Krosoczka, Jarrett
The year is 1998 and young Jarrett Krosoczka is a junior at the Rhode Island School of Design. The Lunch Lady and The Platypus Police Squad are years away. While most of his peers are assembling traditional portfolios for their work, early adopter Jarrett is creating a portfolio website. Jarrett recalls that “Every teacher told me that no art directors would take the time to look at art on the internet.”
Before graduation, Jarrett had two professional gigs under his belt and was ready to live his dream as a creator of illustrated books for children. “There was no big glamour–my name was misspelled on both covers,” he chuckles. Yet, within the pages of those two books, the young illustrator showed that he could illustrate the same character over a series of illustrations.
At the same time, it was important to the young artist that he not be identified totally with one character or project. That is one reason why The Lunch Lady books stopped at ten and why The Platypus Police Squad will be finished at four. “I’m always planning ahead,” he muses, “[thinking] about the finite amount of time you have to share your characters and stories with the world.”
Jarrett’s eyes were first opened to the possibilities of a career in children’s books when an inspired high school art teacher showed the gifted student two contemporary picture books: Chris Van Allsburg’s The Garden of Abdul Gasazi and The Salamander Room with illustrations by Steve Johnson. “That changed the trajectory of my life,” explains the author and illustrator. “Before that, I had a mindset that you had to be a working illustrator or cartoonist for a big company and draw for someone else’s characters.” Those two books “taught me that I could have my own voice and it could be something that would live on a bookshelf for some time.”
His earliest influences could be found every weekend: the comics supplement in the Sunday newspaper and Saturday morning cartoons. Years later, after a contribution to Guys Read, the prospering Krosoczka looked back at the funny pages with a certain nostalgic longing. “I wrote a post on facebook imploring editors to make me a part of more anthologies,” he recalls. Baby Mouse author Jenni Holm (http://www.btsb.com/2014/07/10/jennifer-holm-about-the-author/) commented that there should be an anthology of comics. Jarrett was quick to respond directly, suggesting that they be the ones to put it together: “Instead of waiting to be invited to the party, let’s host the party!” Along with Jenni’s brother Matt, the three of them created an anthology that was a love letter to the comics they loved as kids. In spite of the logistics challenges–I have never sent so many emails in my life” remarks the anthologist–the project was a success for everyone involved. “Imagine trying to keep a dozen kittens in a box,” suggests Jarrett, who then slyly adds, “But it’s totally worth it because what’s more fun than playing with a box of kittens?”
As you might expect, Jarrett receives loads of fan mail. “One asked me if I have a private jet,” he recalls. He notes that it’s a common misconception for kids, the idea that authors have private jets. “But, no, we have to share it with other authors, like a giant carpool in the sky.”
His own memories of school and the library are “fuzzy” and the library room itself was a multi-use space. “The library always smelled like tater tots.” Jarrett does definitely remember that the librarian introduced him to James and the Giant Peach and the world of James H. Trotter.
He sees today’s libraries and their spaces very differently. “When I visit school libraries today, I see these super spaces designed to ignite the imagination,” exclaims the author/artist. He is a passionate supporter of librarians and marvels how they “get to know 500 kids and know what they have read and what they may want to read next and know all the books in their collection plus all the books coming—just to keep the kids reading.” He pauses for a breath, and concludes “It’s so much more than just checking books in and out.”
Interviewed by Ellen Myrick, November 2014
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