John Rocco

Christopher John Rocco (born July 9, 1967) is an American illustrator of book covers and children's books. He is best known for illustrating the covers of books in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. He is the sole creator of some children's picture books.

Rocco was raised in Barrington, Rhode Island. He studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and earned a degree from the latter.

Rocco is married to Aileen and they have a daughter Alaya. They currently live in Los Angeles. Aileen also writes and illustrates children's books. They lived in Brooklyn at least to 2010 and his personal website biography gave that residence as of March 2012.

Rocco did not take drawing seriously until he was 19 years old. Rocco has also been an international art director in the entertainment industry. Rocco was the pre-production art director at Dreamworks for the film Shrek. He designed attractions at Disney's Epcot and served as art director for DisneyQuest.

Two companion books to the Percy Jackson series were published in 2014 and 2015, with lavish interior illustrations by Rocco, Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. Regarding the first Kirkus observed in a starred review, "Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning ...".

Rocco was a runner-up for the American Library Association Caldecott Medal, which annually recognizes the best in U.S. children's picture book illustration, when Blackout was named a Caldecott Honor Book in 2012.

This is a "middle grade/YA novel" by Rocco and an old friend, the "captain of the shellfishing boat I worked on as a child".

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