John Parra
John Parra is a visual artist born in the USA, who is also a children’s book author. His work has countless influences, mainly from his childhood, when he lived in Santa Barbara, California, devoting most of his time to drawing landscapes and local customs. Having earned a degree in Fine Arts from the Art Center College of Design of Pasadena, he worked, as a designer for several clients, including United Airlines and National Geographic. As a visual artist, he had his work exhibited in galleries and museums all over the USA and today has work in countless private collections. Among the various prizes he received, the following stand out: Notable Children’s Book Award (2010); Pura Belpré Honors Award (2010); The Golden Kite Award (2010); Tejas Star Book Award (2011); and Gelett Burgess Children’s Book of the Year Award (2012), all of them for “Gracias – Thanks” (Lee & Low Books, 2009), a book written by Pat Mora. At present, John lives in New York. His most recent book is called ‘’Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans’’ (Chronicle books, 2015) and was published in partnership with the author Phil Bildner.