about the book
When he was just a boy in 1978, John Rocco and his entire Rhode Island hometown became trapped by 53 inches of snow that fell in the now-infamous Blizzard of ’78. The first snowflakes excited John as he saw them fall outside his school room windows. By the time he and his sister got home that day, the snow had only increased. In the morning school was closed! There was so much snow that John and his sister had to leave their house through a window, as the door would not open.
For the first couple of days it was pretty neat. John and his sister played in the snow. But more snow kept falling, and food supplies became scarce. John wondered how his neighbors were doing, and so he made snowshoes out of old tennis rackets to go out and see.
He found most of his neighbors needed food, too. So what does John do? He goes to the grocery store and returns home with a sled of groceries behind him! John saved the day!
about the author
John Rocco grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island, working for the shell fishing industry of Narragansett Bay. The work was hard, but raking up clams while standing in a leaky boat is an adventure many young boys might envy.
John went to the Rhode Island School of Design and School of Visual Arts in New York City. His career took off when Whoopi Goldberg approached him to illustrate her book Alice. From there, he jumped did graphic design for several big companies.
He also worked at Walt Disney Imagineering and at Dreamworks, acting as the art director for the highly successful first Shrek movie. He also illustrates the covers of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and creates CGI commercials, special effects, and projects for museums.
John is an extremely focused artist. Every work day, he is in his art studio as soon as he drops his daughter off at school and works long and hard, nearly finishing a painting each day. When writing, he’s up at 5:30 in the morning!
With wife Aileen, daughter Alaya, and their dog Jag, John lives alternately in Brooklyn, where he works, and in upstate Pennsylvania, where the entire family restored a farmhouse built in the 1860s—much to the chagrin of the chipmunks, mice, and six bats that once lived there.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Elizabeth Dulemba
Also by John Rocco:
Wonder Curl. Disney-Hyperion. June 2015.
Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom. Disney-Hyperion. 2013.
Blackout. Hyperion Press. 2011.
Fu Finds the Way. Hyperion Press. 2009.
Boy, Were We Wrong about the Solar System by Kathleen V. Kudlinski. Dutton Juvenile. 2008.
Moonpowder. Hyperion Press. 2008.
Wolf! Wolf!. Hyperion Press. 2007.
read more!
Blackout by John Rocco
In a city apartment a family of four goes about its typical evening. The youngest child reaches for a board game, the older sister is talking on the phone, mom is finishing up on the computer, and dad is cooking dinner—until the lights go out! All of them! During the blackout, the city’s residents rediscover the joys of spending time together without the trappings of modern technology.
Big Snow by Jonathan Bean
For little David the winter clouds can’t deliver his “big snow” fast enough. Antsy for the flakes to fall, David “helps” his mother with some holiday housecleaning. Sheet-changing and tub-scrubbing become imaginary whiteouts in David’s mind. His mother’s day becomes a long one—until finally, during a magical nap time, the snow starts falling.
Snow Day! by Lester Laminack
How great is it when the weatherman announces snow, enough snow to cancel school? This little boy thinks it’s amazing! He immediately plans all the fun things he’s going to do with his family—drink hot chocolate, go sledding. He might read a book even, who knows? No school!