Bethany Barton Visits Baldwin! 

On Monday, March 2nd, all Baldwin school grade levels had an amazing visit with author and illustrator Bethany Barton. Bethany has written nonfiction books in her “I’m Trying to Love” series. Most recently, she published the Baldwin Book Award nominee: I’m Trying to Love Farts. Bethany shared that she was interested in doing research. One day when a large spider crossed her work table, she decided to observe it, and it inspired her to write about things that she didn’t like, was a little uncomfortable with, or scared of because when you learn more about the science of something, it can become less scary. She especially thinks humor is effective in demystifying less appealing topics. What Bethany does is called “Science Communications”.

When Bethany starts writing a book, she begins by researching. She goes to the library and gets all the books on a topic. She finds people who know stuff and asks them to teach her. She talks to professionals in the field. She read us her newest book I’m Trying to Love Farts interspersed with photos, sound effects and deeper explanation about some of the facts. The highlight of Bethany’s presentation was the toilet paper shooter she shared with the crowd. Want to make one for home? Check out this YouTube Tutorial from another creator. 

Bethany’s other job is to create sets and  props for television and movies. She shared with us how she was involved in creating the sets for the recent reboot of “The Muppet Show” (she even had a clip of her with Animal) and that she designed a robot in her work for the show “Blackish”. That robot led her to be involved with Star Wars and also to learn about The Droid Builder’s Club which many of our students showed interest in! 

 A few of our students asked her questions: 

Question: “When you did the rocks book did you get to go to New Mexico to see rocks? They have some cool rocks.”  Answer: “No, but that would be really cool.”  

Question: “How long does it take to make a book?” Answer: “It takes about a year to research and write it. The editors get it next and send it back for changes. It takes about another year to be published.”

Question: “What is your favorite part of making a book?”  “My favorite part of making a book is.... Do you see how it’s all thick black outlines? I draw it all it out. At the end, I get to color it all! That’s my favorite part because I can listen to music and relax while I color.”

Question: “What is your favorite book that you’ve written?”  “My favorite book that I’ve written right now is my newest book  Brain Verses Screen.”

We loved having Bethany Barton visit, and we can’t wait for her book that is coming out this fall: Brain Verses Screen. To learn more, check out her website. Thank you so much to Friends of Baldwin for funding this experience!