Wednesday, January 26, 2011

PF is OK

Punk Farm and Punk Farm on Tour recently had a nice write up in Oklahoma City's Metro Family magazine. Check it out!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Drawings from Kids


Check out this great drawing sent in by Declan! I love these villains, they sure look like they'd give Lunch Lady and Betty a run for their money. Excellent job, Declan. I hope that you keep drawing!!


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

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Joey Wieser - get his books

I'm plugging away on the Lunch Lady books at a brisk pace while working on my picture books and a new chapter book series. So as you can imagine, I've been busy as of late. I needed some help with the coloring of the Lunch Lady books and I am very lucky that cartoonist Joey Weiser was game. He has been an invaluable help, replicating the look that I established in LL 1-4. Joey colored LL5 and is currently coloring LL6. You should check out his books, too. They are very good!

Joey's website is www.tragic-planet.com. Here are some of his books and mini-comics:


And all of Joey's comics can be ordered right from his website.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

studio icicles






Funny Kid Quote

In a Q&A period, I was grilled about my Hollywood connections.

KID: Have you ever been to Hollywood?
ME: Yes, I have. *brushes shoulders off*
KID: Have you ever met Justin Bieber?
ME: No, I haven't.

A few minutes later. . .
SAME KID: If you do ever meet Justin Bieber, would you get his autograph for me?
ME: Sure, but chances are, I'll never meet him.

A few more minutes later. . .
SAME KID AGAIN: Do you think you'll ever make a Justin Bieber book?

If only...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

snow day

Lots of snow around the studio today. The commute this morning was crazy.









Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Punk Farm pumpkins

School librarian Heather Jankowski created storytime pumpkins with her students last fall. And check out what she created—Punk Farm pumpkins!!! And the reason why this is most impressive? The attention to detail? Yes, that is impressive. But what's most impressive is that I've known Heather for many years now and she's not the first person you would think of when it comes to arts & crafts. Looks like somebody has found her inner Martha Stewart. . .

Sunday, January 09, 2011

twenty-eleven

So it's official! It's 2011. I've been very busy, as I've hit the ground running finishing up art for LL6 and working on the first draft of PPS1. Nothing beats starting out with a clean studio. (See the above photo created using a nifty iPhoto picture stitching app thingie.) I did a lot of reorganizing and bought an additional bookshelf. One of my goals this year is to take a few minutes out of each day to just sit with my art books. (Another goal is to actually paint on that blank canvas that has been mocking me for the past two years. I'd love to get to do some non-book art.)


Don't worry, nothing is alphabetized—just organized by type. Picture books, graphic novels for young readers, graphic novels for older readers, YA books, art books, etc. My toys continue to fight for shelf space. It's amazing how quickly you can feel like you're outgrowing a space.

Lots to look forward to this year! Lunch lady and the Bake Sale Bandit was just published and Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco will be out on September 13th. Also out on September 13th will be Ollie, which will mark my return to picture books as an author/illustrator. Chew, Chew Gulp!, a book that I illustrated for Lauren Thompson will be out on May 24th as well. And on February 15th, Lunch Lady y el sustituto cibernético, the Spanish translation of LL1, will be available!

 
I'll also be busy this year working on LL7, LL8, PPS2, my next picture book and a second book by Lauren Thompson. (As of right now, those are all slated for a 2012 release.)

Another big thing to look forward to this year—my first book, Good Night, Monkey Boy, turns ten years old on June 12, 2011! Such an odd feeling to think that I've been in print for nearly ten years as I feel like I'm just getting started. Look for lots of exciting announcements to come surround my 10 year printaversary. In the fall, the Worcester Art Museum will be holing a retrospective exhibit of the original works from my books. WAM is planning a big event surrounding the exhibit to benefit the Joe and Shirl Scholarship. (October 23rd, if you have your calendar handy.) I'll also be sending some of my artwork down to Houston, TX. (Which, let's face it, I've spent enough time in Houston to consider it a second hometown!)

Please stay tuned, there will be plenty of other announcements to come, I just can't talk about them all as of now.

I hope that 2011 is a good one for you! I'll see ya on the Internets!

-JJK

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Sketchbook Saturday

A new year, a new Sketchbook Saturday. The theme for this year—paying attention to the world around me. It used to be that I would sketch the world around me non-stop—on planes, on trains, in parks, etc. And I haven't in some time. And it's not just because my book deadlines have mounted up or because of the responsibility of fatherhood. I blame that little gadget that I keep in my pocket every day—my iPhone. It's just become too easy to jump on the Internet to fill the time between getting from one place to the next. So to keep my New Year's resolution on track, I will be posting a new page from my sketchbook, my current sketchbook, every Saturday.

Today I bring you a sleeping pug.

LL5 release event at Friendly Comics RESCHEDULED

Today's event at Friendley Neighborhood Comics in Bellingham, MA is rescheduled for next Saturday, same lunch time, same lunch channel. I'll be signing from 11AM-1PM. Until then, I'll be shoveling.

Friday, January 07, 2011

LL5 Events




With the release of Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit comes a few public events. Here is what is locked down so far. There may be a few more additions, but I will mostly be staying closer to the studio as I wrap up LL6 (and LL7!)

See you around!

Sat. Jan 8 - 11AM
- Bellingham, MA - Friendly Neighborhood Comics 

Fri. Feb 25 - Myrtle Beach, SC - SCIRA Conference

Tue. March 8 - Denver, CO - Tattered Cover Book Store

Sat. March 26 - 10AM-4PM - Northampton, MA - Meltdown! The River's Family Music and Book Bash (This is the event that G and I program the author stage for. This year we have Jon Sciezka, Jeannie Birdsall, Jef Czekaj and Kevin Markey joining us.)

Sat. May 7 - Hagerstown, MD - Washington County Reading Day

Sat. May 21 - Durham, NC - Durham County Library's Comic Fest

Monday, January 03, 2011

LL5 launch at Friendly Neighborhood Comics

This Saturday at 11AM, I'll be headed to Bellingham, MA to celebrate the release of Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit. Check out www.friendlycomics.com for more info. See you there!





And Happy 20-11 to you!