Today, in place of recommending a holiday book, I wanted to take a minute to thank one of the most gracious, talented and altogether wonderful children’s book authors around. Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of the inimitable Lunch Lady series among other amazing works, recently unveiled a piece of artwork in response to the tragedy in Connecticut. This piece, entitled “Make Magic, Preserve Wonder” is, to me, a true recognition of all that is most wonderful about children and all we must to do safeguard just that. This piece, which you can see above, was created by Jarrett to honor the beauty of childhood and the role that educators play in maintaining that beauty for the world. So today, in honor of Jarrett’s contributions, please take your child to a local library or bookstore and pick up one of his many, amazing books. From Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute (my sons’ personal favorite) to Baghead to Max for President, Jarrett makes magic and preserves wonder with every word he writes and each picture he draws.
Tag Archives: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Thursday: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute
Remember the Lunch Ladies we had growing up? Hair nets. Sausage Surprise. Mustaches. Today’s Lunch Ladies are so much cooler. The Lunch Lady at my son’s school is fabulous and nice and loves kids – all the traits the Lunch Ladies were certainly missing out on for me growing up. And their equipment today is so much cooler, too. My Lunch Lady’s technology consisted of an empty can of Yuban coffee that she’d put the dimes in for a carton of milk. Today, the Lunch Lady has this cool credit card swiper-looking contraption that allows the kids to pay for their lunch like they’re using an ATM. Super cool. Not perhaps as cool as the Lunch Lady in Jarrett Krosoczka’s awesome book, Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, since she can fly and drives a scooter with a “sloppy joe” button that allows her to cream her evil nemeses…ooo…and a “spatucopter” which sounds exactly like what is it – a spatula that can fly. Krosoczka’s graphic novels (yes, this is just the first in a set of Lunch Lady adventures!) are fantastic – fast-paced, entertaining and with just the right amount of kid humor to keep your children engaged and asking for more. Sure, she may have yellow rubber gloves and wear Mom jeans, but in this graphic novel, the Lunch Lady’s the coolest thing since sliced bread, or Sausage Surprise as the case may be…
My Mama's Goodnight 