Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Set your DVRs and VCRs!

Set your DVRs and VCRs for Friday morning. I am scheduled to appear on the CBS' The Early Show. *Fingers crossed for a slow news week*!

I will be talking up my appearance on the Target Stage at the NY Times Great Children's Read.

I don't know what time it will air exactly, but thinking sometime between 7 and 9.

event at the NYC Public Library (the famous one with the lions)

This Saturday at 4 PM, I will be on a panel at the NYC Public Librray. Betsy Bird (AKA Fuse #8) hosts a monthly Children's Literary Cafe. October's theme is picture book creators who have now authored (and illustrated) graphic novels.

Please note, this event is for grown-ups only.


The official series description:

The Children’s Literary Café is a monthly gathering of adults who are fans of children’s literature. Professionals, librarians, authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers, teachers, and anyone else interested in the field are welcome to attend our meetings. The Literary Café provides free Advanced Readers galleys, a rotating series of talks with professionals in the field, and great conversation. This program is for adults only.

New York Public LibraryChildren's Center at 42nd Street
Event will be held in Room 844
2nd Street and 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018

NY Times Great Children's Read


Hey New Yorkers—come on out to the NY Times Great Children's Read this Sunday. There is a great line-up of events during the day. I'll be taking the Target stage at 10:55 AM. For all the going-ons of the day, visit the Great Read's website.

See ya there!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Kate DiCamillo at the Decatur Book Festival

We had a blast hanging out with the very charming and very funny Kate DiCamillo at the Decatur Book Festival. We got to know Kate really well at 4:30 in the morning when the fire alarm was set off at the hotel. Imagine that? A hotel full of authors evacuating before the sun even rose. Fortunately, everyone made it to their designated stage times the next day.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Frisco Reads

Howdy Texans! If you live in or near Frisco, TX, come on by Frisco Reads on Tuesday night at Liberty High School.

I'll be talking about how I wrote the Lunch Lady graphic novels. See ya there!

Loren Long & Peter McCarty @ the Decatur Book Festival

The family and I had the honor of hanging out with Loren Long at the Decatur Book Festival. We got to know him really well when our shuttle van from the airport broke down. (I was disappointed to learn that Loren wasn't able to fix the van. Come on, Trucktown! However, Loren did offer to draw a picture of the van personified.) Loren is as awesome a guy as his work would lead you to believe. Top notch all around. Those in attendance at the DBF were treated to a debut reading of his new book Otis, which is out now. Wow! What a great book! You should definitely check it out. Here are some pictures of Loren doing his thing on stage:


And here is a picture of Loren and myself with Peter McCarty. I hadn't known Peter would be at the festival. Peter is a great guy, too. Have you seen his new book, Jeremy Draws a Monster? I love the book. It's great fun and a bit of a departure in style for Peter. I guess it had been a while since I've seen Peter because he was not only shocked to see me there with a baby, but also a wife.

Finally, here is a video of Loren talking about Otis. After you watch it, you'll want to be Loren's friend too!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Little Shop of Stories

Little Shop of Stories orchestrates quite the show on the children's stage at the Decatur Book Festival. I'm just getting around to organizing some of the photos we took while there. I'll be posting some in the next few weeks.

Here are a few pics of the store itself. What a great space! And check out that wall behind the register. (Click to make the picture bigger.) There are so many illustrators who have come through, it's astonishing.

If you are ever in Decatur, make sure you stop in and say hello to Dianne, Dave and the whole crew for me!


Thursday, September 24, 2009

Lunch Lady Sequels by Kids

Jackson from Georgia sent in this great idea for a future Lunch Lady title. It's a great drawing, too! Nicely done, Jackson!

Do you have a note or a drawing that you'd like to share?
I would love to see them!They can be emailed to me via
props@studiojjk.com or mailed to:
Jarrett J. Krosoczka
PO Box 60155
Florence, MA 01062

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

California Kids


Patricia Newman wrote a really nice article on my work and the new Lunch Lady books in California Kids, which is a great free paper out in the Golden State.

Read the article here. And while you're there, check out all of the other great articles that she's written on other children's book authors. The list is massive and mind-boggling! Definitely worth bookmarking.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Spiderwick Chronicles: The Completely Fantastical Edition


Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black have just released a super cool bound-up edition of all five original books in the Spiderwick Chronicles series. The voume clocks in at around 600 pages, but the story text takes up 500 pages. What about that extra 100 pages you ask? Well T and Holly have presented unused sketches, behind-the-scenes stories on the making of the books and lots of other good stuff. It's sort of like a 2 disc special edition DVD. Also included, is an all-star gallery of contemporary illustrators who have created their own take on the Spiderwick world. I was honored to have been included. (I covered my favorite scene in the books, the introduction of Hogsqueal, when he is caged in the woods.)

Look for the book at your local book shop or library. For more info and a sneak-peak, read Tony's blog post about the book.

Monday, September 21, 2009

New Guys Read Website!


Mr. Scieszka has launched a spiffy new website for the Guys Read literacy initiative. Check it out at http://www.guysread.com/. (And keep refreshing the page to see all of the neat places that the logo travels to. So funny! So Scieszka.) While you're there, check out the book suggestions, which fall into such awesome categories as "At Least One Explosion" and "Robots". Take a look at this page, where authors recommend their favorite books. It was cool to see that Tony DiTerlizzi and I both love The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Peter Brown and I both listed James and the Giant Peach.


And most importantly, start your own Guys Read reading group. My friend (and Colorado Reading Association conference bodyguard) Kyle started his own chapter and it looks like they have great fun. They recently read Lunch Lady and Kyle sent me this link.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

LA Times Reading by 9


Hey there blog readers. Check out today's Los Angeles Times. In it is their Reading by 9 supplement, which is a part of their Child Literacy Initiative. You may recognize a certain kid with a bag on his head among the pages.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Funny Kid Quote

I begin my presentations by breaking down just what it exactly means to be published. Here's how yesterday's presentation went:

ME: So a publisher prints lots of copies of the author's book and where might they send all of those copies?
KID #1: Libraries?
ME: Yes, very good! Where else might they send them?
KID#2: Book stores?
ME: You're right! (At this point, I have the answers I was looking for, but there is one kid still persistently raising his hand. So I call on him.)
KID#3: AT THE DOLLAR STORE!
*pause*
ME: Well hopefully not at the Dollar Store....but yes, sometimes that happens, too....

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Three Kisses for Tomie

Happy 75th Birthday, Tomie dePaola!

Check out threekissesfortomie.blogspot.com to see some great art in honor of a great man.

Gina and I wanted to do something special for Tomie, let him know just how much he is loved. We reached out to our children's book illustrator friends and asked if they would make an image to honor him. Many artists have promised art later in the year and we will continue to update the site throughout the year as we get new art in.

Here's my entry:

Minneapolis rocked!

Still on deadline, but will post some pictures soon! Air Force 1 flew over the book festival. Does this count as having a President attend a book reading?

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Minneapolis this Saturday

Hey there friends in the Twin Cities area—I will be reading and signing at the Target Book Festival on Saturday at 12:30 PM. For all of the information that you need to know, check out the Festival's homepage on the Star Tribune's website.

It'll be my first trip to Minnesota and I can't wait! See ya there!


PS-- Do you think Prince will be there? Maybe once he's finished with his Saturday errands or something . . .

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Decatur Rocked!

I had a blast down in Decatur at the Decatur Book Festival! Wow! What a show. G, Z and I saw so many old friends and made so many great new ones. Way too much to post about now as I am chipping away at a deadline, but I wanted to give a HUGE shout-out to my friends at Little Shop of Stories for having me down and putting together such a great line-up of authors.

I'll post more about this Festival in the coming weeks, but for now I will leave you with what was my highlight of the weekend. G, Z and I were walking around the Fest with our good friend David Levithan when I spotted these two kids reading (and enthralled by) Lunch Lady. It was spectacular. I imagine if you were a musician it was much like hearing your song on the radio for the first time.

It's a love-hate relationship

Regardless of which side of the aisle you stand on, you have to admit that this is a funny picture.

Apparently slugs are revered and loathed in Washington State.

(Snapped by
Jacqueline Schimmel and posted to Facebook.)

Friday, September 04, 2009

"Library" likes "Librarians"

School Library Journal gives a positive shout-out to Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians in their most recent issue. Thanks SLJ!

Check it out here.

Thursday, September 03, 2009


The Sacramento Book Review and the San Francisco Book Review host a great podcast on their website, where they interview authors of books that they review in their print edition. I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with 11 year-olds Amber Cloutman and Taylor Burns.

Listen to our chat here.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Decatur Book festival this weekend!


This weekend is the Decatur Book Festival! Come on out to the Target Children's Stage on Saturday at 4PM and Sunday at 5PM. On Saturday I will join Eleanor Davis (The Secret Science Alliance) and Ursula Vernon (Dragonbreath) for a sort of comic book draw-off and on Sunday the Fest is billing my presentation as "All Hail the Lunch Lady".

It will be a great time, guaranteed. The children's programming is put together by the good folks at Little Shop of Stories, a great indie with great people.

For all the info you need, click here.


Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play...

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Lunch Lady Photo Contest


ANNOUNCING THE LUNCH LADY PHOTO CONTEST!

Is your lunch lady a superhero crime-fighter? Send photographic evidence to contest at lunchladycomics dot com for a chance to win a signed, 1st edition, library bound copy of Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute for your school’s library. Every week, a winner will be chosen and the “Lunch Lady of the Week” photo will be featured on www.lunchladycomics.com. On December 22nd, the day that Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta publishes, a grand-prize winner will be selected by an elite team of lunch lady specialists and an original ink drawing of Lunch Lady and Betty will be sent to your school’s library!

RULES:

•One entry per school, please.

•Please include your school’s name, town and state in your submission. (Lunch ladies’ names optional.)

•By submitting your photo, you are granting Jarrett J. Krosoczka the right to publish the photo on www.lunchladycomics.com and other pertinent websites in connection with Jarrett’s books.

•Submissions will be accepted through December 11th, 2009.