Summer Flashback: The School Nutrition Association's ANC!

The School Nutrition Association hosted their Annual National Conference where our nation's school lunch staff converged to talk about putting forth the best programs for our nation's kids! It was an absolutely wild experience to keynote to 2,500 folks!

Here's a peak at the room before it got filled with enthusiastic school lunch superheroes:

Hanging out with Lunch Lady and Lynette, Cindy, Shannon and Terry, who appeared on Food Network's Chopped. I had the honor of interviewing these ladies on stage!

I think Betty could create something powerful with this piece of culinary equipment.

I want to cosplay a Snap, Crackle and Pop next year. Who's with me?

Al, Lisa, Darius and me.

Quite possibly the longest book signing line I've ever had. I now know how David Hasselhoff feels whenever he visits Germany.

Thank you to all of the SNA members who welcomed Lunch Lady and me to your conference! We had a fantastic time in KC with you!

Summer Flashback: Create2013 and the Iowa Reading Association

Earlier this summer, I had the great opportunity to speak at two conferences. Create gathered art educators from across Tennessee, and the Iowa Reading Association brought together reading teachers from across the Hawkeye State.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take many pictures at either conference. But both were stellar. I love when I have the opportunity to speak to big groups of educators. Everyone inspired!

Summer Flashback: Knoxville

I had a fantastic time at the Knoxville's Children's Festival of Reading back in May. Thank you to all who put it together!

Back in early 2006 when blogs became a thing, a blog called 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast started writing about my books and became an ardent supporter of my work. After all this time, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Jules in person!

Jules led a very engaging conversation with fellow authors Debbie Diesen, Bob Shea, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Marc Tyler Nobleman.

Summer Flashback: D.C. Public Library's Summer Reading Program

I was beyond honored to have learned that Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked had been selected as a signature selection for D.C. Public Library's summer reading program. I was psyched to travel down to our nation's capitol to meet with some fantastic readers!

The Mt. Pleasant branch of DC Public Library is a beautiful space!

 

A huge thank you to Politics & Prose and D.C. Public Library for having me at their summer reading program! And thank you to all of the families who came out and made it a spectacular event!

The DC Library had lots of books on hand for people to borrow. . .

and Politics & Prose had lots of books on hand if people wanted books for keeps. They brought some extra, so if you're looking for a signed book, they'll have some signed stock at their store.

I loved meeting all of the families that came out, but it was especially neat to meet this family. Ian (the oldest boy, on the right) was born a few months after Good Night, Monkey Boy was published. They had multiple copies of my 1st book that were 1st edition and 1st printing. I was beyond honored to learn that the book has held a special place in their family's reading life, as it's been used at bedtime over the years. That is such a privilege for me.

Peanut Butter & Jellyfish

F&Gs (folded & gathered) of PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLYFISH arrived on my doorstop!

Look for it on bookshelves on 4/8/14!

LL10

Lunch Lady and the Schoolwide Scuffle will be available on January 28, 2014.

Summer Flashback: Nantucket Book Festival

Thank you to everyone at the Nantucket Book Festival for an excellent weekend!

Photo from the NBF FB page.

Nantucket - a small island with two power indie bookstores!

The ‪Nantucket‬ Book Fest had a party for the authors at the Great Harbor Yacht Club, so I wore my pirate/sailor socks. Because, you know - that's what one wears to a yacht club, right?

Goober Kids Radio

Listen to wonder-kid Trevor interview me on his show Goober Kids Radio. He'll be runnin it all someday!

http://gooberkidsradio.blogspot.com/2013/07/all-ears-in-book-club-with-jarrett-j.html?m=0

His past guests include Dav Pilkey and Weird Al. And he's 13.

Summer Flashback: The Houston Public Library

Everyone at the Houston Public Library were so awesome. They even made giant Fish Stick Nunchucks!

I landed at IAH a day ahead of my event at the Houston Public Library and was greeted by a familiar face...

It was an unbelievable day at the Houston Public Library. These librarians went all out! Just crazy over the top! They decorated their hallways to look like the back alley of a ‪PunkFarm‬ concert.

Lost Elephant posters at the Houston Library! Listed on the tear-aways: call numbers to books about elephants!

At the Houston Library - kids could be any Lunch Lady villain they wanted to be!

Honey, I shrunk the Lunch Lady. Giant LL gadgets at the Houston Library.

The librarians feted art contest entrants with lunch and free books inside lunch boxes!

Dress up and rock with Punk Farm or visit the actual animals in the petting zoo!

The kids of the Houston Library will grow up to fill our libraries and rule our world!

Thank you Houston Library librarians and patrons for an incredible day!

Check out more of the awesomeness on the Houston Public Library's Flickr page!

Save the Date—School Lunch Superhero Day 2014!

School Lunch Superhero Day will always be celebrated on the first Friday of May. In this upcoming school year, that would be May 2, 2014. Please mark your calendars!

Summer Flashback: Blue Bunny Bookshop

Hey guys,
I have attended some truly awesome events the past few months. This Summer Flashback is for the Blue Bunny Bookshop Platypus Police Squad Launch Party.

Thank you to the Blue Bunny Bookshop in Dedham, MA for putting on such a phenomenal party for Platypus Police Squad!

At the PPS launch at Blue Bunny Books, the Dedham Chief of Police was on hand to dispense safety tips and Jr. badges, and I was flash-mobbed by actual lunch ladies who stormed the party with homemade cookies and chocolate milk!

There were lots of Boston-based ‪kidlit folks in attendance! So nice to meet many bloggers/Tweeters in person!

For many, many reasons, I was most excited to see my friend Chris, who is a member of the Watertown Police. I gave him a piece of art from the book.

A HUGE thank you to everybody at Blue Bunny Books for putting together such a great event, and for being such a pillar of their community!

I'll be at DC Public Library this Saturday!

Hey Washington D.C. -- I'll be headed to the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood branch of the D.C. Public Library this Saturday at 3! It'll be a big ol' party for Platypus Police Squad. More info here: http://ow.ly/1Z2u6m

Monkey Boy in the New York Times!

The New York Times just conducted a board book roundup in their books section and I am beyond psyched to have the board book edition of Good Night, Monkey Boy included.

Says The Times:
“If monkey business is part of your family’s bedtime routine, this book may give your children the cozy feeling that they are not lone miscreants but part of a tribe. That may reassure the parents of monkeys, too!”


Read the full book review here:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/07/10/books/10childrens-slides-8.html?_r=0



Thank you, New York Times!!!

DEEP SEA DIVER by Recess Monkey!

Looking for some fun family music for summer? Check out Recess Monkey's DEEP SEA DIVER. I illustrated the album art, and find myself listening to this even when the kids aren't in the car. www.recessmonkeytown.com

Scenes from the Studio

Clearly I've been avoiding a trip to the art supply store.

Singing Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" to my pencil.

New beginnings. (midway)