Rick Riordan, dubbed "storyteller of the gods" by Publishers Weekly, is the author of three #1 New York Times best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on Greek mythology; the Kane Chronicles, based on Ancient Egyptian mythology; and the Heroes of Olympus, based on Greek and Roman mythology. Rick collaborated with illustrator John Rocco on two best-selling collections of Greek myths for the whole family: Percy Jackson's Greek Gods and Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes. The first book in his Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy based on Norse mythology, The Sword of Summer, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times list. Rick lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @camphalfblood.
John Rocco (www.roccoart.com) studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design and The School of Visual Arts. In addition to writing and illustrating several of his own picture books, including
Blizzard and the Caldecott Honor-winning and
New York Times best-selling
Blackout, he has created all of the cover art for Rick Riordan's best-selling Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus series. He has also illustrated books by Whoopi Goldberg and Katherine Patterson, and he recently co-authored a novel,
Swim That Rock, with Jay Primiano. Before becoming a full-time children's book creator, he worked as an art director on "Shrek" for Dreamworks, and for Disney Imagineering. He lives in Los Angeles.
