Tuesday, April 22, 2014

School Lunch Hero Day will be here on May 2nd!

Encourage good citizenship in your kids, and a sense of pride in your lunch staff on May 2nd!


One of the greatest privileges that I have had over the last several years has been meeting the "lunch ladies" at the various schools that I've visited. These folks work incredibly hard to provide our children with healthy meals on a daily basis, and so seldom get the credit and recognition that they deserve. My initial intention in creating the Lunch Lady graphic-novel series was to just draw a lunch lady fighting off robots with fish sticks-but it became so much more! Cafeteria workers nationwide have thanked me for creating a hero in their likeness, and I later learned just how much it meant to the original inspiration for the series, my childhood lunch ladies. 

Last year, I asked you to celebrate the lunch staff at your school, and it was simply amazing. We spread joy to countless cafeterias. I recently gave a talk at a district-wide meeting of School Nutrition Professionals in Indiana. One of the women approached me after the talk and told me, "You know what I got out of this? That I'm important."

I shudder at the thought of anyone thinking that they are unimportant. On May 2nd, I would love it if you would take time to say thank you in some way to the folks in your school's cafeteria. These hard-working people feed 32 million children every single day, and we should surely remind them just how important their good work is!

I encourage you to inspire your young ones to get their creativity going on a special project. Last year, kids came up with the most amazing ways to say thank you. (I catalogued many of them on Pinterest.) You can also download free School Lunch Hero Day thank-you cards on the dedicated website. (They come in both English and Spanish!) 


Thank you so much for your consideration!

Jarrett 

Download here!




Friday, April 04, 2014

Spring Book Tour Schedule







Hi, all! I'll be coming to a bookstore near you very soon! Time to gear up for summer reading!
:)
JJK


April 8, 4 PM- South Portland, ME- Nonesuch Books- Nonesuch Books

April 10, Peanut Butter and Jellyfish Virtual Storytime!

April 13, 1:55 PM- LA Times Festival of Books- LA Times Festival of Books, Children's Stage, Signing with Once Upon a Story immediately following and 3:15-4:15 pm Signing with Mrs Nelson's, Booth #720

April 15, 7 PM- San Diego, CA- Yellow Book Road Bookstore- Yellow Book Road

April 26, 2 PM- Amherst, MA- Eric Carle Museum of Picture Books- Eric Carle Museum

April 28, 4 PM - Madison, CT- RJ Julia Booksellers

May 2, School Lunch Hero Day 2014!

May 6- Platypus Police Squad: The Ostrich Conspiracy publishes!

May 9, 4 PM- Dedham, MA- Blue Bunny Bookshop

May 12, Platypus Police Squad 2 Virtual Book Talk!

May 28, 5 PM- New York, NY- BookExpo, American Booksellers Foundation of Free Expression Auction

May 30,  9:30 AM - BookExpo signing for Platypus Police Squad 2

June 4, 4 PM Cambridge, MA- Platypus Police Squad 2 Launch Event- Cambridge Public Library (Book sales by Porter Square Books.)

June 5, 10 AM- Washington, D.C.- Library of Congress - "A Library of Congress Books and Beyond for Young People Program on Reluctant Readers"

July 15, Boston, MA- School Nutrition Association Annual National Conference- SNA ANC

July 16, Findlay, OH- Mazza Museum Summer Conference- Conference Information