Chris Barton (author)

Barton grew up in Sulphur Springs, Texas, with his parents and older brother, though his father died when Barton was eight years old.^[1][2] Both of his parents, as well as his mother's parents had also grown up in Sulphur Springs.^[3]

In 1993, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) with a degree in history.^[4][2] During his time at UT, he wrote for The Daily Texan.^[1][4]

In 2014, Barton pitched the idea of the Modern First Library (MFL) to BookPeople, an independent bookstore in Austin, which they followed up on.^[3] MFL "builds on book shoppers' inclination to buy a kid a "classic" picture book and leads them to also buy a new picture book that's more reflective of the modern, diverse society that those kids are growing up in."^[3]

Barton currently lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Jennifer Ziegler.^[5][6] Together, they have four adult children.^[7]

Eight of Barton's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Shark vs. Train (2010),^[8] Can I See Your I.D.? (2011),^[9] That's Not Bunny! (2016),^[10] Whoosh! English and Spanish editions (2016/2019),^[11][12] Dazzle Ships (2017),^[13] All of a Sudden and Forever (2020),^[14] and How to Make a Book (2021).^[15]

Barton's books have frequently landed on lists of the year's best books.

In 2009, The Day Glo Brothers was named one of the best children's books of the year by Publishers Weekly,^[16] School Library Journal,^[17] and The Washington Post.^[18]

Shark vs. Train was a New York Times bestseller.^[19] Barnes & Noble,^[20] Kirkus Reviews,^[21] Parents,^[22] Publishers Weekly,^[23] School Library Journal,^[24] and The Washington Post^[25] named it one of the best children's books of 2010. In 2011, Bank Street College of Education named it one of the best books for children ages five to nine.^[26]

In 2016, Whoosh! was named one of the best picture books of the year by the American Booksellers Association,^[27] Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature,^[28] and Kirkus Reviews.^[29] The Chicago Public Library^[30] and the New York Public Library^[31] named it one of the year's best informational books for children.

In 2017, Bank Street College of Education included 88 Instruments and Whoosh! in their list of the best books of the year for children ages five to nine.^[32] They stated Whoosh! is a book of "outstanding merit."^[32] The National Science Teaching Association included Whoosh! on their list of the best STEM books of the year.^[33]

The same year, the Chicago Public Library named Dazzle Ships one of the year's best informational books for younger readers,^[34] and the New York Public Library included it on their list of the best books of the year for kids.^[35]

In 2018, What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? was named one of the best children's books of the year by Kirkus Reviews,^[36] and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.^[37] The following year, the Bank Street College of Education ranked it as a book of outstanding merit,^[38] and Booklist included it on their "Top 10 Biographies for Youth" list.^[39]

In 2022, School Library Journal named Moving Forward one of the best nonfiction children's books of year.^[40]