Annie Was Warned now in paperback, just in time for 10th anniversary

Annie Was Warned is now available in a paperback edition! And believe it or not, the book celebrates ten years in print! 

The paperback edition posed a bit of a challenge. If you recall, there is a gatefold in the original hardcover edition. Gatefolds are expensive to print and therefore go against the whole point of having an affordable paperback. 

To translate Annie into paperback, the page layout changed a bit. That last page was no longer a single page and needed to become a double-page spread. 

The original hardcover edition.

With that, I needed to revisit some art. A fun challenge—recreate the exact same style and colors for something that you painted ten years ago so that it can fit in seamlessly with the original pages.

I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish. See how the ending flows with the brand-new art at your local bookshop or library!

The new paperback edition.

best present ever

This Sunday, my first book turns ten years old. HappyBirthdayAuthor.com unknowingly has given me the most amazing anniversary present ever. Check out "The JJK Reading Experience".

And check out the awesome postcards sent from Mrs. VanRaepenbusch's 2nd graders. They made 50 postcards for me in honor of the postcards I sent to publishers when I was trying to break into publishing. (This is a part of the author study found in the above link.)

What was one of the best days of my professional life

Hamilton Elementary completely blew me away with what they called "JJK Day". I have visited so many wonderful schools so far in 2011 and would blog about each of them if I was more organized and if deadlines didn't sometimes get the best of me. But I'd be remiss if I didn't share some pictures and videos of what Jennifer Lucas did over at Hamilton El in Houston, TX. She created "JJK Day", which was an end of the year celebration and classrooms needed to win their way into the presentations. Kids worked together to make the most amazing videos! And Jennifer and her library aide even donned their Lunch Lady and Betty costumes for the day!

Check out the decorations put up around the school:

 

And the craziest part of the day—it almost didn't happen! It was scheduled for February 4th. I was in Houston for the week, but with the impending "snow storm", school had been canceled preemptively. Luckily, it all worked out with schedules for me to return to Houston for this awesome day!

Here are some of the videos that were made for the contest:

Check out all of my characters moshing to Punk Farm!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgd51qfCo7Q

A dramatic retelling of Annie Was Warned:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3QDo4P4qKk

A Lunch Lady play:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB8Ej3Ag3sw

A Punk Farm / Baghead puppet show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-rYgwN8aso

And there are more! Check out all of them at my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/studiojjk

Annie Was Warned fan video

In case you missed this video a few years back, here's a super-awesome vid from Holland Hall Primary School in Tulsa. The kids did a superb job of staging Annie Was Warned! The costumes! The sets! The acting! BRAVO!

Annie Was Warned reading

Last spring, I visited my Texan friends down in the Cy-Fair district. They shot a video of me reading one of my books for their video reading program, which airs online and on their district's cable channel. They held on to the video for October because I read Annie Was Warned. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Bulletin Board Props

Check out the love given via bulletin boards at recent school visits in San Antonio's North East district!

Hardy Oak Elementary

Stone Oak Elementary

Give these librarians their own design show on HGTV! Seriously. America's Top Design Librarian.

Color me flattered.

Sketchbook Saturday

Here are some sketches from the Annie Was Warned cover. I start with a bunch of thumbnail sketches.

Then, my editor and art director take a look at the ideas and send me in a good direction. I scan in one of the sketches and play with the color in Photoshop.

From there, I paint the final illustration. The painting gets scanned in and text is incorporated into the design. The title from the Annie cover was hand drawn (not by me) and it glows in the dark. Creepy, ain't it?



Are you ready for Halloween?

To read in full detail about the creation of this book, head on over to www.studiojjk.com/makingofannie.html.

drawings from kids

Annie Was Warned

Send your drawings to:
Jarrett J. Krosoczka
PO Box 60155
Florence, MA 01062

Annie Was Warned - the movie!

Mr. Christian and Mrs. Osburn of Holland Hall really blew my mind with this video. It's a full-out adaptation of Annie Was Warned! There are sets, costumes...special effects!

A big thank you to all involved for making the video and giving me permission to post it!

Annie Was Warned in Family Fun

If you see Family Fun's October issue on newsstands, thumb through to see their nice shout-out to Annie Was Warned and other great Halloween titles. Thank you, Family Fun!!!