About 

John Rocco is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including Blackout, recipient of the Caldecott Honor and How We Got To The Moon, recipient of the Sibert Honor and Longlisted for the National Book Award. Rocco has illustrated the covers for Rick Riordan's internationally bestselling series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and The Trials of Apollo. He also created the illustrations for the #1 New York Times bestsellers Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. 

For many years Rocco has been an art director in the entertainment industry, both in the US and abroad. At Dreamworks, Rocco was the pre-production art director on the top-grossing animated film Shrek. For Walt Disney Imagineering, he designed attractions at Disney's Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest, a virtual reality theme park in Downtown Disney. Rocco has worked with computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel, the creator of some of the first CGI commercials and special effects, and contributed to several museum projects including Newseum in Washington D.C. and Paul Allen's Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame.

Awards, accolades and other things...
 
How We Got To The Moon
-2020 National Book Award Longlist
-2021 Sibert Honor Book
-2021 YSLA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Finalist
-2021 Mathical Book Prize Winner
-SCBWI Golden Kite Finalist
-Cybils Award Middle Grade Nonfiction Finalist
-Junior Library Guild Selection
-Orbis Pictus Recommended Title
-Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year
-Kirkus Best Book of the Year
-Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
-Booklist Best Book of the Year
-Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
-Starred Reviews from Kirkus, PW, Horn Book, and Booklist

Blackout
 -New York Times Bestseller
 -2012 Caldecott Honor Book
 -ALA Notable Book
 -2011 Best Book Award National Cartoonist Society
 -2012 Editors Choice Award for ChildrensBooksGuide.com
 -Wisconsin Golden Archer Award
 -New York Times Best Book of the Year
 -Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year
 - PW Best Book of the Year
 -School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
 -Kirkus Best Book of the Year
 -Cybils Finalist
 -A Junior Library Guild Selection
  -Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) Best Book of the Year
  -Indie Next List
  -Starred Reviews from Kirkus, PW and School Library Journal
  -Selection for the 2x2 Texas Reading association list
  -Currently being adapted into a live action feature film with FOX
  -Currently published in 9 languages

Blizzard
-Starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, BCCB
-Best Book of the Year Wall Street Journal
-Boston Globe Best Book of the Year
-Kirkust Best Book of the Year
-Amazon Best Book of the Year
-A Junior Library Guild Selection
-Finalist for the Irma Black Award
-Bank Street Best Book List
​-Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Nominee
-Currently published in 6 languages
 
Wolf! Wolf!
-Borders Original Voices Award
-NAAPA Gold Award (National Parenting Publications Awards)
-Silver Award for the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles
 
Moonpowder
-part of the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators
 
Fu Finds the Way
-Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award for Best Book
-part of the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators

Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom
-Selection for the 2x2 Texas Reading association list
 -Currently published in 4 languages

How to Train A Train
-Selection for the 2x2 Texas Reading association list
-starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, PW, SLJ
 
The Flint Heart
 -Starred Reviews from Kirkus, PW and School Library Journal
 - part of Original Art Show at Society of Illustrators

Swim That Rock
-Rhode Island Representative Book for the National Book Festival
-Finalist for the New England Book Award
-Finalist for the Rhode Island Teen Book Award
 
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods
-A #1 New York Times Bestseller
-Starred Review from Kirkus
-Kirkus Best Book of the Year
-Finalist for Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards for Best Book
-Finalist for Children’s Choice Book Awards 2015
 
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes
-A #1 New York Times Bestseller
​
Solo exhibition of his work at the Orlando Museum of Modern Art (July-October 2012)
 
John Rocco spent 18 months working as animation director at ImagineAsia in Manila, Philippines.  John oversaw production of cg animation, motion capture and story development for several projects.
 
John Rocco was the founder of The Bookmakers Dozen,  a group of 13 talented children’s book illustrators, including: Sophie Blackall, Brian Floca, Peter Brown, Brett Helquist, Dan Yaccarino and others.  The Bookmakers Dozen had many group shows and events with the goal of getting art and books in the hands of children. http://bookmakersdozen.blogspot.com