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

This is what a student requested I inscribe in her book

LL6 - 5 months to go

LUNCH LADY AND THE FIELD TRIP FIASCO will be on bookshelves 9/13/11!

On Sirius XM Kids Place Live on TUESDAY

Tune in at around 4:30 PM for the Absolutely Mindy Show. I'll be interviewed by a young cartoonist for a segment called "I Want to Be Like You When I Grow Up." Not sure if you can call in, but the number is  1-866-328-2345.

I'll also be helping push the Children's Choice Book Awards to a half-million votes for 2011! Have your kids voted yet?

Kid Quote

     This one is from my own two-year-old. Last night we were eating dinner and she was singing "Old MacDonald". Then she said, "Who sings that song?" She answered her own question with, "Punk Farm!" Then she asked, "Dadda, you write that book?"
    "I did write that book," I responded.
     "God job, dadda."


It doesn't get much better than that! Although, she may think that her father actually wrote that song . . .

Sketchbook Saturday

I'll be honest, I'm dropping the ball here. This week's sketch is an old one. I spent this week plugging away on a manuscript, visiting schools and wrapping up sketches for a book. All left little time for leisurely sketching.

Here's a sketch from my Boston days of riding the T.

Spare the Rock radio chat

I sat down with Bill Childs and his fabulous co-hosts/offspring for a radio chat on Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child. We covered new books, Meltdown '11 (&'12) and the Children's Choice Book Awards.

Bill does many amazing things. He hosts this radio show, he programs so many great events around town--most notably Meltdown. It has been beyond fun to work with him on making that event an annual one. But I like to sum Bill up by saying he's like the Dick Clark of hip, indie and GOOD kids' music.

You can listen to the radio interview here:
http://sparetherock.com/wordpress/?p=843


Speaking of Meltdown, PW had a nice mention of the event in their weekly kids' book newsletter. Check it out!

Kid Quote

KID: You're not the author.
ME: I am.
KID: Your name tag says "Larry". We're waiting for Jarrett!
ME: Oh, my tag actually says "Library".

Sketchbook Saturday

Pencils by daddy, finger paints by Zoe:

You know you've been visiting a school district for a long time...

...when you see a signed book dated 2003!

The River's Family Music Meltdown and Book Bash

I arrived at JFK Middle School thirty minutes before the scheduled start time and the parking lot was already half full. Parents and kids eagerly waited in their cars for the first band to take the stage at 10AM. The 3rd annual Meltdown was, by all measures, a huge success! An estimated two-gazillion people turned up to listen to hip kindie (kid-indie) music and visit with some fantastic authors.

I kicked the author track off with some goofing off on the drawing pad. Here I am with The River's morning show host, Monte Belmonte. Scott Fischer also made an appearance—we had a "squiggle-doodle-off".

Photo by Jeff Boggle of Out with the Kids

Kevin Markey, the author of the awesome SUPER SLUGGER series, entranced the kids with baseball gum and this incredible photo of Babe Ruth in a Red Sox uniform, which is autographed by Ruth's granddaughter!

Jef Czekaj didn't read, but rapped Hip and Hop Don't Stop. It tore the roof of the place. Here's a tiny glimpse:
















Jeannie Birdsall talked about what landmarks around town inspired the Penderwicks sisters' hometown, the fictional Cameron, MA. She also read from the third book, The Penderwicks of Point Mouette, which won't be published until May! (Fans nearly fainted.)

Finally, Jon Scieszka took the stage! Mr. Scieszka gave a sidesplitting set that included readings from The Stinky Cheese Man, Knucklehead and a chapter from Spaceheadz, written entirely in hamster.


Here's Jon with Marika and Sophia, the dedicated booksellers from The Odyssey Bookshop, who were on hand to sell books to the Meltdown-going public.

 

Want to learn more about the killer bands that rocked the stage? Listen to the audio archive for Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, The River's Saturday morning kids' show hosted by Bill Childs along with his kids, Ella and Liam. Bill brings in all the bands and I consider him to be the Dick Clark of cool current day kids' music. So bookmark his site and listen online frequently!

See you at Meltdown 2012!

Empire Book Festival

This Saturday I'll be headed to Albany, NY for the Empire Book Festival.

Here's my schedule:

11:45-12:30 - Fiction 2 Film
1:45-2:30  - Graphic Novels Unplugged

See you there!

Sketchbook Saturday

Jon Scieszka on the radio!

 

Listen to the Stinky Cheese Man discuss his early rejections from publishers and the powers that come with ambassadorship on WRSI The River.

Mr. Scieszka will be taking the stage at Meltdown at 2:40PM on Saturday!

WWW.RIVERMELTDOWN.COM

Jef Czekaj and Kevin Markey on the radio

Listen to Jeff talk about his books, like HIP AND HOP and A CALL FOR A NEW ALPHABET, while Kevin discusses his SUPER SLUGGERS series on Monte's morning show at WRSI The River. Both will be at Saturday's Meltdown!

 

Kevin Markey takes the stage at 11:40 AM!

Jef Czekaj takes the stage at 12:40 PM!

WWW.RIVERMELTDOWN.COM

Jeanne Birdsall on the radio

Listen to Mizz Birdsall talk all things Penderwicks, The National Book Award, and her appearance at this Saturday's Meltdown. Want a sneak-peak at Penderwicks #3, which doesn't come out until May? She'll be reading from the book at Meltdown at 1:40PM!

Click here to listen to Jeanne's interview on WRSI The River.

Music Meltdown & Book Bash THIS weekend

This Saturday is The River's Music Meltdown & Book Bash at JFK Middle School in Florence, MA. Leading up to the big day, radio host extraordinaire Monte Belmonte is chatting with this year's authors. 

Check out my radio interview with Monte here. We discuss this weekend's festivities, as well as the future of Lunch Lady, movie adaptations and the labor movement in Wisconsin.

And make sure you come by on Saturday. Gina and I have lined up a stellar group this year. Kevin Markey, Jef Czekaj, Jeanne Birdsall, and Jon Scieszka will all be taking the stage. Click here for the schedule.

Sketchbook Saturday

After a long, intense New England winter, my wife and I decided to cash in some of our hotel points and head south for a warm weekend.

LL4 nominated for a Children's Choice Book Award

I am delighted to announce that Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown has been nominated for a Children's Choice Book Award in the category of "Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year"! The Children's Choice Book Awards Program is the only national children's book awards where winning titles are selected by the young readers for whom they are written. It's an incredible honor to say the least!

Voting is now open at www.bookweekonline.com, so please encourage the kids in your life to vote! Educators and booksellers can also tally in their kids' votes and enter them into the website. The winners will be announced at a live Gala in in New York City on May 2nd, which coincidentally, I will also be hosting! I'm charged with introducing the presenters for the evening, which include such legends as Eloise illustrator Hilary Knight, fright-master R.L. Stine, National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Katherine Paterson and LeVar Burton, former host of Reading Rainbow! Wish me LUCK! If you're interested in attending the Gala, ticket information is here: www.bookweekonline.com/gala .

As host, I filmed a video announcing the nominees. If you're presenting the program to your classroom or library, the video is here: www.astorybeforebed.com/demo/ccba2011nominees .

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Sketchbook Saturday

Ralph Macchio (the pug) patiently awaiting my OK to eat his treat. I hope that Ralph Macchio (the actor) is as disciplined on Dancing with the Stars next season.

Funny Kid Quote

I had a great time running workshops at the Colorado Academy. With the Kindergartners, I ran workshops on drawing emotions on a character's face. I ran through all the basics—happy, sad, scared, mad. . .

And then I asked for suggestions from the kids. "What other kind of face could we draw?" I asked.

A kid in the front raised his hand. "A poker face!"

Like or Friend or Follow

For some time now, I have maintained a Facebook page where you can "friend" me. After speaking to some educators across the country who don't like to mix Facebook with any work contacts, I decided to start up a Facebook author page. So if you're concerned with me seeing your embarrassing high school hairdos and don't want to "friend" me, you can now "like" me here and still get all the latest news on my books.

Huh? Here's the simple version:

Friend me here.
Like me here.

Or if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

Rotary phones and carrier pigeons are also acceptable forms of communication.

Sketchbook Saturday

Last night I had the awesome opportunity to go on a ride-along with the Northampton Police Department. I'm currently working on the second draft for the first book in my PLATYPUS POLICE SQUAD chapter book series. As I imagined I would, I gained even more respect for the fine men and women who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe. I learned a lot of things that will most certainly make it into my books. 

Denver event this Tuesday

I'll be swinging by the Tattered Cover Book Store on March 8th at 7PM.


See you there!


Tattered Cover Book Store

2526 East Colfax Avenue

Denver

, 

Colorado

80206

Sketchbook Saturday

Today I am traveling home from the South Carolina Reading Association conference. The whole family came along for this trip.







Zoe let me borrow her crayons so that I could make good on my New Year's resolution.

Drawings from Kids

Check out this awesome drawing by Amiee! I visited Aimee's school virtually, so getting this drawing was especially cool.  It's just so neat to see that the kids are getting just as pumped up about writing and drawing with my virtual visits as they do with my in-person school visits.

Do you have a note or a drawing that you'd like to share? 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

Sketchbook Saturday

toddler gesture sketches

Virtual Author Visits

I just cut a video on my Virtual Author Visits. Here it is:



www.studiojjk.com/virtualauthorvisits.html

LL Uno

Lunch Lady y el sustituto cibernético, the Spanish edition of LL1, is now available! This edition is put out by a publisher in Spain, but the book is available here in the States as well.

As always, I encourage you to check with your local bookshop. If you are a local bookshop and want to order books for your store, check out Roca Editorial's website for more info. 

LL1 is also available in Catalan. Lunch Lady i el substitut ciborg is published by Grup 62.

Happy Valentine's Day

I didn't get you flowers, but I did finish the art for LL6. Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco will be available on September 13th, 2011.

Here's a sneak peak of the art:

Sketchbook Saturday

two napping pugs

Dan Santat's SIDEKICKS

Dan sent me a PDF of his near-complete graphic novel debut and I read it with my jaw open. It's gorgeous, it's fast paced and it is just so incredibly good. I cannot wait to own a copy of this book.

In the meantime, I'll need to up my game, as will we all.

Mr. Santat is running a cool campaign through his website where he's supporting his local indie and giving an e-book on the making of SIDEKICKS. Check it out. 

Sketchbook Saturday

my two-year-old daughter

Drawings from Kids

Check out this drawing by Mario. He was asked by his teacher to make up a character that might be included in Punk Farm on Tour. Mario said that his flamingo was radical. I agree! And I think Mario is radical, too. Keep drawing, sir!