When Laura Given told me Jarrett J. Kroscozka was visiting her school library, I knew her students would have an AMAZING DAY. Jarrett's presentations are always dynamic and engaging.
I invited Laura on Watch. Connect. Read. to chat with me about how the visit went. I wrote the words in red, and she wrote the words in black. Thank you, Laura!
Mr. Schu, you should have asked me about how excited my kids were to be the first school to get to see the trailer for Jarrett’s new chapter book series Platypus Police Squad coming out this May!
Borrow Jarrett J. Kroscozka's books from your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.
I invited Laura on Watch. Connect. Read. to chat with me about how the visit went. I wrote the words in red, and she wrote the words in black. Thank you, Laura!
Award-winning author-illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka visited with all of the students at my school Kindergarten through 8th grade! We are a K-8 school, and it is extremely difficult to find an author or presenter who can connect with all the ages we have in our building. Jarrett met with ALL 750 of our students through 3 large group sessions (grades K-2, 4-6 & 7-8), he tailored what he did for each audience. With every age group, he was amazing and had kids engaged and excited about books and reading.
Jarrett J. Kroscocka’s picture books are bright, bold, funny and all checked out of my library!
My students love Jarrett’s picture book Punk Farm.
After learning about how Jarrett makes his pictures for his books, our young artists were eager to try his process... that very afternoon!
Here’s how Jarrett does it:
The Lunch Lady series are always in the hands of kids. They never make it to their Lunch Lady bin in the Comic Corner.
Jarrett told my students that they are all authors. He showed them his own stories and artwork from when he was in elementary school. He showed the older students his comics from middle and high school.
I think that is part of the reason kids feel so inspired by him and connected to him after his visit. They met a successful author/illustrator, and they got to see that he was once a kid just like so many of them - a kid who loved stories and art. When students see that, it can open up new possibilities they see for themselves.
My students will always remember…
Here’s what my students had to say about that...
“...seeing his comics.”
“...how he can draw soooo fast!”
“... he can draw Lunch Lady in about 10 seconds!”
“... seeing the pictures of where he works.”
“... how he used real people and experiences as inspiration for his books.”
“... how he got rejected so many times.”
“... that he was inspiring and he didn’t give up.”
Graphic novels are... When I asked my students to finish this sentence, overwhelmingly their response was an enthusiastic "awesome!"
Graphic Novels are a format that kids get excited about. When they have great characters, engaging story and lots of fun gadgets like the Lunch Lady series, students just can’t seem to get enough.
Mr. Schu, you should have asked me about how excited my kids were to be the first school to get to see the trailer for Jarrett’s new chapter book series Platypus Police Squad coming out this May!
