Robin Williams Reads Moonpowder

I heard through the grapevine that Robin Williams had read "Moonpowder" at the recent "Time For Heroes" Celebrity fund raiser in LA. After scouring the internet for actual proof of this momentous news, I found some photos.

Moonpowder has Arrived!!

My latest book, Moonpowder is in stores now! So put your computer to sleep and go out and smack down $15.99 for 48 pages of fun! That's 50% more book for the same price as your average 32 pager. And the pages are nice and thick, giving it a hefty weight of 1.5 lbs! Compared to your average 15 oz picture book, Moonpowder is a heavyweight.
Here is a recent review from Booklist,

"...Eli's foray to the factory in his helio-rocket-copter provides ample opportunity for Rocco's fabulous artwork. His inventive paintings, done in deep, rich colors of night and tinged with gold, are used in spreads, panels, and full pages. The mechanical "gizbots" inside the factory, adjusting valves and dials, along with the intricate hand drawings of the factory's inner workings, will keep children, especially the mechanically inclined, totally fascinated. Although the story may not have quite as much magic as the artwork, the ending, which brings Eli's soldier father home, is sweet and satisfying. This will sustain many readings." -Ilene Cooper, Booklist

Cleveland Trip, Books of Wonder and other things

Last weekend was a trip to Cleveland to speak at the Margaret Skiff Literature conference. There were about 200 librarians and teachers in attendance. The speakers were, Pat Cummings, William Low, Denise Fleming and myself. Pat had some hysterical stories about her childhood and showed some work from her books "Talking with Artists". William Low also gave a great presentation on his process for working digitally. I have always been a fan of William's work, so it was a treat to spend the weekend with him. My talk was about how I got into the business and how I made "Wolf! Wolf!". It is always hard to tell how your own talk went, but I think it went well. Finally Denise Fleming brought the house down with her zaniness, and gave a fantastic demonstration of her paper-making technique.
When I came back from Cleveland I did my first in-store signing for Moonpowder at the Books of Wonder in NYC. There was a decent size crowd, but to be honest I think doing a signing with Lane Smith and Etienne Delessert didn't hurt! I also had the pleasure of meeting Dave Horowitz, the maker of some very funny books including "Five Little Gefiltes". It turns out he and I share a mutual friend, Tylor Durand, of the band "The Hornrims".

Bryant Park

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of doing a book reading in Bryant Park. It was part of the Children's Book Week celebration hosted by the Children's Book Council. I was thrilled to be introduced by one of my favorite authors...the Ambassador of Children's books, Jon Scieszka.
Greg Foley read from his "Thank You Bear" and "Don't Worry Bear" books, and Jack Lechner read from his very funny "Mary Had a Little Lamp" illustrated by the talented Bob Staake.
It was a fun day in the park and I was joined by my wife and daughter and a bunch of friends. My daughter was excited to hang out with Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog, but she was really enthralled with the man in the Lion costume. (I don't know what book he was from) After we all went to the Oyster Bar in Grand Central station to celebrate the Day before Mother's Day!

FIT judging

I had the pleasure of judging the senior illustration exhibit last week at the Fashion Institute of Technology. There were some incredible illustrations to choose from. There were about eight of us judging and most were faculty from FIT. In the end I think we chose some very well executed illustrations as the winners. One of the illustrations that I liked very much was a digital painting that looked like something from the production design of an animated film. It was beautiful, and yet had the unfinished look of production art that is so common. In judging the show, I had to ask myself "would I hire this person to illustrate_______(insert job here) ie: children's book, editorial, advertising etc. It was a great day of looking at art, meeting new illustrators and eating bags of bagels!

On another note, here is a picture of me and my editor, Namrata Tripathi (left) and my art director, Christine Kettner, at the Border Concept store in Ann Arbor, MI. I wish every Borders had that many copies of my book!

Borders OV awards

I just got back from Ann Arbor MI where I received my Original Voices Award from the fine people at Borders bookstores. The event was really great, and it took place at one of their new "concept" stores which had all the bells and whistles of a theme park for books! My editor, Nami, and my art director, Christine, where there with me which was great because it was a whirlwind day. First stop was the Borders headquarters where I had lunch with the ten committee members who chose my book as this years winner. Next we got a tour of the concept store, then in the back of the store there was a little stage along with giant posters of the four winning book jackets. (Fiction, Non-Fiction, YA/independent reader, and Picture Book). Around 5 o'clock the crowd started building and the award ceremony began. I was up first and here is the speech I read:

When I was 7 years old I won a coloring contest at a toy store in my hometown. I found out when I received an envelope in the mail with my name on it. Inside was a note of congratulations AND a gift certificate for $15 to use in the store. My math might be suspect but in 1974 that was equivalent to about $1 million dollars. I was bouncing of the walls. It was two agonizing days before my mother actually drove me to the store so that I could clean out their stock of super-balls, bat kites and balsa wood gliders.

When we arrived at the store, I jumped out of the car and ran towards the door, ready to set their cash registers ablaze, but I stopped dead in my tracks. There, hanging in the window of the Ben Franklin 5 and Dime was my Art. First prize…John Rocco…7 years old.
I stood there staring at it, filling up with pride till I was about to burst, knees shaking, eyes starting to burn. My mother stood smiling, holding the door open for me. I calmly walked in and bought $15 dollars worth of crayons and construction paper.

33 years later, I walk in to a Borders in Los Angeles, about to give one of my first public readings of the first book I had ever written. There was a sign announcing my arrival, as well as a borders employee standing just inside the door holding a copy of Wolf! Wolf! and telling everyone who walked in the door about the reading. He was about to tell me about the reading, then a look of recognition came over his face. “Welcome to Borders Mr. Rocco, were so glad you could come read your book today. We all love it.” I felt 7 years old again, but in a good way. Overcome with the kind of pride and joy that Seven year olds can only express by bouncing around as if they have to pee real bad.

First off, I would like to thank my fantastic teammates at Hyperion. Namrata Tripathi, my fabulous editor, for helping me find my voice. Christine Kettner, my savvy Art Director, for gently guiding my vision. And everyone else at Hyperion who make creating books for children such a joy.

I would also like to thank Borders, not only for this incredible honor, but for making me feel seven years old again…in a good way.
Thank You.

I was presented with the award which is actually a copy of my book encased in glass, which I thought was really cool. I will always have a pristine copy of my book in it's own little time capsule. I will try to post pictures soon. (My camera broke...so...)

PS 58 photos

Here are some photos of my recent visit to PS 58 in Brooklyn...


This is me and Giselle Gault, the principal of PS 58. The last time I was this close to a principal I was getting detention! She was super enthusiastic and I did NOT get detention.

I even got to try out their 1950's intercom system. Still in working order, no less.

PS 58 School Visit

I had a great time speaking to about 90 kids at the Carroll School (PS 58) last week. Their teachers had been prepping them all week, so when I arrived these guys and gals knew their stuff! I was especially thrilled with the audible gasps of excitement when I pulled out Moonpowder to read to them. I hadn't realized that the teachers had galley copies of the book (which doesn't come out until May 27th) and had been reading to the kids. I signed about 120 copies of Wolf! Wolf! and I think everyone had a good time. I know I did! Thanks PS 58!

Children's Literature Conference in WA

At the beginning of March I was a speaker at the Bond Children's literature conference in Bellingham Washington. It was a fantastic event and about 400 wonderfully enthusiastic teachers and librarians and fans of children's books attended. The other speakers were, Chris Crutcher, Christopher Paul Curtis and Eric Rohmann. Needless to say I was in some pretty decorated company. Between them they have a Caldecott Medal (ER), a Newbery Medal(CPC), Coretta Scott King Award (CPC) and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement (CC). At first I was slightly intimidated, but these guys were great and made me feel right at home. One of the highlights for me was having a quiet breakfast Sunday morning with Eric while we discussed my next book projects. He had some terrific ideas and we had a great time discussing the art of the picture book. I look forward to meeting up with these guys again in the near future!

SCBWI Winter Conference

I was told I need to start blogging more. Yes I admit, I have been really, really bad about it. I recently attended my 5th SCBWI conference, and again, I learned some new things. There were some terrific and inspiring keynotes; Richard Peck( A Year Down Yonder), Susan Patron (Higher Power of Lucky) and David Weisner (Tuesday, Flotsam) stood out for me. It was terrific to see David's process on how he created Flotsam.

One of the things I found interesting at this conference was all the talk about what Publishers are looking for. I could feel the audience, including myself, going over all the manuscripts in their heads, asking "do I have something that is like that?" "Perhaps I can adjust that ms to meet that need?" "Maybe I should write a biography piece?" "Maybe my art should be more like that?". This bothered me, because I know, deep down, that not of it matters. If you are working from your soul, writing and illustrating the things that you love to write and illustrate, good things will happen. Do you really think David Weisner asks himself "I wonder what kind of book will sell well?" Do you think Brian Selznick made Hugo Cabret because he saw a niche that needed to be filled? Do you think Susan Patron used the word "scrotum" because she thought the publicity would sell more books? NO. You have to write and illustrate the things you love. Don't worry about the rest. Get lost in your process, worry about the rest when your done. Otherwise your chasing a moving, and fickle target.

On another note, I was really happy for a fellow SCBWI'er, Jim Carol, who won the Portfolio Award. His work is beautiful, AND he is a great guy. I wish him the best of luck getting published.

painting not blogging....Moonpowder

Well, I just turned 40 and I have decided that it is better to paint (and meet my deadlines) than to spend my time blogging, updating my website and returning emails. So I apologize for the long delay between entries. Here are a few more paintings for my next book, Moonpowder. I have 2 more paintings to finish, and then I will re-visit each one to color correct, and tweak. After that, the book will be put together and a galley will be created which will be sent out to book buyers and reviewers. Once I see the finished galley (which is basically the finished unbound book) I will have one more chance to do some color correcting, and then I will wait for the finished book to come out in stores sometime next May. In the meantime I will be working on two more books. One is a science book (non-fiction) for Penguin, and the other is a book I am writing for Hyperion. I should also be receiving the manuscript for the next Percy Jackson book soon, so that I can illustrate the cover. That will be exciting. There are over a million copies in print right now! Lots to do, so if you don't here from me until the fall...enjoy the rest of the summer!

Howl's Moving Castle

I recently finished this painting for a re-packaging of Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle. I will also be doing a new jacket for her book Castle in the Air, as well as the latest in the series, which I cannot reveal the title. (But I read it, and it is good!) I am new to reading Diana's work, and I am already a fan. I saw the movie "Howl..." and it was hard to get those images out of my head when I was working on this cover. The first image is the initial sketch. The publisher liked the general direction, but wanted it to be a bright, sunny day in a lush green hillside. They also wanted me to place Sophie inside the castle. I gave in to the bright sunny day part, I think that will "pop" more. But I had to stick to my guns on keeping Sophie outside the Castle. If you have read the book, you know that Sophie is the tough one. She is the one who enters Howl's castle and reaks havoc, so I wanted her to look like she was in control of the situation somehow. As if she was the lone person standing in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square. The middle image is the final painting, and the last image is a detail.

Finally back to Painting

Well, I have finally gotten back to painting pictures for Moonpowder. This one takes place right after little Eli Treebuckle accidentally opens a Tornado Dispenser inside Mother Natures Closet. You know how that can be... I still have about 18 paintings to go for this book (including spots) and at last count there are going to be 44 paintings in this 40 pager. I have to finish the rest by July 24th, for it to be a spring 08 release.
On another note, I am headed up to Bank Street Books in NYC today to see Oliver Jeffers. (Author of Lost and Found, and The Incredible Book Eating Boy) I love his work, and this should be fun.

Book Reading in Brooklyn Sunday May 6th

I will signing at BookCourt on Sunday May 6th at Noon. BookCourt is at 163 Court St. between Pacific and Dean. BookCourt is a great neighborhood store in Cobble Hill and is surrounded by great places to eat, so if your around please stop by.

West Coast Book Tour

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to the West Coast, where I signed books, did some readings and met some great Librarians and Booksellers. One of the highlights was speaking at the Los Angeles Central Library to almost one hundred Children's Book Librarians about my work. Another highlight was visiting Hicklebees Bookstore in San Jose, CA. If you are excited about children's books, this place is your new mecca. They have fantastic artifacts from well known books tucked away in every obscure corner of the store. The back walls (near the offices and bathrooms) are covered with drawings and signatures of some of the most famous authors and illustrators of all time. I did a little doodle on the wall myself! Here are some photos from the events.

West Coast Tour 4/16/07 thru 4/27/07

I will be heading out to the West coast to do some promotional events for the next couple weeks. Please check my homepage for locations and times. www.roccoart.com
If you are in the area, please stop by and say hello! With these type of events, the more the merrier.

Alex and the Ironic Gentlemen

This is the latest YA book jacket I have completed for the newly formed Weinstein Books.

Gollywhopper Jacket-final Painting

Sorry it took me so long to post this. I am catching up on things now...

Another painting for Moonpowder...

Barnes and Noble Signing

I had a great time at Barnes and Noble in Staten Island this past Sunday. Here are a couple of pics. You can see my daughter Alaya wanting to crawl up into my lap during the reading. She is obviously trying her best to distract me, but the show must go on!