Saturday, December 22, 2007

Sunday, December 16, 2007

PF Raffle

There are just a few more days left for The Punk Farm Raffle. Get in on the action while you can and a HUGE thank you to those who have already!

Austin American-Statesman gives PFoT props

The Austin-American Statesman gives Punk Farm on Tour some props in their gift giving children's book guide. Check it out here!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Bottom Shelf Bonanza


Cluck Roosterman is at it again. In their final interview for the new album, Punk Farm allowed the clucky reporter to travel with them in the van on their latest tour. The result: two explosive new articles.

Live From the Bottom Shelf: On the Road With Punk Farm
Live From The Bottom Shelf: The Punk Farm Nation

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

NPR Book Tour

I am honored to be the first children's author featured on NPR's new podcast - Book Tour. Each week, listeners can hear authors read from their work by logging onto NPR's website or have the readings downloaded straight to their iTunes. Recorded at my stop to Politics & Prose, NPR has put together a pretty schnazzy audio piece of my talk to the visiting 1st graders. They even put together a slide show of my work - both old and new. Head on over to NPR's Book Tour for all the fun!

Monday, December 10, 2007

The Punk Farm Raffle



LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, CATTLE AND FOWL - PRESENTING (insert drum roll here) - The Punk Farm Raffle!"What is the Punk Farm Raffle?" you ask? The Punk Farm Raffle is an on-line raffle of original Punk Farm paintings to benefit the Central Massachussets Arts Assembly and to defray the costs of recording the original Punk Farm music.


You see, when I get the Punk Farm music recorded, my friend Scott Cambot puts the band together and records the music for me. To thank him and the musicians, I am raising money for an organization that is very important to Scott and I'm using a portion of the proceeds to pay the musicians. This ensures that there will be more Punk Farm music in the future and that I can continue to give it away for free.

Here's how it works - individuals purchase a $5 raffle ticket for the character painting that they would like to win. Their name and address will be placed on an index card, put into a jar and winners will be drawn at random. The winners of each painting will be drawn and announced at www.punkfarm.com/raffle.html, LIVE VIA VIDEO (Maybe not in real time, but a video nonetheless!)on December 19, 2007.The winners will receive the original paintings shortly thereafter!

What can you win? You could win any of the following paintings. Each painting is 11" x 14", acrylic on masonite.





Get in on the fun at www.punkfarm.com/raffle.html!



Sunday, December 09, 2007

Punk Farm music video

Further proof that I really have no control over the band - Punk Farm went and made a video for "Wheels on the Van" without me!

Huge props to Mr. Christian, Mrs. Osburn and their crew in Oklahoma!


Annie Was Warned - the movie!

Mr. Christian and Mrs. Osburn of Holland Hall really blew my mind with this video. It's a full-out adaptation of Annie Was Warned! There are sets, costumes...special effects!

A big thank you to all involved for making the video and giving me permission to post it!

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Pug in my pocket

Ralph Macchio likes to be held. (While I am talking about our dog, I'm sure the same does go for the actor...) Ralph keeps me company in my studio during the day, but it became problematic the other day when I was trying to paint and he demanded my attention. So I picked him up and put him on my lap and he put his head on my arm and fell asleep. But I suddenly realized that I needed both hands to get my work done. Hmmm. What to do? I unzipped my sweater and put him in. Maybe I should get a Baby Bjorn?

Man, I love this dog.

My laptop was in front of me because I was using it for photo reference. I opened up the Photobooth application and snapped these pics:

Friday, December 07, 2007

Drawings from kids

Here's a bunch of great drawings from a recent batch! How cool are these?!














You can send drawings to me here:

Jarrett J. Krosoczka
PO Box 60155
Florence, MA 01062

Who knows? Maybe they'll end up on this site!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Candy Band

Big ups to my friends in "Candy Band" for making it to NPR's list of the best CD's for kids of the year! Not too shabby, and not too surprising!!!!!

Robert's Snow - the final countdown!


Bidding on "Jingle Pig ROCK!" is almost over!

The bidding closes on Friday at 5 PM (I believe that's Pacific Time). You, yes YOU can own this one of a kind Punk Farm original art piece and help raise money for the good work that the Dana-Farber does in their quest to find the cure for cancer.

Bid now, bid often, bid on many.... all of the final snowflakes can be found here:
www.robertssnow.com

And if you don't read the Fuse #8 blog, Betsy has a very fun report on the bidding. Look here for that.

In the meantime, put this video on and let it serve as inspiration to BID!




PS - I wrote about how I first got involved with people dealing with cancer here. I know the post is a few years old, but the sentiment is exactly the same.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Ralph Macchio report

Ralph Macchio turned a big corner last Sunday, he did his duty outside for the first time and has consistently since! (Again, I'm talking about our dog, not the actor....) That's after being home for only 2 days. We're such proud parents...

He makes us both so incredibly happy. I've never had a dog and I never thought that I would love a dog as much as I love this little guy. He's growing at the speed of light. Out of the 200 plus photos we've taken so far, here are our favorites:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiojjk/sets/72157603367225226/show/

And not that you need any enticing to go over and see pictures of young Ralph, here is one of our absolute favorites:

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

B&N Boston Holiday Book Drive

ReadBoston is the beneficiary of the Barnes and Noble Annual Holiday Book Drive in the Prudential Center. I was lucky enough to join Mayor Menino and Stacey Lucchino to promote the program. Below is the official press release from the Mayor's office.


Mayor Menino today joined Stacey Lucchino and Jarrett Krosoczka, author of My Buddy, Slug, winner of the 2006 ReadBoston Best Read Aloud Book Award, to promote ReadBoston's partnership with Barnes and Noble this holiday season. ReadBoston is the beneficiary of the Barnes and Noble Annual Holiday Book Drive in the Prudential Center. From November 1st through January 1st, customers can purchase a book to donate to ReadBoston. Pictured in photos from left to right, Jarrett Krosoczka, Mayor Menino and Stacey Lucchino.

Monday, December 03, 2007

looking for a signed book?

If you're looking for an autographed copy of Punk Farm on Tour, I signed a ton of stock for the following bookstores:

Barnes & Noble - Worcester, MA; Fairless Hills, PA; Carmel, IN; Wilmington, MD; Canton, CT
Wellesley Booksmith - Wellesley, MA
Tree Top Kids - all VA, MD, DC locations
Aladin's Lamp Children's Books - Arlington, PA
Politics & Prose - Washington, DC
Borders Books and Music - Wynnewood, PA

They may even have some signed stock of other titles. If you're looking to cross some presents off your list, try giving one of those stores a call.

Robert's Snow - bid on a PF snowflake now!!!


"Jingle Pig ROCK!" is now available for bidding!

You can own this one of a kind Punk Farm original art on a snowflake and help raise money for the good work that the Dana-Farber does in their quest to find the cure for cancer.

Bid now, bid often, bid on many.... all of the final snowflakes can be found here:
www.robertssnow.com

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

I had a great morning in the studios of Valley Free Radio yesterday, talking to Bill and Ella in-between songs. Dan Zanes phoned in and I even came up with a decent question for him. The entire show is archived here.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Ralph Macchio is home!

Ralph Macchio has arrived! (Our dog, not the actor.) He's getting used to his new surroundings and surprisingly enough - is sleeping a lot. Still having a few accidents here and there - I hope he isn't embarrassed by my saying that.... but he is very playful and expect about a zillion pictures to be posted of him here soon. But in the meantime, check out this picture taken by our good pal Jeanne Birdsall.

OK

ATTN: Authors and Illustrators - if you ever want to feel like a rock star, visit Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had never been to Oklahoma, but I would eagerly return after my visit with the kids at HH. Every teacher and parent volunteer just threw themselves into all things Punk Farm and my books. Everyone had homemade iron-on T-shirts (made from the downloads at my site), some actually wore wigs and crazy shoes and if you need any evidence - please take note of the school's librarian, Mr. Christian, book talking Punk Farm ahead of my visit:
And this is probably a record for any one school, but they sold 511 books! And I managed to sign them all throughout the day. Here's a pic of the gang who was crazy enough to volunteer to help with that effort:Every kid in the school made a cool punk something - farm animals, penguins, aliens.... and they were collected in one giant Punk Farm scene:





AND...just when you thought it couldn't get any cooler - it does! The kids made video adaptations of two of my books! And hopefully I'll be able to post some here later next week.