Sketchbook Saturday

Terrence character sketch—2006

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!

Boston, this Saturday

I'll be in Boston this Saturday, October 16th, for the Boston Book Festival. At 10 AM, at the Trinity Church Forum, I'll join fellow artists Alexis Frederick-Frost, Aaron Renier,  and Jef Czekaj for a fun panel/improv draw-fest hosted by Robin Brenner.

Trinity Church is located on the eastern corner of Copley Square just opposite the John Hancock Tower.

See you there!

Sketchbook Saturday

Hector character study—2006

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:

Drawings from Kids

Looks like I need to step up my game! I am amazed that this young author has already written 100 books. And the Runaway Popsicles sounds brilliant. Well done!

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

Dee character study—2006

Drawings from Kids

What a great Lunch Lady! And I think that could very well be a new catch phrase!

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

LL5 - three months to go!

LUNCH LADY AND THE BAKE SALE BANDIT

on bookshelves 12/28/10

Sketchbook Saturday

Lunch Lady and Betty

gesture sketch - 2006

Drawings from Kids: Punk Farm edition

Some Punk Farm love! Aren't these drawings fantastic?

Speaking of Punk Farm love, Bank Street Books is celebrating 40 years of bookselling and to celebrate, the BSB staff voted on their 40 favorite books of the past 40 years. Punk Farm made the list! Check it out!  Color me honored!

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

I'll soon be getting ready for school visit season. . .

Fall 2010 Tour Dates

Hello there--

In-between Lunch Lady books, I'll be hitting the road to bring the series to new cities and perhaps, I will be landing near you soon. Please come out and say hello at any of the events posted below.

Happy impending sweater weather,
Jarrett

9/18/2010 - 11 AM
S. Hadley, MA -- Odyssey Bookshop
9 College St.
S. Hadley, MA 01075

9/21/2010
Benton, AK - Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library
Mabel Boswell Memorial Library
201 Prickett Road
Bryant, AR 72022

9/25/2010 - 3PM
Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Book Festival
Mount Vernon Place
600 Block North Charles ST
Baltimore, MD 21201

9/28/2010
Providence, RI - Mount Pleasant Library
Mount Pleasant Library
315 Academy Ave
Providence, RI

10/3/2010 - 3-5:30 PM
Strurbridge, MA - MSLA Conference

10/16/2010 - 10 AM
Boston, MA - Boston Book Festival
Event held at Copley Sq.

10/25/2010 
Phoenix, AZ
Time and location to be confirmed soon. Check back next week for updates!

11/7/2010 - 4 PM
Northampton, MA - R. Michelson Galleries
Annual Children's Book Illustration Show
132 Main Street
Northampton, MA 01060

11/8/2010
Cromwell, CT - CASL Conference

11/10/10 - 11AM
Albany, NY - The Little Book House

1475 Western Avenue

Albany NY 12203

11/13/2010
Storrs, CT - Connecticut Children’s Book Fair
Rome Commons Ballroom
Rome Hall, South Campus Complex
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT

Drawings from Kids

It doesn't get much better than this.

 

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

Recess Monkey's new CD

Looking for new tunes for your little one? Recess Monkey has a new CD out and it is amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I designed all of the artwork for it! When the boys sent me a super-secret advanced copy to listen to while dreaming up the artwork, I found myself listening to it on my own, just because I liked it. It is futuristic funk at its best! You can pick up The Final Funktier here and listen to a few tracks on the RM website.

And in case you missed it, click here to check out the Time article on Kindie music, which featured the trio from Seattle.

Sketchbook Saturday

Carle Honors Art Auction (and a sneak peak of Ollie)

The Carle Honors 2010

I am very proud to have contributed to the annual art auction in support of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I painted a picture of the hero of my next picture book—Ollie! Ollie will be published in September 2011 from Knopf, but you can get sneak peak at him over at the Carle Honors website. Click here to see Ollie, check out the other great art and get info on the September 30th Gala in NYC.

PS—We artists were asked to pay tribute in some way to one of the recipients of this year's Honors. Lin Oliver and Stephen Mooser are being recognized for all of their great work through the SCBWI. You'll notice that Ollie is flying a kite, the symbol for the SCBWI, an organization that has helped so many authors and illustrators realize their dreams.

PPS—All of the original works from the Carle Honors auction will be on display at Books of Wonder, 18 West 18th Street, New York from September 12th through the 29th. The silent auction will go down at the Carle Honors Gala on September 30. Each work is custom framed by the Museum.

Platypus Police Squad

Publishers Weekly reports on my next book series: PLATYPUS POLICE SQUAD. It'll be a heavily illustrated middle-grade chapter book and is set to be published in the summer of 2012 by Walden Pond Press at HarperCollins. I am beyond excited! I can't wait until I can tell you more about the series, but in the meantime, checkout the the PW article here!

Summah'

End of summer . . . oh so bittersweet. We had a great run. Here are a few highlights from the Krosoczka family's summer:

Lots of great time spent on the shore. Here's our annual beach-shadow family portrait.

Zoe picked up a stick and started drawing. She picked up a second stick and asked me to draw with her. (She often requests that I draw "Ra-ra"... and we draw a lot in our house.)

Ralph enjoyed our morning walks.

And we saw lots of these guys.

At the beach, I took some timeout to revisit some childhood favorites at the arcade. I was determined to get my initials in that top slot.

I eventually made it to the top slot, though admittedly, it was a much less competitive day.

Back at home, we put my projector to good use in the non-school visit months and played some Rock Band, projected onto the side of our shed.

We also had some great movie nights.

We also caught some real concerts, like MGMT...

...Green Day...

...and Cyndi Lauper.

And we made it to Fenway.

A wonderful summer all around! I even managed to get a lot of work down. But now it's "go-time", as I'm working on a deadline for a new book.

Hope everyone had a great summer! See you around in the fall!

Sketchbook Saturday

LL4 rough draft—2009