Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Fostering the Young, Imaginative Mind

I debuted my new presentation for educators and parents at the Shenandoah Literature Conference on Monday and it was a hit! The best compliment came from a teacher who thanked me for validating what she does every day. "Even when I think the day was a tough one, I need to remember that I'm making a difference," she told me.

This is not me giving my presentation, this is an actress playing Lunch Lady introducing me.

This is me giving my presentation. Picture taken from a Twitter pal.


I'm now offering presentations for grown-ups that can happen at conferences, after school for teachers, in the evening for parents—or really, any time for interested adults.  In "Fostering the Young, Creative Mind," I detail what my grandparents and teachers did for me growing up to support my creative endeavors. Not only did everyone's encouragement bring me to where I am today, it really helped me through difficult moments of my childhood. 


Today, our educational landscape is so focused on data and test results, the creative kids are often lost in the shuffle. But there's plenty that educators can do within the parameters they are given and I aim to arm them with the tools that they can use to help those imaginative kids.


In part of my presentation, I talk about how my grandparents gave me a videocamera (after much prodding on my end). And now, I am a legitimate movie producer with two feature films in developmentI dug up some old VHS tapes of my teenage theatrical efforts and digitized them for the slideshow. 


Here are a few videos that I made at 14.


Enjoy!








For more info on my presentations, please click here.

Monday, June 25, 2012

It's the first meeting of The Summer Book Club, chat with Marc Brown!

On Wednesday, Marc Brown will be calling into The Absolutely Mindy Show, where Mindy and I will interview the legendary author/illustrator and facilitate questions that come in from young readers across the country! (Kids can call 1-866-328-2345!)


It all happens on Wednesday (June 27th) at 5 pm EST on SiriusXM channel 78!


Plus, we'll be announcing who won the grand prize—their picture by Marc Brown!







Saturday, June 23, 2012

making friends at Enders Rd



When I was a kid, I used to daydream that I was hanging out with the fictional characters that I read about. As an author/illustrator, I really hope that kids will look at the characters that I create as their friends as well.

On a recent visit to Enders Road Elementary in Manilus, NY I was greeted at the front door by my characters!


   


And inside, lining just about every inch of wall space, every single student at the school drew themselves with one of my characters. It was so incredibly humbling and such an honor to see which character of mine each kid connected with. Here are a few snapshots of their awesome work:






And let's not forget this awesome young fan who made a T-shirt with a Lunch Lady coat of arms!






Tuesday, June 19, 2012

In your face, Mark Twain!


Hear that, Mr. Twain? The history of history!

Raffaella, I am indeed lucky to get a Lunch Lady drawing from you! You are very talented!




If you have any drawings, 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

Monday, June 18, 2012



On Wednesday, June 20th, at 5:40 pm EST, tune into Sirius XM channel 78 and listen to legendary author Norton Juster talk about the Phantom Tollbooth and the NINETEEN rejections he received for the Hello, Goodbye Window! The Book Report with JJK airs during The Absolutely Mindy Show on Kids Place Live! See you then!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Ignite a fire within your students for a love of reading at the start of next school year



Book in September for a free Virtual Visit session in the spring:

After my presentations, people often comment that I have inspired their kids to read and write on levels they hadn’t seen before. And many regret not booking me sooner in the school year to get their kids excited about literature. 

Gina and I would love to help your school kick-off your reading and writing curriculum in fall 2012. To give everyone an incentive to sign on for a September school visit, for all schools that schedule for that month, we will include a free Virtual Visit session in the spring. You can use that to allow the kids to share how they’ve grown as readers and to allow the young authors to share the writing projects that they’ve written since my visit.


You can download a brochure of my presentations here: http://www.studiojjk.com/Jarrett_Krosoczka_school_visits.pdf




Where I'll be this fall:



I'll be hitting the book-festival circuit this fall to promote Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril. With that, I'll have a number of tour stops where I can add school visits. (In these situations, schools will not be responsible for air travel costs.)

Here are some of the cities that I'll visit:

Decatur, GA
Minnepolis, MN
Washington, DC
Athens, GA
Austin, TX

If you are interested in hosting me at your school, please 
contact Gina at:









In the meantime, have a wonderful summer reading season, everyone!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Summer Reading Events

While I stay mostly close to home and the coast, I do have a few book events in the summer months.



June 13, 6 p.m.: Providence, RI -  I'm beyond honored to be included in this exhibit: RISD ICONS: A Legacy of Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design.  The show will run June 14-24.


June 16, 10:30 a.m.: Arlington, MA - Fox Branch Library


June 23, 1 p.m.: Newburyport, MA - The Book Rack


July 12, 11 a.m.: Lenox, MA - The Lenox Library



July 21, time TBA:  Somerville, MA - Epic event with Jef Czekaj at Arts Beat
It's HIP AND HOP and PUNK FARM! The Jay Z/Linkin Park mashup of kids' books!
It all happens at the Somerville Theater in Davis Square!


August 8, 3 p.m.: Framingham, MA - Framingham Public Library 



Hope to see you soon!
JJK



And if you are a public library in Northeastern Mass, New Hampshire or Southern Maine, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Gina at gina@studiojjk.com. She'd be happy to help set something up for you, as we spend our summer months in coastal New Hampshire! My presentation fits in perfectly with the Dream Big summer theme. Download a brochure here.

Friday, June 08, 2012

Weston draws along!

The incredibly talented Weston sent in these photos. Back in March when I was launching LL7 and connecting with kids via UStream, Weston caught the afternoon show after school. And as I drew in my studio in Massachusetts, he drew along in Texas!






GREAT job, Weston! Keep up the excellent work!



If you have any drawings, 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, June 06, 2012

The Absolutely Mindy Show and The Book Report with JJK present: THE SUMMER BOOK CLUB

I'm excited to launch a new initiative to get kids reading during the summer months! I'm teaming up with Mindy at SiriusXM's Kids Place Live to bring you a special series of author interviews. Each month, we will be featuring a different author, an author that can reach all of the kids on the other side of the radio airwaves. (There are 5 month-olds listening in their cars and there are 10 year-olds!)

And we're launching with Mr. Marc Brown!

So kids, read as many books as you can throughout the month and especially check out the titles detailed below. AND get this! Marc will draw a picture for one lucky winner. He will draw one lucky kid as a character in the world of ARTHUR!!! Official contest info will be at the Kids Place Live Facebook page here. But the short of it is, simply take photos of your kids reading Marc's books and email them in! And get creative, pack those library books on the summer car trip and HAVE FUN! And most importantly, READ!!!




A Senhora da Cantina e o Substituto Ciborgue is now on bookshelves!




For all of my Portuguese-speaking friends, Lunch Lady #1 is now available in Portuguese! You can order A Senhora da Cantina e o Substituto Ciborgue here.

My favorite part of foreign translations of the Lunch Lady books is learning what the gadgets translate to. Well, scratch that. That's my second favorite part. My favorite part is the thought that kids who live on the other side of the planet, who speak a language I don't eve understand, can read one of my books. That is just mind-blowing!







Monday, June 04, 2012

Ollie at Book Expo



I won't be at Book Expo this year, but a purple elephant painted with watercolors will be. Look for my contribution at the children's art auction, to benefit the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, this Wednesday evening at the Javitz Center. 


You can preview all of the art here. What an impressive collection!

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Lisa Yee will be this week's guest on The Book Report with JJK








On Wednesday, June 6th, at 5:40 pm EST, tune into Sirius XM channel 78 and listen to author extraordinaire Lisa Yee give the inside scoop on her books. The Book Report with JJK airs during The Absolutely Mindy Show on Kids Place Live! See you then!

Where's Waldo meets Lunch Lady

At a recent visit to Motts Road Elementary outside of Syracuse, the librarians had a brilliant idea. They hid Lunch Lady throughout the library and kids had to find all 19 hidden ladies in yellow. It wasn't a competition, just a fun exercise to pump the kids up for my visit, and of course -- to get them exploring their school library! (They even put their own lunch ladies' faces on a few!)

Can you spot Lunch Lady?