Bartography

Dollar-for-dollar grant funding available for my Texas author visits in winter and spring 2027

Chris Barton — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 21:59:49 +0000

As a Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Texas Touring Roster artist for 2026-28, I'm happy to say that grant funding is available to cover half the cost of hosting me for author visits to schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations. There's a November 2 deadline for applying for Arts Respond Performance Support grant funding for [...]

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August 2026 giveaway (and a message from your fellow human): Win 1 of 4 signed copies of The Day-Glo Brothers

Chris Barton — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:18:22 +0000

This is The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors, my first published book. Illustrated by Tony Persiani and published by the good people at Charlesbridge, The Day-Glo Brothers received a Sibert Honor, which I tell kids is sort of a nonfiction cousin to the better-known Newbery [...]

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July 2026 giveaway: Win 1 of 4 signed copies of We Match!

Chris Barton — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 23:42:40 +0000

This month brings the exclusive reveal -- to subscribers to my monthly Bartography Express newsletter (folks can sign up here) -- of the covers of my next two picture books. And this month also marks one year since the publication of my most recent book, We Match! (Astra Young Readers). So let's celebrate that! For [...]

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Whoosh! and 250+ additional titles for U.S. history reading

Chris Barton — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:54:06 +0000

More than a third of my 25 published books have focused on some aspect of U.S. history. If you're looking for honest, well-researched nonfiction to share with young readers — these next few weeks, or any time — to help them grasp the full scope of the American story, I hope you'll keep my titles in [...]

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June 2026 giveaway: Win 1 of 4 signed copies of How to Make a Book (About My Dog)

Chris Barton — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 19:42:03 +0000

Ten years ago this month, when I left my day job and became a full-time author, I began doing a lot of school visits: 123 campuses during the next academic year alone! And so I also began answering a lot of questions from students. Two of the most common were: "How do you make your [...]

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August 3 application deadline for Texas grants for my September-December 2026 author visits

Chris Barton — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:00:02 +0000

As a Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) Texas Touring Roster artist for 2026-28, I'm happy to say that grant funding is available to cover half the cost of hosting me for author visits to schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations. But there's also an upcoming deadline: August 3 is the cutoff for applying for Arts [...]

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Don’t miss the KidTime StoryTime readaloud of Whoosh!

Chris Barton — Fri, 22 May 2026 21:26:28 +0000

I've seen quite a few readalouds of Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions over the years (and I've done even more myself), but none have been as elaborate or entertaining or deliriously goofy as this one from KidTime StoryTime. Enjoy!

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May 2026 giveaway: Win 1 of 4 signed copies of 88 Instruments

Chris Barton — Fri, 08 May 2026 23:25:26 +0000

This summer will mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of 88 Instruments, my playful fiction picture book illustrated by Louis Thomas and published in 2016 by Knopf Books for Young Readers. This summer will also mark the tenth straight year of 88 Instruments being a brand-new book to kids who haven't read it before [...]

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I’m the new president of the Texas Institute of Letters!

Chris Barton — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:41:38 +0000

The most common reaction I get from folks who learn that I've just become president of the Texas Institute of Letters is "Congratulations!" But I suspect that the most common reaction these folks don't share with me is, "What's the Texas Institute of Letters?" Perhaps followed by, "And what does the president of the Texas [...]

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April 2026 giveaway: Win 1 of 4 signed sets of Dazzle Ships and All of a Sudden and Forever

Chris Barton — Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:04:33 +0000

One of the very first people I ran into at the recent Texas Library Association conference was the North Texas librarian who, four years ago, provided a new home to my seedling from the Oklahoma City Survivor Tree when it had grown into a sapling too big for me to continue caring for in the [...]

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