John Parra (born 1972) is an American illustrator. Parra's books have received awards including the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book Award,

Golden Kite Award The Golden Kite Awards are given annually by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an international children's writing organization, to recognize excellence in children’s literature. The award is a golden medallion showing ...

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

, and an International Latino Book Award. He has additionally worked as an illustrator for corporate marketing campaigns and as an art instructor.

Early life

John Parra was born in 1972 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. He later graduated from the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

in Pasadena.

Book illustration

Parra received an International Latino Book Award for Best Children's Book Interior Illustrations in 2006 for his first illustrated book ''My Name is / Me llamo Gabriela''. In 2009 his work ''Gracias / Thanks'' received a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book Award as well as a SCBWI Golden Kite Award. In 2012 his book Waiting for the ''Biblioburro'' received a Christopher Award. In 2015 Parra's book ''Green Is a Chile Pepper'' received another Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book Award. In 2015 his work was also shown in a one-day presentation at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

; Parra's works have been shown in both solo and group art exhibitions. The next year he illustrated the children's book ''Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans'', based upon the fall-out of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

and the real-life story of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

sanitation worker Cornelius Washington, who died in 2008. The book received a Golden Kite Award. In 2017, his illustrated children's book ''Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos'' was named to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''/NY Public Library's: Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2017. The book centers on the early years of artist

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

and the animals that surrounded her childhood. The book was also received the

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

Best Book of 2017 award, was named to the Smithsonian Top Ten Best Children's Books of 2017 list, and received his third Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book Award. At the 2019 Golden Kite Awards & Gala, Parra presented one of his illustrations from the book ''We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders'' to Supreme Court Justice

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

, which he had based upon a quote from her career. In 2022, Parra released his picture book biography,
Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son
' (available in English and Spanish editions) detailing how he spent his young years working with his father's landscaping company which lead to his love of drawing and illustration.

Teaching

Parra has also provided illustrator's workshops to young artists and high-school students and has served as an instructor at the

Carnegie Art Museum The Carnegie Art Museum is a public art museum owned by the City of Oxnard, California in the building originally occupied by the Oxnard Public Library. The Neo-Classical building, located adjacent to Oxnard's Plaza Park, opened in 1907 as the ...

Other work

In 2017 Parra illustrated for the Delicioso Forever Stamps distributed by the

US postal service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

. Over two years Parra developed six stamps derived from popular dishes originating from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Using bright colors, the six foods selected were

tamales A tamale, in Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaves. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tam ...

, flan,

empanadas An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Spain, other Southern European countries, North African countries, South Asian countries, Latin American countries, and the Philippines. The name com ...

chile relleno The chile relleno (, literally "stuffed chile") is a dish in Mexican cuisine that originated in the city of Puebla. In 1858, it was described as a "green chile pepper stuffed with minced meat and coated with eggs". The most common pepper used is ...

ceviche Ceviche, cebiche, sebiche, or seviche () is a cold dish consisting of fish or shellfish marinated in citrus and seasonings. Different versions of ceviche are part of the culinary cultures of various Latin American countries along the Pacific O ...

, and

sancocho Sancocho (from the Spanish verb ''sancochar'', "to parboil") is a traditional stew in several Caribbean and Latin American cuisines. Latin variations represent popular national dishes in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Pana ...

. As an illustrator, he has also worked on advertising campaigns for companies including

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, and ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'', in addition to film, book, and computer companies.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parra, John Living people 21st-century American artists 21st-century American writers American children's book illustrators ArtCenter College of Design alumni Artists from California Artists from Santa Barbara, California 1972 births