throughout the night, kids made bookmarks and other bookish crafts. There were also prizes to be won! Raffle tickets were given just for showing up and the prize baskets were all book theemed. For example, a copy of
Bubble Bath Pirates! was given away with bath toys and a copy of
Punk Farm was given away with a basket of instruments. And the homerooms with the most students in attendance won a set of books for their classrooms! Brilliant, right?!
Thank you to all of the superb educators and parent volunteers who pulled these nights together!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/22/2013
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For the past few years, Joey Weiser has been crucial to my meeting my deadlines. A graphic novelist in his own right, Joey has been assisting in coloring and shading the Lunch Lady books starting with book 5, and also the first Platypus Police Squad book. His self-published Mermin books, which are beyond awesome, have now been bound up in full color by Oni Press! These books will be a huge hit with young comic readers.
I'm not plugging Joey's book because he's helped me out, I'm plugging it because it's a superlative kids' graphic novel.
Learn more about Mermin, the fish-boy who yearns to live on land, at Joey's website: http://tragic-planet.com!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/20/2013
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I am beyond ecstatic to announce an initiative that I've been cooking up with the School Nutrition Association and Random House Children's Books. School Lunch Superhero Day will take place on May 3rd! Let's show our appreciation for the folks who feed 32 million kids in our nation's public schools on a daily basis.
Learn more at www.schoollunchsuperheroday.com!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/20/2013
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Listen in to my conversation with magnificent author Shannon Hale on today's Book Report with JJK! Airs at 5:40ET/2:40PT on Kids Place Live, channel 78 on SiriusXM! Tune in to learn about Shannon's Rapunzel's Revenge and Princess Academy!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/18/2013
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On a recent visit to Parkview Elementary, I was greeted by these incredible videos ahead of my assemblies. I was just blown away by the love these kids gave my books!
Thank you to the awesome kids at Parkview and their awesome librarian, Laura Given!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/16/2013
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It has been some time since I've posted a weekly sketch here on the ol' blog. Something about having two young kids and an intense deadline schedule...
Anyhow, here are some sketches from my early morning sketch session with my kids.
Enjoy!
Well, this summer, I will find out! I'm thrilled that I'll be a keynote speaker at the School Nutrition Association's ANC conference this July!
I'll be speaking to a room filled with 3,000 school nutritionists form across the country! I cannot wait!
This is the invitation that is currently being delivered to just about every school cafeteria in America....
Wowzers!
No, not New Edition, new editions. 2013 will see lots of new ways to enjoy books on my backlist!
Good Night, Monkey Boy will find a whole new sort of audience on May 14th when it published in a board book edition! So feel free to give it to your youngest of readers to chew, throw and drool on without concern. I'm especially excited as I've learned first hand how essential board books are to raising a little reader. Monkey Boy will also be published as an eBook on that same day.
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| Here's a photo of my youngest reader inspecting the cover proofs Good Night, Monkey Boy board book. |
And speaking of eBooks, Baghead and Max for President have recently joined my growing list of digital editions. Look for those at your favorite eRetailer and take a whole stack of books along with you on your tablet computer!
Annie Was Warned is already available as a digital edition, but on August 6th you can pick up a paperback edition as well! The paperback edition posed a bit of a challenge. If you recall, there is a gatefold in the original hardcover edition. Gatefolds are expensive to print and therefore go against the whole point of having an affordable paperback. To translate Annie into paperback, the page layout changed a bit—that last page was no longer a single page, but a double-page spread. With that, I needed to revisit some art. A fun challenge—recreate the exact same style and colors for something that you painted ten years ago so that it can fit in seamlessly with the original pages. I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish. Below, see the original printed page with the brand-new art! The paperback edition will publish just as the book celebrates its 10th year in print!
Roseville Public Library in Minnesota holds a "graduation ceremony" for Kindergartners who are getting their first library cards. It's awesome! Impossibly cute and the kids are filled with so much pride. And of course it reinforces the privilege of having a card! I was honored to be invited out to speak at the event. Here I am with the incredible group (minus Ann) who made it all happen!
You should totally bring such a program to your community!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/11/2013
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Recently, I sat down in front of my computer and Skyped with two great podcasts. If you're interested in the business side of children's books and have some time to spare (and aren't sick of hearing me yap away), give them a listen!
I chatted with fellow graphic novelists Dave Roman and Jerzy Drozd on their fantastic kids' comics podcast, Kids' Comics Revolution!. Here, I delve into the business of visiting schools and libraries. My wife Gina and I put a lot of care into this programming, so it was cool to be able to share some of our practices.
Give that a listen here:
And I talked about life in art school and breaking into the kid lit market with Jeffery Yan over at RISD Voice. You can hop on over to that podcast by following this link. It's a great podcast that covers a wide variety of artistic disciplines.
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/8/2013
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This crazy blizzard may have stopped Jef Czekaj and I from taking the stage at the Carle Museum this Saturday, but not from guest DJing Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child! Listen to our kid-lit/punk/rap set on your local radio stations, or online here:
http://www.prx.org/pieces/91786-2013-02-09
We'll see you at the Carle at 1pm on March 9th!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 1/9/2013
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I've been a huge fan of Kevin Henkes for years now. I'm proud to have met him a bunch of times over the years, but most thankful to have been able to sit down and really chat with him about his books.
Tune in today, January 9th, to The Book Report with JJK today at 5:40 pm EST / 2:40 pm EST to listen in! SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, channel 78!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 1/23/2013
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I had a few moments to catch up with Christopher Paolini while in DC this past fall. Did you know that we have the same editor? So Lunch Lady and Eragon are kind like literary siblings.
Listen in to our chat today at 5:40 pm ET / 2:40 PT on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, channel 78!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 1/23/2013
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I'll be heading out to Minneapolis this weekend to give readings and sign books in celebration of Kindergartners and their 1st library cards!
I hear it's balmy out there this time of year. I'll be sure to pack my board shorts and Hawaiian shirts!
Here's the info:
January 26 - 11am & 2pm
Roseville, MN - Ramsey County Library
I'll pack my winter coat, too. Just in case...
Jeanne Birdsall reveals her cheerleader past, recounts her first broken heart and shares beautiful insight to finding that inner child. Whether or not you have read The Penderwicks, you will find this talk absolutely intriguing. But if you have read the books, you will only fall deeper in love with them.
This TEDx Talk is a must watch!
I'm very proud of my surrogate auntie!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 1/30/2013
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R. W. Alley and Zoë B. Alley are on The Book Report with JJK today at 5:40pm ET / 2:40pm PT! As always, you can find my show on SiriusXM Kids Place Live, channel 78, within the Absolutely Mindy Show.
Here we are driving through the cornfields of Nebraska, where this interview was conducted!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/6/2013
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I sat down to chat with Matt Phelan about his beautiful and moving graphic novels. You can eavesdrop on my chat with my old pal today at 5:40 pm EST / 2:40 pm PST on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live, channel 78!
By: Jarrett J. Krosoczka,
on 2/6/2013
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POSTPONED!!! Hi everyone, because of the impending Nor'easter, everyone thought it best that we reschedule the Czekaj/Krosoczka Show.
Jef and I will rock Punk Farm and Hip & Hop on March 17th at the Carle Museum on the Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!
Stay safe and happy sledding!
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Very cool backstory! Love seeing process pictures, too - Thanks!