John Rocco facts for kids
John Rocco (born July 9, 1967) is an American artist who creates amazing pictures for books. He is famous for drawing the covers of the popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. John Rocco also writes and illustrates his own children's picture books.
Contents
About John Rocco's Early Life
John Rocco grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island. He loved art and studied illustration at two well-known schools: the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He earned his degree from the School of Visual Arts.
John Rocco's Creative Career
John Rocco started drawing seriously when he was 19 years old. Before becoming a full-time book illustrator, he worked in the entertainment industry. He was the pre-production art director at DreamWorks for the movie Shrek. He also designed attractions at Disney's Epcot and was an art director for DisneyQuest.
John Rocco spent 18 months in Manila, Philippines, as an animation director at ImagineAsia. There, he worked on projects involving CGI animation (computer-generated images), motion capture, and story development.
He created many detailed illustrations for two companion books to the Percy Jackson series: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (2014) and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes (2015). Reviewers praised his artwork, saying it looked like it was "hit by lightning."
Awards and Recognitions
John Rocco's work has won several awards. In 2012, his picture book Blackout was named a Caldecott Honor Book. This means it was a runner-up for the prestigious Caldecott Medal, which celebrates the best children's picture book illustrations in the U.S.
His book How We Got to the Moon was also recognized. It was one of ten books chosen for the longlist of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
Other awards John Rocco has received include:
- Borders Original Voices Award for best picture book
- Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators
- New York Times Best Book of the Year
- 2015 Irma Black Award Honor for Blizzard
Books Written and Illustrated by John Rocco
John Rocco has written and illustrated several of his own popular children's books:
- Wolf! Wolf! (2007) – This picture book tells the classic "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story from the wolf's point of view. It was his first book as a writer.
- Moonpowder (2008)
- Fu Finds the Way (2009)
- Blackout (2011)
- Super Hair-o and the Barber of Doom (2013)
- Blizzard (2014) – This book is a companion to Blackout. It is based on John Rocco's own childhood experience during a big snowstorm in Rhode Island in 1978.
- Swim that Rock (2014) – This is a novel for middle school and young adult readers. John Rocco wrote it with his old friend, Jay Primiano.
Books Illustrated by John Rocco
John Rocco is well-known for his illustrations in many other books, especially for their covers.
Interior Illustrations
He has created pictures inside these books:
- Alice (1992) – written by Whoopi Goldberg
- Boy, Were We Wrong about the Solar System (2008) – written by Kathleen V. Kudlinski
- The Flint Heart: a fairy story (2011) – written by Katherine and John Paterson
- The Hunter Chronicles by E. J. Patten:
- Return to Exile (2011)
- The Legend Thief (2013)
- How to Train a Train (2013) – written by Jason Carter Eaton
- Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! (2015) – written by Todd Tarpley
- How to Track a Truck (2016) – written by Jason Carter Eaton
- Percy Jackson's Greek Gods (2014) – written by Rick Riordan, with over 60 paintings by Rocco
- Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes (2015) – written by Rick Riordan
- How to Send a Hug (2022) – written by Hayley Rocco
Cover and Dustjacket Art
John Rocco has designed the covers for many popular book series, including:
- Camp Half-Blood chronicles by Rick Riordan (starting in 2005)
- The Kane Chronicles trilogy by Rick Riordan (2010–2012)
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy by Rick Riordan (2015–present)
- Ring of Fire (novel) by Pierdomenico Baccalario (2009-2012)
- Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Adrienne Kress (2008)
For the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, another artist drew the first cover for The Lightning Thief. However, John Rocco later created new covers for all the books in the series. These new covers matched in style and even formed one large picture when placed side-by-side.
