Bryn Barnard

After fifteen years illustrating books for other authors, with clients as diverse as National Geographic, Scientific American, and NASA, I began writing and illustrating my own books, focusing on science history. Since 2003 I have written and illustrated four books. My first book, "Dangerous Planet: Natural Disasters That Changed History," was called "part Jared Diamond ... part Stephen Jay Gould" by the New York Times Book Review. Dangerous Planet was listed by the American Library Association as appropriate reading for children traumatized by Hurricane Katrina. "Outbreak: Plagues That Changed History," was called "pleasantly lurid" and “irksomely left-wing” by the Wall Street Journal, and "the stuff of nightmares" by the Denver Post. Both Dangerous Planet and Outbreak have been translated into Korean. "The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World," with Arabic, and Indonesian translations, was selected in 2012 as the top non-fiction book for youth by the United States Middle East Outreach Council and was selected for the master list of notable books by the Children’s Book Council. "The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea," was called a "..thought-provoking and often alarming message, wrapped in stunning marine images." School Library Journal called it "mesmerizing." Since 2011, I have visited over fifty international schools, universities and institutions and conferences, leading writing and art workshops and presentations on creativity, climate change, pandemics and disasters. My paintings have been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s Global Health Odyssey Museum at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC. My paintings for the NASA Art Program are in the permanent collection of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.