LONG STORY SHORT:

Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Lightship, and The Racecar Alphabet. He is the illustrator of the popular Poppy Stories series, by Avi; Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan; and, most recently, Marty McGuire Digs Worms, by Kate Messner. His books have received three Robert F. Sibert Honor awards, an Orbis Pictus Award, a selection on The New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books list, and a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators.

Brian was born and raised in Temple, Texas. He graduated from Brown University and received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit him online at brianfloca.com

LONG STORY:

Brian Floca was born and raised in Temple, Texas. He graduated from Brown University and received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts.

While at Brown, Brian also did coursework at the neighboring Rhode Island School of Design, including a class with author and illustrator David Macaulay that led to an introduction to author Avi. That, in turn, led to Brian's illustrating Avi's graphic novel City of Light, City of Dark, published by Richard Jackson at Orchard Books.

Since City of Light, City of Dark, Brian has illustrated additional books by Avi, including Poppy, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the other books in the popular Poppy Stories series.

He has illustrated Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, a Sibert Honor Book and winner of the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children; The Hinky-Pink, by Megan McDonald, an ALA Notable Book and Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List selection; and, most recently, Marty McGuire and Marty McGuire Digs Worms! by Kate Messner.

Brian has written and illustrated Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and a Society of Illustrators silver medal winner; Lightship, a Sibert Honor Book and Booklist's "Top of the List" picture book for 2007; and The Racecar Alphabet, an ALA Notable Children's Book and a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice.

Brian has answered telephones at Harvard University (part-time job) and taught continuing education and undergraduate classes at the School of Visual Arts. He currently writes and illustrates full time.

Brian lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit him online at brianfloca.com.

FURTHER READING:

An interview with ALA Book Links Magazine is online here, and available in PDF form here. A brief interview with School Library Journal's Curriculum Connections about Moonshot is here, an interview with SLJ about Ballet for Martha is here, and a Q&A with Powell's Books is here. A short video made for and by the Brooklyn Public Library is on YouTube here. An interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting abut Ballet for Martha is here. A publicity flyer from Simon & Schuster (PDF) is here. A high-resolution JPEG (2.9 MB) of the photo above is here.