Baby Shower Cake

Wow, the PF love is just coming in today. The same readers from Chicago who sent pics of the baby room, also sent pics of the cake from their baby shower.

I want a cake like this!

a Punk Farm themed kid's room!

This just came in through Punk Farm's MySpace page.....

Some very creative parents in Chicago painted their baby's room with a Punk Farm theme!
I'm completely blown away. This is a huge honor!

UPCOMING EXHIBITS!

If you live near Newton, MA or Groton, MA, my original art will be coming to a gallery near you! I have two exhibits coming up.

One is at the Groton Public Library Gallery. I will be giving a gallery talk there on March 22 @ 7 PM. There will be work from Good Night, Monkey Boy; Bubble Bath Pirates; Annie Was Warned; Max for President; and Giddy Up, Cowgirl

The other exhibit is at the New Art Center in Newton. There will be an opening reception on March 23 from 5-8 PM. I will be exhibiting work from Baghead, Punk Farm and My Buddy, Slug. This is a group show and there will be work from about a dozen great artists from all over the country, including my pals Timothy Basil Ering and Grace Lin.

Hope to see you there!

THE GREAT BIG BOOK BASH!!!

If you live in or near Huntsville, Alabama - come out to say "hi" next Saturday at the "Great Big Book Bash"!

They have a load of cool events lined up. My favorite is the "Punk out Your Bag" contest. I hear they have quite a few entries already. I can't wait to see them!

"Thank You, Indiana!!!" ?

Gov. Mitch Daniels could quite possibly be the highest elected official to read Punk Farm.

This is from The Courier-Journal:

Seated in a rocking chair, Gov. Mitch Daniels helped Hilda Kendrick's kindergarten class at Utica Elementary School read a book called "Punk Farm" yesterday.

It's about an animal band, and every time Daniels asked a question about the story, one of the 25 or so kids had an immediate answer.

"You know this book pretty well," Daniels said at one point, and one of the students nodded and said, "We already took a quiz on it."

A few pages later the band members say, "Thank you, Indiana" to their audience. "I like that," Daniels said.

"It used to be 'Wisconsin,' " a couple of the youngsters replied.

They were right. A strip of paper with "Indiana" written on it had been temporarily taped over "Wisconsin," just for the governor's visit to the Clark County school.

Check out the full article!

The "Get This Book" Series

I first found an Oliver Jeffers book a few years back. I love all of his books, but I think that my favorite is Lost and Found. It's a story about a penguin who turns up at a boy's doorstep and their journey to the South Pole. Though, it runs much deeper than that on an emotional level. Lost and Found, like Jeffers' other titles are of another world. They are like modern-day folk tales and the pacing of the story juxtaposed to the pictures is pitch perfect.

If you're not familiar with Jeffers' work, hop on it. He's a bit of an international superstar. Make sure you stop by his website - www.oliverjeffers.com to check out all of his artwork, not just his stuff for picture books.





PS - A special thanks to the '7 Impossible Things' Blog for encouraging my occasional recommendations!

Baghead?

A friend in Providence sent this picture.

Could it be someone out there is creating guerrilla style Bagheads? If so - it wasn't me.

Ms. Pac-Man

I saw this on Alvina's blog and it's too good-

random paintings from over the years

See a small sampling of some non-book art at my FLICKR page. I found these when I cleaned out my studio.

car w/ Punk Farm stickers

Random!!!

goodbye, studio......

I've finished packing up my studio! It's an odd feeling because I've worked in this space for 5 years now. I've created 7 out of my 9 books here. While it's the end of an era, it's the start of a new, more exciting one for me.

When the last of my things were gone, I noticed that I had made my mark on the space. The hardwood floor where I sat and stood for all those years had gotten worn down. *tear*

And I had another sad goodbye - to my chair. Yes, my trusty chair that I bought at Staples straight out of school had served me well over the years, but it was time to part ways. I placed it out with the other weekly trash. When I awoke today, it was gone. It's my hope that maybe some neighborhood kids came by and taken it for a joy ride. Maybe it's sitting in someone's living room now? I'd just like to think that it's in a better place now...

Goodbye, studio.





Now the new work begins - renovating and winterizing the garage/barn behind my new house. It's going to be amazing!

early attempt at painting

As I cleaned my studio, I kept finding old paintings I hadn't seen or thought of in a awhile. Including this one, which was one of my first attempts at painting my characters.

This is circa December 1996, sophomore year.

pack rat

Cleaning out my studio has taught me one thing: I AM A PACK RAT. Though I may have already known this. There are certain things that are important to keep - nice letters, old drawings, photos, etc. But do I really need the camp address book from 1997? Or a mouse that was from 2 computers ago? Or the manual for my Voice Stream cell phone from 1999?

I continue to dig with every new drawer I clean out...

'98 songbook

Back in the day, I worked at this amazing place called The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Founded By Paul Newman in 1988, The Hole in the Wall provides, free of charge, a camping experience for children afflicted by cancer, blood disorders, and other serious illnesses. Needless to say the camp had a huge affect on my life. I spent 6 summers working on full summer staff and 4 more summers volunteering a few weeks here and there. I wasn't able to volunteer last summer and I'm not sure if I'll get to go back this summer, but would love to. Anyhow - the point of this post - I just found an old songbook that I designed. After every meal, the dining hall is filled with 120 uproarious kids singing and dancing their favorite camp songs. In the summer of 1998, this is the book that they reached for -


the front cover-

the back cover-

Punk Farm on Tour

Punk Farm on Tour is officially available as a pre-order on amazon.com! Check it out!

painting walls

As I paint nearly every day, when it came time to paint the walls in my new house, I thought - EASY!

Well, it's actually the opposite of easy. It's a lot of work and it's time consuming! Here are some things that I've learned so far.... Those little contraptions that say that they will help you paint the line along the ceiling - they don't work. What they do is they get paint on your ceiling. The blue tape works much better. Except the thing with the blue tape is, if it's off by the smallest fraction of an inch, it's very noticeable when you're done painting and you peel the blue tape off.

I guess I'm just used to painting in a very messy manner. And the beauty of painting for print it is, that during the design stage, your paintings get cropped, allowing for a very clean edge.

Take the following for example -

What my painting looks like before cropping (on a very messy, paint splattered desk)


And after cropping...



Jeremy and Jamie, my good friends in Texas, own and run a mural and faux finishing company called Imago Dei. Now, I've been watching their business grown for years and have always admired the beauty of their work. They are creating works of art on walls, it really is jaw droppingly amazing. But it wasn't until I struggled to paint one room, one measly color that I could come to an even deeper appreciation and love for what they do. I for one, would not be able to do what they do. Check out their work here - www.imagodeigallery.com.

Mr. T

If you haven't seen Mr. T's new reality show, you are missing out! I Pity the Fool is pure genius!!!

In watching the show, I started to wonder, "Is 'Mr. T' Mr. T's legal name? And when did he start sporting the Mr. T mohawk?" Well, hooray for Mr. T's entry in Wikipedia! Did you know that Mr. T had an album back in the 80's entitled "Mr. T's Commandments"? And also made an inspirational video called "Be Somebody...or Be Somebody's Fool"? I sure didn't. But I found myself wondering, "What did that sound like?" Well, hooray for YouTube!

For your viewing pleasure and in honor of my mother on her birthday (Happy Birthday, Mom!) - I give you Mr. T's "Treat Your Mother Right"!

Arthur art on auction for a good cause

I just received word from Marc Brown that Sotheby's will be auctioning off 30 pieces of art from the Arthur books to celebrate Marc's 30 years in publishing. And the best part- it raises money for a good cause.

Proceeds will benefit Children's Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York.

Check out the auction at sothebys.com!

Kid Quote

“That sounds like torture!”
- Kid in response to the numerous rejections an author receives.

Kid Quote

During a school presentation today, a young boy, who was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed, pointed his finger in the air and proclaimed:

“I’m not gonna be an outha', I’m gonna be a MOVIE STAH!”

2006

2006 - man. What a year! It was a year where my mind was constantly spinning. It was unbelievable. And I want to thank all of my readers and supporters for making it such an incredible one. There were lots of changes all around. For starters, I obtained representation. Up until then, I had been going it on my own and while I learned a lot in those years, I'm very fortunate to have found an agent in Rebecca Sherman over at Writers House. And further fortunate for Rebecca and I to have teamed up with Eddie Gammara over at the Gotham Group for TV and Film stuff. Because this year - I had my first film option! It was such a nutty time. DreamWorks Animation optioned the film rights to Punk Farm and then when it was announced, it was on the cover of Variety! I couldn't believe it! I still can't! It truly was a validation for all the work that I had done over the years. Thinking back to being a boy growing up in Worcester, MA I never could have dreamed something so huge would happen to me. And while there is still so much work to be done before it would be in theaters, I am anxious and excited for the road that lays ahead for that project.

I saw the release of two books this year, Giddy Up, Cowgirl and My Buddy, Slug. While touring for Slug, I was constantly pinching myself. This is a book that I had been passionate about for so many years and there it was - a full-out published book. It only got to that point after I had re-imagined the story, pushed various aspects and then pitched it again to my publisher. It's weird to think that Slug is in some ways behind me now.

I spent another great portion of the year working with my editor Michelle on what will be my 2007 release - Punk Farm on Tour. I actually pitched this book to my publisher just before the first Punk Farm was released, so it's been in the works for a while. I spent many hours in nature labs drawing and redrawing various animals to prepare for this book and I am really proud of how all of the finished paintings came out. Revisiting these characters was like dropping by on old friends. I can't wait to post more images from that book this year. The book itself will be released in October 2007!

Just before 2006 closed, I began work on a project that was about 5 years in the making for me - my first graphic novel series! I'm jumping right into it in the new year. Comic books and comic strips really sparked my interest in art and picture books in the first place and I'm excited to get back to working in that medium!

Fitting all of that into one year would be enough, but even BIGGER than any of that news..... now I try not to get my personal life involved with this blog, but......

I am an engaged man! Yes, it's true- 2006 will be remembered as the year that I fell in love with a girl named Gina and at year's end got down on one knee and proposed marriage. You may have heard me sheepishly mentioning a friend named Gina over the year or even saw her picture all over my Flickr pages of the Slug book tour. She is an amazing, wonderful, outstanding, funny, beautiful person and when I met her I knew that I had met my match! We do nothing but laugh and I couldn't be more excited to have found someone who can join me on my crazy adventures.

As one friend recently said to me, "You went and had yourself a 2006, didn't you?!"

I sure did and I'm thankful for it all!

tree '06

For the first time, we broke tradition and decorated a tree that was actually...Christmas themed. Every year my sister Maura, brother Rich and cousin Mike come into Boston to decorate an unorthodox Christmas tree (see pics from trees past, here). But this year, everyone had a nutty schedule, Rich and Mike were on their way to Boston, got lost and ended up not coming because they had work at 6 the next morning. Which left tree duties to Maura, Gina and me. This year our tree was Christmas themed and almost traditional, if it weren't for the fact that the tree acted as the mountain top from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

I hope everyone out there has a happy holiday season! I'm not sure if I'll get to post anything before 2007 gets here, so if I don't - see you in the new year!

English twin

Last summer at the SCBWI conference, some guy was running around the jade party pretending to be me. Now I've seen a photo of this guy and I have to say - we really don't look anything alike. My friend Andy and I however, do look remarkably similar. So much so, that my own mother had to do a double take when looking through photos. Andy recently made a trip over from his hometown of Bristol, England with our friend Steve.

Maybe I should get my publisher to hire him out to book tour next year?

serious Baghead fans

This picture was sent in by some very serious Baghead fans!

Slug-O-Lantern

Check out this cool pumpkin carved by a reader in Texas!

The "Get This Book" Series

Cowboy Ned and Andy by David Ezra Stein is a beautifully illustrated and charming book. I first saw this book last summer and then soon after met David himself at the
big SCBWI conference. Cowboy Ned and Andy is a story about the friendship between a cowboy and his horse and the cowboy's impending birthday. The expressions, gestures and movement found throughout the book are stellar. I love the colors and the painting technique that David has here and in the rest of his work. Do check out this book and while you're at it, his website - www.davidezra.com. He has some forthcoming titles that I am sure will not disappoint!

back in business (for now)

Hey there neglected blog readers! Well, I am back. It has been quite an eventful few weeks. Aside from having a great Thanksgiving, I was buried under paintings and the intenseness of a book deadline. But guess what? I finished what will be my 9th book!!!! Yes, I spent some more time on the farm (sort of) and ……Punk Farm on Tour will be hitting bookstores and libraries everywhere in the fall of ’07! I am really proud of this book. I labored over the paintings and this book is filled to the brim with Punk Farm madness.

I can’t wait until you all get to see it.

Remember when I said that I would post pictures of my Slug tour? Well I finally have – and they can be found here – http://www.flickr.com/photos/studiojjk/sets/72157594417146026/





More soon!

Add the JJK Blog to your LiveJournal.

I just figured out how one could add the JJK Blog to their LiveJournal feed.

Just visit http://syndicated.livejournal.com/jjk_synd/ and click 'add'.

Who knew it would be that simple?!

Cartel and Ok Go

Surprisingly enough, I haven't talked about music too much on this blog. At any rate - I'm a music geek. I'm lucky enough to have a job in which I can listen to music all day long. (Though as of late, I've been listening to a lot of NPR podcasts...) Anyhow, in the past few days I've had the chance to see some great shows here in Boston. And while I need to get these paintings finished, concert-going very much inspires my current project. The lighting, the theatrics, the noise - I thrive on it.

The first show I saw was Cartel. Now, I'm a huge fan of punk covers of songs (surprising, right?). This past summer, I got my hands on a CD called Punk Goes the 90's. Lots of inspired covers from the decade that was my coming-of-age. One of the tracks that rose above the rest was a take on Oasis' Wonderwall. Cartel's version was one of the few versions that, in my opinion, was far better than the original. I looked them up, bought their CD and couldn't stop listening to their debut album Chroma. Now Cartel was the opening, opening act for another band, but I went to see them and it was worth it. They put on a stellar show.

And last night was OK Go. If you don't know about Ok Go's genius, choreographed youtube video phenomenon, then please - see below! I first saw OK Go when they were the opening, opening act for Coldplay 4 years ago. I wasn't into Coldplay, but OK Go's debut album had been on constant repeat in the studio. That show was awesome, tons of energy and the lead singer even had a broken leg. And what I was most impressed by - after the show, each band member was out front, each with a notebook and pen, waiting for the hordes of concert goers to exit, and ready to collect emails for their email list. They could easily be described as the hardest working band in rockdom. Last night, they put on an explosive, jump-in-the-air-with-guitars kind of show. And now that they are the headliners, they have an artful video display behind the band and have cameras located on microphones, keyboards, drums, etc to project up on the screen. After harnessing the power of youtube and receiving gabillions of hits on their videos and appearing on countless talk shows, playing show after show - this band deserves every ounce of success they have achieved and more.

Over and out for now - back to painting!

Nothing, NOTHING is funnier than choreography....

The 'Get This Book' Series

I know, it's been a while, but the 'Get This Book Series' is back from hiatus. Ugly Fish, written by Kara LaReau and illustrated by Scott Magoon, is brilliant. The pacing, the writing and the illustrations are all top notch. You should totally get this book.

I found it in at the Union Sq B&N in New York City this past fall. Being that I was traveling, I didn't want to buy the book then and there because the book would get all messed up in my travels. So I took out my phone and emailed myself the website of the illustrator. Of course for me, I am always attracted to the illustrations first. But when I read the book, I was equally amused and entertained by this clever story. Scott Magoon, the illustrator, is a talented guy and from what I see on his website he has some great books coming out on the horizon. Be on the look-out! And - he's also a fellow Massachusetts-ite. I think there's something in the water up here...

Foster Gallery - reception 11/30

I'm in an upcoming exhibit! And I don't know for sure yet - but I should be at the opening reception. I can't make any commitments yet, because I need to finish the paintings that I'm currently working on for my next book.

One thing I can guarantee - paintings from Punk Farm will be there, along with work from these amazing artists - Ann P. Smith, Peter Reynolds, Paul Olson, Fred Lynch, Grace Lin, and Kelly Murphy.

Illustration Strange Turns of the Mind's Road
November 27, 2006 - January 5th, 2007
Foster Gallery
10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA
02026
781.320.7227

Opening reception - November 30th, 2006

Back That Thang Up

No, I'm not talking about the seminal track from rapper Juvenile, I'm talking about your computer files. Back them up!!! I'm sure as heck glad that I do and did - before my computer died. Yes, my trusty laptop's hard drive is fried and all of my info is gone! But everything (all my music, all my photos, all my website files) are sitting safely in my external hard drive!

*phew*

Oh - and I'm also glad that when I bought my laptop, I also bought Apple Care. As hard as I am trying right now, I can't think of any rapper who has a song about Apple Care....

Send a Slug e-Card

Head over to the Random House website and send a Slug e-card to a buddy! check it out!

The Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Richmond Times Dispatch likes My Buddy, Slug. Check it out!

the SLUG tour is OVAH!

It's a journey that began in the fall of '97 and continued on in November of '05 as I handed in the final art for Slug. And over the past year, I have documented in real time the journey that one takes from handing in the artwork and waiting for the book's release to then celebrating and touring. But the time has come and gone now - my final event for the My Buddy, Slug book tour has happened and my tour is over. And the last event was fantastic - which I knew it would be, because it was at Curious City's Lunch Box Series in Portland, Maine! Their events are out of this world, if you ever get the invitation, jump at the chance - it's worth the trip. You may remember the guy in the Sheep costume playing guitar last year during the Punk Farm Book Tour. Well, this year, they billed it as "Slug Fest" and Kirsten and Kelly were in Slug colors, there was Slug music playing and kids got to make their own slugs, their own slug homes and they also got to make and play with their own slug slime. Slug was there himself and kids could climb into the giant Slug costume and get their pictures taken. It really was the perfect way to end my tour.
I read My Buddy, Slug one last time (for this tour), for a total of (drum roll please).....

70 readings! 70 readings in 2 months!

And now the cycle starts all over again. Well, soon enough at least. I need to get painting!

Who knew Monkey Boy was from Jersey?

I love signing books that are slightly tattered and have clearly been read and loved. Matthew not only looks like Monkey Boy, but he's been holding on to this book since he was 3!

Baghead drawing

Look for Tommy's books in stores everywhere in a few years...

phenomenon of kids shouting book titles

My school presentation/slide show is on DVD. And to get kids excited about my visit, the title menu of the DVD flashes my book covers as they are getting settled into their seats. And an odd phenomenon has been happening...kids start shouting the titles. It gets me every time...

give this kid his own talk show!

KID: Remember your book Punk Farm?

JJK: Uh..yes.

KID: Do...do you remember that part where he goes, "OLD MACDONALD!"

JJK: Yes.

KID: Oh. Well that was my favorite part.

Northampton, Jersey and one more to go....SLUG FEST!

Northampton, MA was great! It was a HUGE signing with a gazillion authors at the Smith Campus School. Jane Yolen, Heidi Stemple, Grace Lin, Anna Alter, Patricia MacLachlan, Mordicai Gerstein, Scott Fischer...the list goes on and on! And on!

It was then down to New Jersey for Liberty Corner's Wizards of Words program. It was unreal! I think I may have autographed 300 books that day and that was just one school! I had the chance to meet some great teachers and some great students, one who was the spitting image of Monkey Boy. I mean, if Monkey Boy was older, he'd look just like this kid!

And of course, I have pictures of all of these events, but I have too many illustrations that need to be painted to spend time on flickr right now. I'm in the home stretch. I'm beyond the part of painting where I get frustrated and nothing is coming out the way that I want and have slipped into zen mode. The final few weeks of painting is actually the most enjoyable, though it can be stressful at times. I am loving the way these paintings are coming out and I think that it is going to be a killer book!

I have.....ONE LAST BOOK EVENT FOR SLUG!!!!!!!! It's this Saturday - 11/11 @ 11 AM at the Space Gallery in Portland, ME. The Lunch Box Series is becoming SLUG FEST!

This is what is going down at Slug Fest (according to the good people at the Lunch Box Series):

At SLUG FEST kids can--

-BE the slug

-SLIME like a slug

-CREATE their own buddy slug

-Lay about on the floor feeling SLUGGISH -And take home their very own SLUG iron on


I've been looking forward to this one all year! See you there!
Until then - I'll be painting!

ETC's Author of the Month

Check out Embracing the Child's website to read a nifty interview they conducted with me.

And while you are on their site, read up on all of the cool things that ETC is doing to give books to much needed young readers! After you are done reading up on this amazing program, check out the archive of authors interviews on their site.

Thanks ETC!

Worcester's Pulse Magazine...

published a very nice article on my work.

Check it out here.

On Boston's NBC '06

Texas

Texas was great! There are a million stories to tell, but I only have time for a few. First off, I won't tell you about a lunch with Cypress Fairbanks librarians where the waiter thought that one of the librarians was my mother. Because that would probably embarrass Leslie way too much. But I will tell you that I had another great year with all of the librarians down in the Cy-Fair district in Houston. They are true rock stars. This district knows how to do author visits right! They've been doing it for so long and they are so good at hosting. This marked my 4th year down to their district and it really is like a reunion with old friends. A HUGE thank you goes to Heather Jankowski who organizes my visit year after year and who ensures that each visit is a big success through her impeccable organizational skills and energy! Another big thank you goes to the Texas Book Festival for having me. It was a blast. There were a few really cool things that they did, which I didn't realize going in. 1) They bring picture book authors in a day early and send them into underprivileged schools. They then GIVE 100 books out to the kids who hear the authors read and speak! That is amazing! Aces all around! 2) They have a local kid introduce the picture book authors at he festival. There was Mitchell, who had read every single book of mine, dressed in shirt and tie with shiny shoes, ready to read a page long introduction that he had written himself! Amazing! And a complete honor! I had the chance to see a great panel on YA literature and saw some old friends and new friends read their work and discuss their books. Not for Required Reading was nothing short of entertaining. I'm home now and painting. I'm under a tight deadline! I have but 3 more book events for SLUG and then it will all be over! I'm in the final stretch here....

kid quote

In discussing how it took Slug 9 years to get published, a kid in the back of the room exclaims, "Well, it has so many words! No wonder!"

kid quote

I'm about to take off for Texas, but I just remembered this story.

Back up in Vermont, during the Q&A session, this kid raises his hand....

KID: Do you know that show 'Blues Clues'?
ME: Yes, I do.
KID: Well, were you like the host of that show or something?
ME: Uhhh....no. No, that wasn't me.
KID: Oh, I wasn't sure. They always have new hosts and I thought that you looked like that guy....

NY Times!

WHOA! Check it out!


THE SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW!!!

I.

AM.

SO.

EXCITED!!!!!!

Channel 3 News Worcester

This is my interview from Channel 3 Worcester. I went to high school with the reporter/newscaster. Pretty random, huh? And my mom was right - I look tired in this interview! It was a last minute interview and I was running around trying to get things done before SLUG came out. But it's pretty good just the same. Here it is -

Thank you, Abilene, TX ISD!

Thank you, Abilene, TX ISD for nominating Punk Farm for their Mockingbird Award!

http://www1.abileneisd.org/mockingbird/index_files/page0002.htm

sensory overload / surreality

A very quick overview of what was the most surreal, amazing weekend…

Friday evening, I stopped by the Horn Book/Boston Globe Book Awards ceremony before heading down to Providence. There, I got to connect with James and Lesa Ransome and also had the chance to meet (very briefly) Kate Dicamillo. I also had the pleasure of meeting Jack Gantos. Now, this was a long time in the making, as we’ve almost met a bunch of times. But we did, sort of, meet years ago. And I had the chance to recount this story to him:

When I was in third grade, Jack visited my school. He talked about Rotten Ralph and after his talk, we returned to our classrooms and drew our own Ralphs. Jack visited my classroom, walked by my desk and said, “Nice cat!” I still remember that, to this day! And whenever I visit a school, it’s in the back of my mind. It’s not every day that you get to recount a story like that to the person that it is about, but I have always been of the mindset to give credit where credit is due and to let people know what kind of impact they had on your life.

Saturday was the big day - The Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Book Authors! I had been waiting for this for months. Jon Scieszka would be there, among many others. And what I was most looking forward to was being part of an event with Chris Van Allsburg. I had met Chris a few times in the past, but once as a nervous RISD student approaching him after a lecture and once as a fan standing in line for an hour to get a book signed… But never as a fellow published author. You see, when I was a senior in high school, my art teacher brought in The Garden of Abdul Gasazi for me to look at. After seeing this book, my eyes were opened to the possibilities that picture books had. And there I was…signing books…right next to him! It was unreal. I’m still pinching myself! He is an incredible person and I feel very fortunate to have had the experience.

And after a full weekend of sensory overload meeting and hanging out with so many incredible authors and illustrators, on Monday I got the news that someone would be visiting Boston that night on their book tour….Lemony Snicket! And well, he didn’t show, but Daniel Handler was there. He presented to a very full house. You know a book reading/signing is a big deal when you turn up to a high school auditorium and the police are directing traffic! The “show” was amazing- a reading, audience interaction, audience participation, music, humor, improv…. I was too tired to wait in the autographing line, though. So now I am here, painting away on my new book. I am both charged with inspiration and stunned by over stimulation….

VT, KC and soon RI

OK, a few quick updates on the tour. I have too many paintings waiting to be painted to write too much, but... The drive up to Vermont was worth the trip alone. I bet that in a week or so the colors are going to be even more intense. The Brattleboro Lit Festival was good. My time slot had a slow start, but soon enough people came around and I had a full house. I read next to this beautiful valley / hill of trees thing. It's hard to explain, I'll post pictures later. I just got back from Kansas City, where I presented to different schools bussed into Hallmark's Kaleidescope program. That place is amazing and if you ever get to Kansas City and you have a kid - you need to go! Kids make crafts in a space that is beyond your imagination! (I'll post pictures for this later, too!)

And now I am painting, painting, painting before I head down to the Rhode Island festival of Children's Books and Authors . There will a ton of cool authors and illustrators there.

Here's the full list:

Louise Borden
Andrew Clements
Etienne Delessert
George Harrar
Brian Lies
Lisa & Tucker Johnson
Jarrett Krosoczka
Jon Scieszka
Mark Stamaty
Chris Van Allsburg


And the Slug count goes on..... That's a lot of readings for 1 month!

like a boomerang

So now you have it - the full cycle of a book. While I have a few more events coming up for the Slug book tour, I have now come to the epilogue in the story of My Buddy, Slug's creation.

Today, FedEx dropped off a package with the original paintings from Slug, back from Random House.

And I am now knee deep in paintings for my next book!

Whenever you get the paintings back, it's been about a year since you have seen them in person. And it really is like seeing them for the first time. The light catches the texture in a certain way. They are a little bit smaller then I remember them being. I guess that's because I've been looking at a GIANT sized version of the illustrations of late and they probably also look smaller because they have big white borders and crop marks. For now I will frame some for my upcoming exhibitions and place the rest in storage for art shows yet to come!

Seth Green reads Punk Farm!

Back in June, my friend Jamie was attending a fundraiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation out in LA. Celebrities were reading books to kids and Seth Green walked up on stage with a copy of Punk Farm! She couldn't believe it! That was her friend's book! Well... my book!

Here are some pics that she just sent me!

Kentucky, Cincinnati and Akron!

See what happens when you don't update every day? You forget details.

Anyhow - I had a great event with the good people at Blue Marble in Kentucky and visited with a great group of students in Cincinnati on Tuesday.

I also got to meet up with Derek Anderson and Jenni Holm, who were both on tour and we all ended up staying at the same hotel!

Interesting fact#1: Jenni and I have been friends now for about a year or so and have never met in person!

Interesting fact#2: Derek and I have hung out three times now, but never in the same city twice and never in our own home towns!

I had a great drive across the state of Ohio. It was a great drive; there were a lot of farms.

I had one last event in Akron, OH at the public library. It was set up by my good friend Abby Bays. When she got her job in their marketing department, she wrote right away and I'm so glad it worked out. We had a blast. She was nervous to take me out in public, due to her fear of the Highlights Magazine gossip column paparazzi.

And now I am finally home!!! For now.

I have a great weekend ahead at the Brattleboro Literary Festival. The leaves have been turning colors while I've been away and I'm excited to see what the colors might look like a little bit north of here.

exhibit @ foster gallery at the end of november

Just a heads up - I will be exhibiting original paintings from my books at the Foster Gallery in Dedham, MA at the end of November through the beginning of January. Other artists in the show include Grace Lin, Kelly Murphy, Peter Reynolds, Fred Lynch, Paul Olson and Ann Smith.

Thank you, Michigan!!!

I just found out that Punk Farm is up for a state award in Michigan, too!

It's an honor just to be nominated! I know that sounds like a cliche, but it's true - it's a complete honor to be listed amongst so many esteemed books!

Check out the announcement for the Mitten Award here! A big thanks to the Michigan Library Association!

Worcesta' radio

My interview with Mark Lynch on Inquiry has been archived on their site - http://www.wicn.org/programs/archive/in091006p2.m3u


We talk about My Buddy, Slug; Lunch Lady; Hollywood; and I announce the top secret picture book that I've been alluding to on this blog....

random funny kid quote

After (purposefully) messing up a drawing in front of 150 kids and announcing my embarrassment, a kid in the first row says,

"You don't need to be embarrassed. We understand. It happens."

random funny kid quote

"Slug's just like my brother. He won't shut up!"

-A kid at a New York City reading.

Thank you, Wisconsin!!!

No, really! Thank you, Wisconsin!

Punk Farm is up for a book award in Wisconsin - and the best kind, too - the kind voted on by students!

Check out the WEMA Golden Archer list for '06-'07!

Wrapping up Chicago - off to Cincinnati!

Chicago was awesome!!!!

I had great morning events all day on Thursday and then I had a stellar turn out on Thursday night! It was billed as a bedtime story hour and a bunch of kids came out to hear a reading - in their pajamas! Plus, there was a local education masters program that turned up as well. I also got to see another old camp friend - Mark. Another bit of trivia for you loyal readers - Mark is the guy who started his own record label - 3rd World Industries. We compared and contrasted the book industry to the music industry and it is surprising how similar they can be.

We had a lot of fun turning up to the book signing and sitting in the audience. I acted as though I was an impatient fan and yelled up to Ann Marie (who was running the event), "Hey, when is the author coming?! This is ridiculous! I've been waiting months for this book!" "Oh you mean, this one - My Buddy, Slug?" she asked. "Yeah, that one -it's really good!" The banter went on. You should have been there.

I got to meet Momma and Sister Sherman. My agent's family has been reading my books at their school. And for their students, they made Slug into a parable for the Yom Kippur holiday, teaching about forgiveness and the new year. Very cool.

Another early morning on Friday to a great event way out, an hour north west of Chicago - then a quick trip back to the airport where I caught a flight to Dayton, OH.

And then today - two great events with both Books & Co stores in Dayton.

Now - I have some time to just chill out.

Because next week - I'll be at it again!

Autographed copies of SLUG

If you don't live anywhere near my book tour stops, and you were looking to get a signed book - I signed a bunch of stock for Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops' online store.

Here's the link - http://www.schwartzbooks.com/cgi-bin/item/A375833420

Milwaukee, then Chicago....

It was an early, early flight from Pittsburgh to Milwaukee! I was incredibly excited to have 14 hours in Wisconsin. I had the chance to read to some very enthusiastic crowds in Milwaukee schools in the morning. And when I read Punk Farm and got to yell "Thank you, Wisconsin!!!" - well, it was awesome. And the teachers especially appreciated it. Now when I explained that hidden within the pages was compost bags that were from my friend Fr. Dom's compost product - Fr. Dom's Duck Doo, a teacher in the front cheered - because her garden had grown so well using that compost. Ha! It's just funny because Dom and I have known each other for 10 years from the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and as his business grew and my books were getting published, we would always needle the other for getting too famous to call. If anyone knows Fr. Dom - you know that he can be a smart alleck. So he didn't believe me when I told him that teachers were singing his compost's praises.

And Fr. Dom and I did get to spend the afternoon catching up. We walked around downtown Milwaukee and he showed me around, pointed out interesting facts about buildings and we walked around Milwaukee's new art museum building - which is amazing. I would say it would be worth the trip alone! After catching up with my old friend, I headed to my evening book signing. There, I got to meet the very talented and fellow central Massachusetts kid Jeff Newman. Turns out we grew up a few towns away, were just one year apart in high school and knew a few of the same people from high school art classes!

Then it was off to a late night drive to Chicago. You can imagine at this point that I am BEAT! And I left Wisconsin without seeing a single cow!

With a few hours of sleep behind me, I woke up to conquer the suburbs of Chi-town! And did I ever feel like a rock star in the morning school visits! They had made banners and bagheads and put together a bulletin board of "What they learned from Slug". The responses were priceless and I think that once this tour is over, I will be posting one here every few weeks or so! And how lucky was I that my tour would take me to western Chicago suburbia where my friend Galen goes to school?! For those loyal readers, you may remember that Galen was my friend from when we had that crazy monster puppet this past summer. Well, the puppet made the trip just to see his old buddy Galen. (The irony of the whole thing is that my media escort for the day was driving around Kevin Clash and Elmo the week before.) Galen got to see my school presentation, which was so cool because he knew half the art in the slide show. In fact, Galen was one of those campers who I read Slug to back in the late 90's when he was a camper at the Hole in the Wall Gang. And Galen (who always wore a yellow hat at camp) is a background character in one of my books. Galen showed me around Wheaton, which has a beautiful campus and a nice little downtown area. But then it was off to the next event -

Which was -OK. Not the biggest event, but not the smallest (that record is still at 1 kid for me - which I'm sure will someday be broken by 0). But that is the nature of the beast. You learn not to take it personally.

And now I am finally rested and off to conquer another suburban area of Chi-town!
I have so many great pictures that illustrate all of these stories, but I have had NO time to upload them! So you'll have to see a bunch at once. Maybe I'll upload some this weekend, we'll see.

ありがとう、東京 Thank you, Tokyo!!!!!

(Punk Farm)

I'm psyched to announce that Soensha, a Japanese publisher, will be publishing Punk Farm in Japan!

If the free translation sites are correct "Thank you Wisconsin" will sound something like "Domo Wisconsin!"

I don't have a pub date yet, but it should be within the next year and a half or so!

Pittsburgh!

I had the best day in Pittsburgh. The day started early at a great local school and then I got to see old friends from Camp Sunshine who I haven't seen in 4 years. Diana came with her sons Mishan and Nathaniel. They showed me all around town and I have to say - Pittsburgh is a cool city. It was so great to reconnect with these old friends that I've known since '96! In fact, when I first wrote Slug, I brought it up to camp to read to the kids. So I read Slug to Mishan and Nathaniel 9 years ago when they were 4 and 7 and I read Slug to them today when they were 13 and 16! It was awesome. Except this time around, they were taller than me!

That really is the coolest, most unexpected part of my career. I'm able to reconnect with so many great, old friends. It's a rare thing to be able to do and I love it! It's very appropriate that my Slug tour would take me through Pittsburgh. I had a great reading and signing in the evening at Joseph-Beth books. It's hard to tell how evening book signings will go sometimes, especially in a city where I've never had an event before. And just before the event - I thought it might just be me and my friends. But a good amount of people came out! I was very pleasantly surprised. And speaking of surprises - as I was reading, my friends Paul Raj and Amber turned up. I didn't even know that they lived in Pittsburgh, let alone a few blocks from the store!

Well, I should probably get some sleep, as I need to leave the hotel at 4 AM tomorrow to catch my flight to Milwaukee! Yikes, I know! But I am so excited - tomorrow I will read Punk Farm and say "Thank you, Wisconsin" and mean it!

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune has given Slug some props.

NYC was great, mid-west - here I come!

So my events in New York City were great! The Time Out NY Kids event at Books of Wonder was awesome and the events at the Children's Museum of Manhattan were good, too!

A lot of great friends came out to the big Time Out NY Kids event. I'll be sure to post some pictures soon!

I'm in Pittsburgh now and I'm ready to get in front of some great audiences tomorrow and all week! It's a busy, busy few weeks and I'm ready for it!!!

studiojjk.com/events.html

Oh - and I'm also carting the big Slug book around in a giant portolio that I painted up in orange Slug drawings. So if you see me running to catch a plane, I'll be that guy with the giant portfolio with orange Slug drawings on it....

Hey, New York City!

Come on out to Books of Wonder on Friday at 5:30 to help me and Time Out New York Kids celebrate My Buddy, Slug as their inaugural book club pick! They're giving out some free stuff and I, of course, will have free Punk Farm stickers.

Also, I will be talking and showing some slides of my childhood work at the Children's Museum of Manhattan on Saturday at 3 & 4.