Chris Barton's Blog: Bartography, page 30
February 20, 2018
“I love stories of resilience and tenacity, and I look for hopeful stories everywhere”
As promised, my Q&A for the February edition of my Bartography Express newsletter is with my friend Rose Brock. Formerly a school librarian in the Dallas area, Rose is now assistant professor in the Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State University. She’s an expert in young adult literature, and she’s the editor of […]
February 13, 2018
Authors are not rock stars
I want to talk about rock stars. Schools often go to great lengths to get their students excited about an upcoming presentation by a visiting author. That makes sense to me — after whipping up that enthusiasm, educators can then harness it for thoughtful, mind-expanding explorations of that author’s work, and for all sorts of […]
February 6, 2018
What my school visits look like
These three videos — all made during visits within the past month — should give you some idea. If that bearded guy with the book and guayabera looks like he loves his job, that’s because he does. Here’s a little more information about my author visits.
January 25, 2018
An observation (not mine) about Attack! Boss! Cheat Code!
For my school visits, I often have a variety of my books displayed on a table so that students will notice them when entering the library. I figure it’s a good way to get them to start thinking about questions they may have for me. Usually, the table is behind me while I’m presenting, but […]
January 24, 2018
Q&A and giveaway for Write to Me
The Q&A for the January edition of my Bartography Express newsletter (which you can sign up for here) is with author Cynthia Grady and illustrator Amiko Hirao, creators of the new nonfiction picture book Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind (Charlesbridge). Write to Me is a true […]
January 14, 2018
All the college kidlit conferences (as of January 2018)
Or, more formally, “A Comprehensive List of U.S. College- and University-Sponsored or -Hosted Children’s and Young Adult Literature Conferences, Festivals, and Symposia.” (All of them that I could find, anyway). Several years ago, I was looking for such a list, wondered why I couldn’t find one, and decided to just go ahead and make one […]
January 10, 2018
All of a Sudden and Forever
I’ve got a new nonfiction picture book in the works with Lerner Publishing’s Millbrook Press imprint, publisher of my books on The Nutcracker and on dazzle camouflage. This new project was announced just yesterday in PW Children’s Bookshelf, and here are the details: All of a Sudden and Forever has been a challenge to write, […]
January 3, 2018
Stretch your to-read list to its breaking point with 3 more sets of “Best of 2017” recommendations
In the past few weeks, A Fuse #8 Production, the Nerdy Book Club, and the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards have collectively created and shared more than fifty — that’s 50, five-zero — lists of recommendations of books published in 2017. I was already looking forward to these lists for suggestions of what […]
December 10, 2017
Another “Best of” for Dazzle Ships!
HuffPost has issued its list of the Best Picture Books of 2017 (Most Touching, Most Charming, Best Surprise, etc.), and the honor of Best History has gone to my collaboration with illustrator Victo Ngai, Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion (Millbrook Press). It’s hard to imagine the staid military agreeing to […]
December 6, 2017
Signed books by authors galore in downtown Austin this Saturday!
If you’re in Central Texas this Saturday, come join Jennifer, me, and all these authorly folks — Monte Akers, Michael Barnes, Olga Campos Benz, Patricia Bernstein, Daina Ramey Berry, John B. Boles, George Bristol, Chad S. Conine, Michael Corcoran, David Courtney, Mike Cox, Greg Garrett, Joe Holley, Joseph Huerta, Michael Hurd, Alison Macor, Donna Marie […]
