Byron Barton (September 8, 1930 – June 3, 2023) was an American writer and illustrator of children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s. His works received six ALA Notable Book Awards, five SLJ Best Books of the Year selections, and two ''

Reading Rainbow ''Reading Rainbow'' is an American educational children's television series that originally aired on PBS and afterwards PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! from July 11, 1983 to November 10, 2006, with reruns continuing to air until August 28, 2009. 155 3 ...

'' picks.

Personal life and education

Barton, whose birth name was Byron Vartanian, was born on "September 8, 1930 in

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...

to Toros and Elizabeth Vartanian." He moved with his family to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

while he was in grade school, and there, he developed his interest in art, later attending

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

. In 1950, he received a scholarship to study at

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art In ...

(CAI), though he was unable to immediately attend due to being drafted into the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After being discharged, Barton returned to CAI, completing his studies in 1956. Barton died at his home in

Lakewood Ranch, Florida Lakewood Ranch is a planned community and census-designated place in southeastern Manatee County and northeastern Sarasota County, Florida, United States, consisting of approximately . It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida M ...

on June 3, 2023, at the age of 92.

Career

Following the completion of his studies at the Chouinard Art Institute in 1956, Barton moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and began working as an ad designer and animator for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The first book he illustrated, Constance C. Green's ''A Girl Called Al'', was published in 1969. Two years later, he published his first self-authored book, ''Elephant.'' Barton went on to write and author many more books, working with authors such as

Russell Hoban Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in ...

Jack Prelutsky Jack Prelutsky (born September 8, 1940) is an American writer of children's poetry who has published over 50 poetry collections. He served as the first U.S. Children's Poet Laureate (now called the Young People's Poet Laureate) from 2006–08 ...

Marjorie W. Sharmat Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (November 12, 1928 – March 12, 2019) was an American children's writer. She wrote more than 130 books for children and teens and her books have been translated into several languages. They have won awards including Book ...

, and

Seymour Simon Seymour Simon (August 10, 1915 – September 26, 2006) was an American lawyer, Appellate Court and Supreme Court Justice in Illinois, and City Council member (alderman) in Chicago, Illinois. Life Simon was born in Chicago, and grew up in the ...

.'''' His works have received six ALA Notable Book Awards, five SLJ Best Books of the Year selections, and two ''

'' picks. One of his books, ''Where's Al'', was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection. His last book, ''My House'', was published in 2016.

Awards and honors

Barton's works have received six ALA Notable Book Awards and five SLJ Best Books of the Year selections. One of his books, ''Where's Al'', was a ''

'' Best Illustrated Children’s Books selection. Two books Barton illustrated were featured on ''Reading Rainbow'': Charlotte Pomerantz's ''The Tamarindo Puppy and Other Poems'' (1985) and Diane Siebert's ''Truck Song'' (1990). ''

The Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

'' included six of his books on their lists of the best picture books of the year: ''Machines at Work'' (1987); ''I Want To Be An Astronaut'' (1988); ''Bones, Bones Dinosaur Bones'' (1999); ''My Car'' (2001); ''My Bus'' (2014);' and ''My Bike'' (2015).' ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' included ''My Car'' on their list of the best picture books of 2001. The following year, the

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association, and it is the world's largest organization dedicated to library service to children. Its members are concerned with creating a better future ...

(ALSC) included it on their list of Notable Children's Books. ''School Library Journal'' named ''My Bus'' one of the best picture books of 2014.

Selected Works

* 1972, ''Where's Al?'' * 1973, ''Buzz Buzz Buzz'' * 1974, ''Harry Is a Scaredy-Cat'' * 1974 ''Jack and Fred'' * 1975, ''Hester'' * 1979, ''Wheels'' * 1981, ''Building a House'' * 1981, ''Jump, Frog, Jump'' (illustrator) * 1982, ''Airport'' * 1986, ''Boats'' * 1986, ''Trucks'' * 1986, ''Trains'' * 1986, ''Planes'' * 1987, ''Machines at Work'' * 1988, ''I Want to Be an Astronaut'' * 1989, ''Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs'' * 1990, ''Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones'' * 1991, ''The Three Bears'' * 1993, ''The Little Red Hen'' * 1995, ''The Wee Little Woman'' * 1996, ''Big Machines'' (illustrator) * 1996, ''Tools'' * 2001, ''My Car'' * 2014, ''My Bus'' * 2015, ''My Bike'' * 2016, ''My House''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Byron 1930 births 2023 deaths American children's writers American illustrators People from Pawtucket, Rhode Island