John Parra 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 organization ...

, 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 ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") 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 Co ...

. He later graduated from the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred ...

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 of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

; 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 and the real-life story of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''/NY Public Library's: Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2017. The book centers on the early years of artist Frida Kahlo and the animals that surrounded her childhood. The book was also received the Barnes & Noble 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 Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

. 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 tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

, flan,

empanadas An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Spanish, other Southern European, Latin American, and Iberian-influenced cultures around the world. The name comes from the Spanish (to bread, i.e., ...

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 () is a Peruvian dish typically made from fresh raw fish cured in fresh citrus juices, most commonly lime or lemon. It is also spiced with '' ají'', chili peppers or other seasonings, and julienned red onions, salt, and cilantro are ...

, and

sancocho Sancocho (from the Spanish verb ''sancochar'', "to parboil") is a traditional soup in several Latin American cuisines. Variations represent popular national dishes in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, Tri ...

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

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

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'', 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 Art Center College of Design alumni Artists from California People from Santa Barbara, California 1972 births