Jarrett Lerner – illustratör

A young boy struggles with body image in this poignant and “perceptive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade journey to self-acceptance told through prose, verse, and illustration.Will is the only round kid in a school full of thin ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with, because of his size—but he can’t help wondering what if? Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing. As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.

A young boy struggles with body image in this poignant and “perceptive” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade journey to self-acceptance told through prose, verse, and illustration.Will is the only round kid in a school full of thin ones. So he hides…in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn’t the only feeling that dominates Will’s life. He’s also got a crush on a girl named Jules who he knows he doesn’t have a chance with, because of his size—but he can’t help wondering what if? Will’s best shot at attracting Jules’s attention is by slaying the Will Monster inside him by changing his eating habits and getting more exercise. But the results are either frustratingly slow or infuriatingly unsuccessful, and Will’s shame begins to morph into self-loathing. As he resorts to increasingly drastic measures to transform his appearance, Will meets skateboarder Markus, who helps him see his body and all it contains as an ever-evolving work in progress.

A young ghost tries his best to fit in with the rest of the ghouls in this sweet and spooky chapter book by acclaimed author Jarrett Lerner.Bash, a young ghost who’s never been good at “ghost stuff” is heading off to Scare School, the world’s leading institution for elementary scare instruction, and he’s not happy about it. In fact, he’s kind of scared! His older sister Bella, precocious in every way, was a star student there and he knows the classes are hard and the teachers are tough. Even before his first day of school, Bash is worried about how he’s going to make it through the rigorous curriculum when he hasn’t been able to get the hang of basics like making himself invisible or passing through walls (without bonking his head!). Will the young ghost get booooted out of Scare School?

Bash the ghost learns to work with trouble-loving vampires in this second book in the sweet and spooky chapter book series by acclaimed author Jarrett Lerner.At the start of his second session at Scare School, the world’s premiere institution for elementary scare instruction, Bash is feeling a bit more confident and excited about his classes starting up again. But when Vlad and Vicky, the mischievous vampires, join his group project, Bash starts worrying if this mean-spirited duo are going to take a bite out of his good grade!

A boy gets buried in dirty laundry and pulled into time travel shenanigans after his mom’s latest experiment in this first book in the My Mad Scientist Mom chapter book series from acclaimed author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner.Ari’s life is filled with school, video games, and his pet turtle, Fred: pretty run-of-the mill stuff. But not anywhere near run-of-the-mill is Ari’s mom, who’s a mad scientist. That’s right, a MAD scientist. Sure, she strives to make people’s lives better with her inventions, especially at home. But all of Mom’s inventions seem to go just the slightest bit off kilter. And when she devises a time portal to help deal with the massive mounds of dirty laundry that have taken over their house, she creates a MUCH bigger problem than just stinky clothes, and it’s up to Ari to get them out of a prehistoric mess.

Ari helps a neighbor who accidentally gets shrunk by Ari’s mom’s latest invention in this second book in the My Mad Scientist Mom chapter book series from acclaimed author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner.Ari’s life is filled with school, video games, and his pet turtle, Fred: pretty run-of-the mill stuff. But not anywhere near run-of-the-mill is Ari’s mom, who’s a mad scientist. That’s right, a MAD scientist. Sure, she strives to make people’s lives better with her inventions, especially at home. But all of Mom’s inventions seem to go just the slightest bit off kilter. His mom puts a new invention to the test to help clean up the clutter in their house: a magnimizer, which can shrink or enlarge anything! Pretty amazing, right? Well, not if you happen to be Mr. Jakes, their neighbor who comes face to face with this gizmo and becomes the size of a cockroach—and a potential tasty morsel for the resident basement mouse! Can Ari save the day and teeny-weeny Mr. Jakes?