The Children's Book Podcast

Jarrett J. Krosoczka (@StudioJJK) is the cartoonist of HEY, KIDDO: HOW I LOST MY MOTHER, FOUND MY FATHER, AND DEALT WITH  FAMILY ADDICTION. You may already know Jarrett from his best-selling LUNCH LADY graphic novel series, THE PLATYPUS POLICE SQUAD books, or from the JEDI ACADEMY series titles that bear his name, not to mention his many wonderful picture books. But today we’re focusing on something a little different. HEY, KIDDO is Jarrett’s graphic memoir and it’s intended for an older audience. A warning to listeners with young children: there are curse words in this episode that we do not bleep. Actually, side note, these occur during the times when Jarrett and I are reading excerpts from the book and they’re some of my favorite moments in our conversation. Jarrett shares how HEY, KIDDO was a story he needed to write, yet he admits that it would have been easier not to make the book at all. There are many, many challenging moments in Jarrett's life, but there is always love, and there is always hope, and