Long Story Short
Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of Locomotive, winner of the 2014 Caldecott Medal, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Lightship, The Racecar Alphabet, and other acclaimed picture books. His most recent book, Keeping the City Going, is a tribute to healthcare and other essential workers who stayed on the streets and on the job in those early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brian has illustrated Avi's Poppy Stories series; Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring; Laura Amy Schlitz's Princess Cora and the Crocodile; and Hawk Rising, by Maria Gianferrari. He has recently completed drawings for With Dad, by Richard Jackson, to be published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House in 2024.
In addition to the Caldecott Medal, Brian's books have received four Robert F. Sibert Honor awards for distinguished informational books, an Orbis Pictus Award and Orbis Pictus Honor, a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, and have been selected three times for the annual New York Times Best Illustrated Books list.
Brian was born and raised in Temple, Texas, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Long Story Long
Brian Floca was born and raised in Temple, Texas, graduated from Brown University, received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
While a student at Brown, Brian was able to enroll in classes at the neighboring Rhode Island School of Design, including one with author and illustrator David Macaulay. That class led to an introduction to author Avi, which in turn led to illustrating Avi's graphic novel City of Light, City of Dark, which in turn led to an introduction to editor Richard Jackson, then at Orchard Books. Annus mirabilis! (For more on Dick Jackson, see here and here and here.)
Brian's books as author and illustrator include Locomotive, winner of the 2014 Randolph Caldecott Medal, a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book, an Orbis Pictus Honor Book, a New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year selection, and a New York Times bestseller; Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 (revised and expanded for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing), a Sibert Honor Book, New York Times 10 Best Illustrated Books of the Year selection, and Society of Illustrators silver medal winner; Lightship, a Sibert Honor Book and a Booklist "Top of the List" picture book; and The Racecar Alphabet, an ALA Notable Children's Book and a Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice. His latest book, Keeping the City Going, a tribute to healthcare and other essential workers who stayed on the streets and on the job in those early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, was a 2021 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection.
Brian has illustrated Avi's Poppy, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the six other books in the popular Poppy Stories series, and Avi's novel Old Wolf. Other books illustrated include Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, a Sibert Honor Book, winner of the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, and an IBBY Honor Book; Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas, by Lynne Cox; Princess Cora and the Crocodile, by Laura Amy Schlitz; and Hawk Rising, by Maria Gianferrari. He has recently completed drawings for With Dad, by Richard Jackson, to be published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House in 2024.
Brian regularly gives presentations on making picture books at schools, libraries, and professional conferences. He has spoken at state and regional book festivals, at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., and at venues including the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Brian has spent summers painting billboards, has answered telephones and checked student IDs at Harvard University's Office of Career Services (part-time job), and has taught continuing education and undergraduate classes at the School of Visual Arts. He currently writes and illustrates full-time.
Brian hopes you find the third person presentation of this information useful, because he finds it awkward to write. He thanks you for reading!
Interviews and Articles
"In an Open Loft in Gowanus, Six Authors and Artists Collaborate and Commune" The New York Times visits the studio, and reports! "For the children’s book creators Doug Salati, Brian Floca, Sophie Blackall, Rowboat Watkins, Johnny Marciano and Dasha Tolstikova, the light-filled space has become much more than just a place to work." August 3, 2023.
"Pen, Ink, Watercolor, Repeat." I write about using pen, ink, and watercolor for the Horn Book Magazine's Studio Views series. February 19, 2014.
A video from the Brooklyn Public Library about working in Brooklyn, with a look at Locomotive in progress. October 22, 2010.
"Kids' books: Author, illustrator Brian Floca's career has him over the moon," by Karen MacPherson, Scripps Howard News Service, February 26, 2010.
"Talking with Brian Floca," by Jeanette Larson, Book Links, November, 2008.
"Continuing Tale: City of Light, City of Dark." On his blog, Avi recounts the beginnings of the graphic novel City of Light, City of Dark, which he wrote and which was my first work as a book illustrator, way back yonder in the year of 1993. January 7, 2014.
Additional interviews keyed to specific titles can be found by clicking on the relevant cover on the And More page. (Is this a confusing way to do things? Maybe!)
Media/Publicity
High resolution images of Simon & Schuster book covers can be found via my author page at simonandschuster.com (select the title of interest and then look for "Resources and Downloads") or directly via these links:
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11
Social Media
