John Rocco at Hollins!

Wowsa - we hit the ground running at Hollins University this year! We had our main speaker come in the first weekend. I was thrilled to have John Rocco here as he's been one of my illustrative heroes for years. And he's a darned nice guy.
     John has a plethora of books like these three and one of my faves, WOLF! WOLF! which I use in my Picture Book Design class. Although, the ones you are probably most familiar with are the Rick Riordan books - PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF. (And all the sequels and accompanying titles.) John spoke two times. The first was to a general audience in the theater, where he shared his history as a clam fisherman (seriously) and his path into children's books.
     The next day he did a talk and a workshop in the studio with our students. He was as enlightening as I'd hoped he'd be. I know our MFA in Children's Book Writing and Illustrating and Certificate in Children's Book Illustration students learned a ton - I certainly did! He was so kind and entertaining as well - a big hit with everybody! Faculty (this is Dennis Nolan and Lauren Mills)and students alike! (Click the image below to see it larger in a new window.) Me, Ashley Wolff and Ruth Sanderson took John out for BBQ before we had to send him back to California. Wish we could have kept him around - what a nice and talented guy! Get back to work, John - we want to see more from you!