Behind the Scenes Peek: A Look at the Art and Sketches of I’m Trying to Love Germs by Bethany Barton

Nope. Sorry. We’re just starting with a video today. No preface. Why? Mostly because after watching it I just wanna go out and have a drink with this woman. Here we go:

Okay, I sort of threw you into that, but it wasn’t without good reason. If you, like myself, have been following the career of Bethany Barton over the last few years then you know that her picture books are a cut above the rest. First off, they’re funny. Seriously funny. From This Monster Needs a Haircut to the whole “I’m Trying to Love” series (I’m Trying to Love Spiders, Give Bees a Chance, I’m Trying to Love Math, etc.), not to mention her consistent work with Evanston resident Todd Hasak-Lowy, she’s a super interesting author/artist to watch.

Oh. And I just found out that she’s worked with Muppets. So, y’know. Right there. Living my dream.

And now, as of TODAY, Ms. Barton has a new book out: I’m Trying to Love Germs. Which, if you’re curious, is described the following way:

“This book is covered in germs! But to be fair, so are we. Did you know that there are more viruses and bacteria on Earth than there are stars in the known universe? Learn all about the microbes in and on our bodies that help us survive, the ones that don’t, and everything in between. Written in Bethany Barton’s trademark balance of informative and hilarious, I’m Trying to Love Germs is a perfect entry point to viruses, the pandemic, and the importance of washing our hands.”

Today, it is my great delight to present to you a slew of images from inside this germy little book. What I’ll do right now is show you both some final images and some pictures that ended up on the cutting room floor. How will you know which is which? Well, I’ll let Bethany herself lead you through them:

I do think seeing the transition of How It Started >>to >> How Its Going for these two spreads are especially fun. 

I also love the “Pause Button” gag that got cut (it slowed down the pacing of the story.) I still REALLY like this device so I’m definitely going to use it in a future book! META FOREVA! (the literary device not the social media thing.)

And then it’s neat to see how that pause spread transformed into THIS in the end:

TA-DAA!! LIKE MAGIC! haha.

I also miss this page where I get to call Viruses space aliens (aren’t they tho?!)  But there just wasn’t room for it all. Next time I need to make a 600 page book!

Can’t thank Bethany and the crew of Kayla Slusser & Elena Stokes from Wunderkind PR enough for piecing this all together for me. I’m Trying to Love Germs is out, as I mentioned, today so run on our and get your grimy little hands on it.

Filed under: Excerpts