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ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN BONE
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PSEUDONYM(S):
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WEBSITE: http://chickenopolis.com/
CITY: Brooklyn
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COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 371
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PERSONAL
Born in Chicago, IL; married.
EDUCATION:School of the Art Institute of Chicago, B.F.A.; School of Visual Arts (New York, NY), M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Comics artist, printmaker, illustrator, and educator. School of Visual Arts, New York, NY, instructor.
AVOCATIONS:Movies, bike riding, dogs.
AWARDS:Best Animation Award runner up, South by Southwest, and director’s citation, Black Maria Film Festival, both 1998, both for The Tongue; Harvey Award nomination for Best New Talent, 2004; Parents’ Choice Silver Honor selection, 2006, for Chicken and Cat; Blue Ribbon citation, Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, 2007, “Best Children’s Books of 2007” citation, Kirkus Reviews, 2007, “150 Best Books of the Year” list citation, Publishers Weekly, 2007, Notable Children’s Book citation, American Library Association, 2008, Notable Children’s Book in the English Language Arts citation, National Council for Teachers of English, 2008, Bank Street Book of Outstanding Merit, 2008, “Books for Reading and Sharing” list citation and Books for the Teen Age” list citation, both New York Public Library, both 2008, “YALSA Great Graphic Novel” citation, 2008, Oprah’s Book Club citation, 2008, all for Robot Dreams; Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Book Award, 2009, for Chicken and Cat Clean Up; “Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2011” citation, School Library Journal, 2011, “YALSA Great Graphic Novel” citation, 2012, Texas Bluebonnet Award nomination, 2013, all for Bake Sale; Maurice Sendak Fellowship, 2013; “Best Children’s Books of 2013” citation, Kirkus Reviews, 2013, “Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2013” citation, School Library Journal, 2013, Eisner Award nomination, 2013, Elementary Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award nomination, 2015, and Livrentete Prize, 2015, all for Odd Duck; “Notable Children’s Book of the Year,” New York Times Book Review, 2019, for Hold Hands; Academy Award nomination, 2024, for film adaptation of Robot Dreams.
WRITINGS
Creator of animated film The Tongue, 1997. Creator of graphic novel The Present. Contributor to numerous periodicals, including New York Times and National Post, and to anthologies, including Declare Yourself, HarperTeen.
Robot Dreams was adapted for film.
SIDELIGHTS
Sara Varon, a comic-book artist, printmaker, and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York, is the creator of the graphic novels Robot Dreams and Bake Sale, picture books Hold Hands and My Pencil and Me, as well as the wordless companion picture books Chicken and Cat and Chicken and Cat Clean Up. She also contributed the artwork to Cecil Castellucci’s graphic novel Odd Duck, wherein “fans of Varon’s work will love her trademark anthropomorphic characters, bright colors, and detailed but never cluttered pictures,” according to Snow Wildsmith in Booklist. “I just really like stories and storytelling,” Varon remarked to Comicreaders.com interviewer Dana Tillusz. “I am kind of quiet and not particularly articulate, so it’s nice to have an alternative to telling stories with words.”
Varon’s self-illustrated work Chicken and Cat was inspired by a personal friendship: a friend from her home town of Chicago. The book chronicles the friendship between a city-dwelling chicken and her feline visitor from the country. Despite New York City’s tourist delights, Cat is overwhelmed by the urban environment until Chicken finds a creative way to cheer her up. Critics praised the work, Horn Book reviewer Kitty Flynn noting that Varon “brings a hip, droll sensibility” to her tale. A Publishers Weekly contributor stated that the cartoonist’s “quiet characters look equally kitschy and good-natured, and her earthy palette suits the city environment,” while School Library Journal contributor Susan Weitz wrote that Chicken and Cat “is packed with details that kids will relish discovering in successive readings.”
In Chicken and Cat Clean Up the feline’s hapless efforts to help his feathered friend’s cleaning business threaten their relationship until he discovers more helpful talents. “Comics artist Varon’s easy-to-interpret pictures clearly tell the story, making it accessible to a wide range of reading and pre-reading abilities,” concluded Horn Book contributor Kitty Flynn, while in Booklist, Ian Chipman wrote that the “bright, clean artwork” in Chicken and Cat Clean Up “is easy to dive into, and the wordless interactions are amplified by facial expressions and body language.” A Publishers Weekly critic remarked on “Varon’s sensitivity for the feelings of her characters” and predicted that “readers will see themselves in the pet-loving dreamer, Cat.” The layout allows the story to “unfold with precise, laugh-out-loud pacing,” a Kirkus Reviews writer noted, concluding that Chicken and Cat Clean Up is “a welcome second adventure.”
In Varon’s Robot Dreams, a nearly wordless graphic novel, Dog orders a build-your-own-robot kit and, after completing the assembly, begins adventuring with his new friend. After a trip to the beach corrodes Robot’s body, Dog abandons his metallic companion and the rusty robot is left alone for years, dreaming of being rescued. According to a Kirkus Reviews critic, Varon denies readers a stereotypically happy ending, instead “offering them the harder-edged truth that friendships change and die—but others can rise in their place.” In School Library Journal, Andrea Lipinski called Robot Dreams “by turns funny and poignant,” and Booklist contributor Kevin King remarked that, although Varon’s “story line seems equally simple, it is invested with true emotion.” (open new)The book was adapted for film by director Pablo Berger, and that adaptation was nominated for an Academy Award. (close new—more below)
Varon adds to her graphic-novel works with Bake Sale, described by a Kirkus Reviews writer as “another strange and charming graphic work that touches on the theme of … how fine friendship can be, and how surely it leads you down a twisty road of joys and melancholy.” A resident of a city that is similar to New York, Cupcake the baker is jealous of his friend Eggplant, who is planning a trip to visit family that includes a meeting with Cupcake’s idol, Turkish Delight. Cupcake can only go along by making extra money at bake sales, but he ends up giving his vacation savings to Eggplant when his vegetable friend loses his job and his family trip is threatened.
While Bake Sale tells a “simple” tale, according to Booklist contributor Snow Wildsmith, “Varon’s inspired setting … brings it to rich, bustling, poignant life.” A Publishers Weekly writer commented on the board’s “mellow, easygoing feel,” which is created in illustrations incorporating “soft colors and showing many yummy foods.” Varon’s sequential art “is filled with details, labels, and readable actions, which makes it nicely interactive,” observed School Library Journal contributor Russell Benjamin, the critic recommending Bake Sale for its “will-o’-the-wisp charm and … distinctive, quirky voice.”
Varon enjoys casting animal characters in her stories because “they have qualities that people automatically associate with them,” as she told School Library Journal contributor Rick Margolis. “Like a goat or a raccoon really likes to eat garbage. Or that a bear spends the winter sleeping. Or that a snowman can only stick around until the seasons change. Since my stories are really simple, using a specific animal can be a device for providing background info on a character.” “I’m actually pretty lousy at drawing people, so that’s the main reason,” Varon admitted in an interview with J. Caleb Mozzocco appearing in Comics Alliance. “Also, I find non-human characters more relatable. You don’t have to worry about their race, age, or gender. Also, each animal comes with inherent character associations, so my choice of animal is a sometimes a way of adding background info. For instance, everybody knows a dog is supposed to be a loyal friend, and it’s a story about friendship. I mean—no offense to cat people—but if a cat broke its friend and left it lying on the beach, who would be surprised?”
Varon’s New Shoes also features an animal protagonist, a donkey who goes on a journey to find the materials he needs to make the shoes of the title. “My husband is Guyanese, and we’ve been making annual visits to Guyana to see his family for the past several years. So the story was inspired by my visits to Guyana, which is an amazing place,” the author stated in an interview in Pen & Oink. “The landscape and animals are unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I wanted to convey that sense of discovery to readers.” “I also loved that there are animals loose everywhere—cows and goats walking around through the middle of town,” Varon told Aaron Long in Comicosity. “There’s the occasional donkey wandering around on his/her own, and tons of dogs and chickens. So I made a story in which I would be able to draw all of these things.” In New Shoes, “The main character, Francis the donkey, lives a provincial life in a tropical village,” Varon explained in Pen & Oink, “but is forced into taking a journey into the jungle, where he (like me, and hopefully the reader too) discovers a new and exciting world.” Francis has promised to make shoes for Miss Manatee, but his supplier Nigel the squirrel monkey does not have the special grass Francis needs—so the donkey makes a trip into the jungle to find the material himself, meeting many unique animals on the way. In general “the animals are helpful,” declared a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “and show him that many animals are not as scary as they seem once you get to know them.” New Shoes, concluded Alea Perez, writing in School Library Journal, “will help newly independent readers make the transition to full-blown graphic novels, stoke curiosity about the jungle ecosystem, and teach about teamwork, respect, and kindness.”
In the picture book Hold Hands, Varon explains all the occasions when it is good and appropriate to hold hands. From affection to safety, young readers are shown the emotional bond and inclusive nature of holding hands with others. Writing in Horn Book, Julie Danielson observed that “cool colors dominate, particularly blues and greens with touches of warm pink, and every instance of “hold hands” is accentuated by a colorful font.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews opined that “young readers will pick up on the broader message that hand-holding represents more than just tactile pleasure.” The same reviewer concluded by calling the book “engaging and reassuring.”
In the somewhat autobiographical picture book My Pencil and Me, an author/illustrator relies on her magical pencil to help guide her through the process of story creation and eventually into publication. Starting with brainstorming something that happened recently, the pencil guides the aspiring artist through the process of expanding on an idea as the characters she creates eventually take over the process for her. By the end of the story, the author has succeeded at getting her book published and sold at the nearby bookstore. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked that “there are cute sight gags, and the dialogue bubbles are lively and often funny. The insertion of narrative conflict … is slyly effective.” Booklist contributor John Peters mentioned that Varon’s “creative process offers a valid model for aspiring visual artists and writers searching for their own styles and stories.”
(open new)Varon’s real dog, Sweet Pea, inspired the main character in Detective Sweet Pea: The Case of the Golden Bone. In the book, Sweet Pea is a dog with an appreciation for art, as well as an affinity for eating trash. Like the other residents of Parkville, Sweet Pea anticipates the return of the Golden Chew Bone to the local Art Museum. Another museum had temporarily borrowed it. The bone is revered in Parkville because it helps clean the dogs’ teeth without ever losing its shape or size. When the bone goes missing, Sweet Pea determines to recover it. She uses wisdom from the stories of her great-aunt Petunia and help from her new friends, Jelly and Casper to find the bone. A Kirkus Reviews contributor described the art in the volume as “inviting and appealing.” The same contributor concluded: “Sniffing around for an adorable, exciting, and thoughtful tale? This doggy detective delivers.”
Varon has illustrated books written by other authors, including Cate Berry’s Thank You, Teacher!, which was released in 2023. In this volume, diverse classmates at an elementary school recall some of the many ways in which their teacher helped them during the school year. As they come close to the conclusion of the years, the students note that the teacher has supported them through behavioral difficulties, fears, and insecurities and has fostered their learning through useful suggestions. In an assessment of the volume in Kirkus Reviews, a critic remarked: “Cheerful, chunky-outlined illustrations reminiscent of Varon’s graphic-novel art make this picture book solidly appealing for early elementary school students.” Jillian Girardeau, reviewer in School Library Journal, commented: “This book does an excellent job of capturing the bittersweet feelings that come with the last day of school.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 1, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of Chicken and Cat, p. 59; August, 2007, Kevin King, review of Robot Dreams, p. 71; February 15, 2009, Ian Chipman, review of Chicken and Cat Clean Up, p. 87; September 1, 2020, John Peters, review of My Pencil and Me, p. 115.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 1, 2007, Elizabeth Bush, review of Robot Dreams, p. 155; May 1, 2009, Elizabeth Bush, review of Chicken and Cat Clean Up, p. 382; October 1, 2011, Elizabeth Bush, review of Bake Sale, p. 114.
Horn Book, March 1, 2006, Kitty Flynn, review of Chicken and Cat, p. 177; March 1, 2009, Kitty Flynn, review of Chicken and Cat Clean Up, p. 188; July 1, 2019, Julie Danielson, review of Hold Hands, p. 120.
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2006, review of Chicken and Cat, p. 46; July 1, 2007, review of Robot Dreams; February 15, 2009, review of Chicken and Cat Clean Up; July 15, 2011, review of Bake Sale; November 15, 2015, review of Sweaterweather; February 1, 2018, review of New Shoes; April 1, 2019, review of Hold Hands; July 15, 2020, review of My Pencil and Me; December 1, 2022, review of Thank You, Teacher!;April 15, 2024, review of Detective Sweet Pea: The Case of the Golden Bone.
Publishers Weekly, January 30, 2006, review of Chicken and Cat, p. 69; August 13, 2007, review of Robot Dreams, p. 67; March 16, 2009, review of Chicken and Cat Clean Up, p. 60; July 4, 2011, review of Bake Sale, p. 67; December 2, 2016, review of Sweaterweather, p. 90.
School Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Rick Margolis, interview with Varon, p. 43, and Susan Weitz, review of Chicken and Cat, p. 106; September 1, 2007, Andrea Lipinski, review of Robot Dreams, p. 225; November 1, 2011, Benjamin Russell, review of Bake Sale, p. 154; March 1, 2016, Laura Lintz, review of Sweaterweather, p. 142; February 1, 2018, Alea Perez, review of New Shoes, p. 72; May, 2023, Jillian Girardeau, review of Thank You, Teacher!, p. 69.
ONLINE
Comicosity, http://www.comicosity.com/ (March 16, 2018), “Interview: Sara Varon Goes on a Quest for New Shoes.”
Comicreaders.com, http://www.comicreaders.com/ (November 10, 2008), Dana Tillusz, “Sara Varon.”
Comics Alliance, http://comicsalliance.com/ (April 4, 2016), J. Caleb Mozzocco, “First Second’s Tenth Year: Sara Varon Looks Back on Her Comics Decade.”
McKinnon Literary website, https://www.mckinnonliterary.com/ (April 30, 2024), author profile.
Pen & Oink, https://penandoink.com/ (April 13, 2015), “A Pen & Oink Interview with the Great Sara Varon!”
Publishers Weekly Online, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (March 7, 2024), ND Stevenson, author interview.
Sara Varon, https://chickenopolis.com (April 30, 2024).
School of Visual Arts website, https://sva.edu/ (April 30, 2024), author faculty profile.
Sharpread, https://sharpread.wordpress.com/ (May 18, 2015), “Kids Comics Blog Tour: Sara Varon Interviewed by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosad.”
Society of Illustrators website, https://societyillustrators.org/ (April 30, 2024), author profile.
Walker Art Center blog, http://blogs.walkerart.org/ (July 18, 2006), Paul Schmelzer, “Profile: Comic-book Artist Sara Varon.”*
Sara Varon is an illustrator & children’s book author living in Chicago, Illinois.
You can find her on Instagram or visit her Etsy shop for things like pins and printed items. She is also available for school visits! For more info on this, please email:
sara.varon@gmail.com
Book awards:
2020 My Pencil and Me – Junior Library Guild, Winter 2021 Selection
2019 Hold Hands – New York Times, one of The 25 Best Children’s Books of 2019
2018 New Shoes – New York Public Library, one of 2018’s Best Books for Kids
2018 New Shoes – MoCCA Fest/Society of Illustrators, Silver Medal for Long Form Comic
2018 New Shoes – Junior Library Guild, 2019 Selection
2016 Sweaterweather & Other Short Stories – Junior Library Guild, Spring 2016 Selection
2014 Odd Duck – Eisner Award Nominee
2014 Odd Duck – 2015 Elementary Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award Nominee
2013 Odd Duck – School Library Journal, one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2013
2013 Odd Duck – Kirkus Reviews, one of the Best Children’s Books of 2013
2013 Recipient of Maurice Sendak Fellowship
2013 Odd Duck – Junior Library Guild, Spring 2013 Selection
2012 Bake Sale – 2013 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee
2012 Bake Sale – a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for 2012
2011 Bake Sale – School Library Journal, one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2011
2010 Bake Sale – Junior Library Guild, Fall 2011 Selection
2009 Chicken and Cat Clean Up – Junior Library Guild, Spring 2009 Selection
2009 Chicken and Cat Clean Up – Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Book Award
2008 Robot Dreams – Oprah’s Book Club, Kids’ Reading List (ages 6-9) Selection
2008 Robot Dreams – a YALSA Great Graphic Novel
2008 Robot Dreams – NYPL Book for the Teen Age
2008 Robot Dreams – NYPL Book for Reading and Sharing
2008 Robot Dreams – Bank Street Book of Outstanding Merit
2008 Robot Dreams – NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English) Notable Children’s Book in the English Language Arts
2008 Robot Dreams – American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
2007 Robot Dreams – Publisher’s Weekly, one of the 150 Best Books of the Year
2007 Robot Dreams – Kirkus Reviews, one of the Best Children’s Books of 2007
2007 Robot Dreams – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon title
2007 Chicken and Cat – Silver Medal by 3×3 Magazine for Best 2006 Children’s Books
2006 Chicken and Cat – Silver Medal by Parents’ Choice Foundation for best picture book
2004 Sweaterweather – Harvey Award Nominee for best graphic novel
Sara Varon
Illustrator
Pre-College Program
svaron@sva.edu
chickenopolis.com
Education
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; MFA, School of Visual Arts
Books include
Bake Sale, Chicken and Cat, Chicken and Cat Clean Up, Sweaterweather, Robot Dreams
Clients include
The New York Times, Nickelodeon magazine, Scholastic, First Second Books, Unicef, Walker Art Center, Roaring Brook Press
Sara Varon is a printmaker, graphic novelist, and children's book author/illustrator living in Brooklyn. Her books include Odd Duck, Bake Sale, Robot Dreams, Chicken & Cat, and Chicken & Cat Clean Up, and the forthcoming Hold Hands picture book and the Sweet Pea middle grade graphic novel detective series from First Second Books. Her work has received many accolades including: Best Children's Books of 2013 by Kirkus Reviews for Odd Duck, YALSA Great Graphic Novel for 2012 for Bake Sale. Robot Dreams was a Texas Bluebonnet Award winner for 2008, Oprah's Kids' Reading List in 2008, Publisher's Weekly 150 Best Books of the Year, The American Library Association awards Notable Children's Book, named an NCTE Notable Book in the Language Arts, Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books of the year, a Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon title. Chicken and Cat was a 3x3 Magazine’s Silver Medalist for 2006, and a Parents' Choice Foundation Silver Medal for the Picture Book.
She was a recipient of the 2013 Maurice Sendak Fellowship and an Eisner nominee in 2014 .Sara currently teaches printmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Hello from Sara Varon, acclaimed and award winning graphic novelist and children’s book author/illustrator! Sara lives in Brooklyn with her trusty assistant, Sweet Pea the dog, where she writes and illustrates her popular children’s books! Find out more about Sara HERE. Watch Sara in her fun video showing you how to create your very own characters and check out her character worksheet here – MAKING THINGS!
In Conversation: ND Stevenson and Sara Varon
Mar 07, 2024
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ND Stevenson (l.) and Sara Varon.
Not one, but two graphic novels for young readers are getting the red carpet treatment this weekend at the 96th annual Academy Awards. The film adaptations of Nimona by ND Stevenson and Robot Dreams by Sara Varon are both nominated in the Animated Feature category. Ahead of their big Oscar night, we asked Stevenson and Varon to discuss their book-to-screen journeys and the surprises along the way.
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Sara Varon: Hello!
ND Stevenson: Hi!!!
I have a lot of questions for you… It is extremely cool that both of our comics are up for such a major award and that feels like a very big deal.
Varon: I agree—it’s a huge deal that two indie-ish comics artists have Oscar-nominated movies! I don’t know how often that has happened. (Although I do remember Graham Annable’s Boxtrolls got nominated a few years back.) Also, I just watched your movie like three hours ago, and read most of your book over the weekend, so I have tons of questions for you too!!
Stevenson: Awesome! I’ve read your book, but I haven’t seen the film yet, sorry!! I’m very excited to watch it, though, and I loved the book like crazy. Someone mentioned that Robot Dreams began as a webcomic, but I’m not sure if that’s true. Was it a book or a webcomic first?
Varon: It was definitely a book. I am 100% a print person—I don’t think I’ve ever made a webcomic! Other than posting a few comic panels on IG, if that counts. Did I read that Nimona was either a webcomic or else released in installments? The book definitely reads like it was designed as a book.
Stevenson: It was actually a webcomic first! I’m glad it reads well as a graphic novel, though. I didn’t really have a concept of what it would be like in print when I started.
When you first set out to make Robot Dreams, what was the seed of the idea that got your wheels turning?
Varon: Well, to start, I just wanted to make a story about a robot, because someone I knew was making an anthology of robot stories. It seemed like a good experiment because I’d never drawn a robot character. It began as an eight-page story, with the dog building a robot and abandoning him at the beach. I didn’t think about it too much, but in hindsight, I’d recently put my dog to sleep and I felt really horrible about it, like I’d abandoned her. So I think that feeling of abandoning a good friend was at the core if it. But as it turned into a full-length book, it became something else. I didn’t know how the story would end but I knew they (spoiler alert!) wouldn’t get back together.
Stevenson: I really love that. I was taken by these intersecting worlds between the characters and the way they all needed that companionship, but often ended up hurting each other as a result. It feels very true to the nature of friendships where we’re kind of coming and going from each other’s worlds.
Varon: Yes, in the book—which is slightly different than the movie—a lot of the characters hurt each other but it is never intentional/malicious.
Stevenson: Yeah, I found the ending so beautiful because it felt like a bit of an acceptance of that. The characters aren’t coming back together, but they can have this last little interaction that lets go of the hurt/betrayal the robot would have a good reason to feel.
I’m really curious if there were any changes in the movie that went against your knowledge of the characters/world, or, alternately, if any of the changes made you think differently about the choices you made for the book.
Varon: I have the same question for you because it seems to me that the story in your book and movie are so different and I was wondering how you got from one to another. For me, I think that [the director] Pablo Berger did an amazing job. I don’t feel like he so much changed the story, but he added a ton of details. I loved all the details he added. There are a lot of great jokes and the backgrounds (which are my big weakness) are absolutely amazing. Also, he set it in N.Y.C., whereas the book didn’t really have a specific location. I would say, since I mentioned the characters were a little different, they are slightly meaner and a little more adult in the movie, but I don’t have a problem with that. Also, in the book, everybody is completely genderless, which I liked because I felt like ageless and genderless characters were maybe a little more relatable to a wider audience. I don’t really mind how they changed, though, and I think the character designer in the movie also did an amazing job.
What about in the Nimona movie?
Stevenson: Yeah, you’re right, there are a ton of changes between the book and the movie. Overall, I think the biggest difference is tonally: the book ends on this very bittersweet/neutral note where the relationship between Nimona and Ballister can’t be totally repaired, but there’s a little bit of hope that a cycle has been broken and that healing, in the long term, is possible. The movie takes a much more optimistic look at that. I find it very interesting because it was easier for me to have these more pessimistic outlooks, because I related to the character so much, and then the filmmakers were seeing what was loveable about her and making the story about that. Like, she deserves love, to be believed in, friendship. And I think when I was first writing the comic, I didn’t believe I deserved those things. It’s cool to see how the story has changed based on context since then. And the trans themes being more obvious in hindsight meant that some of that self-brutalization wasn’t the best choice for a family movie. I love them both differently and the book is always going to be a time capsule from a specific time for me, but I love the hopeful outlook of the movie and I think it’s a big deal for trans kids and their families especially.
Varon: I love that! And it seems especially important right now that it should be nominated for an Oscar with all the anti-trans laws and things happening right now in a lot of states.
Stevenson: One thing that jumped out right away to me is that both Nimona and Robot Dreams have this very simple style, for lack of a better word. What I really love about that is the negative space it brings, and it requires the audience to fill that in with their own thoughts. To me, it’s one of the coolest things about comics, and the fact that it led to these two movies that surprise you with their complexity feels very true to the spirit of comics.
I love the way you draw the world in these broad strokes, and then occasionally get more detailed to represent the dream world and the robot’s wonder. I also struggle with setting and backgrounds, but I kind of think that’s a strength in comics. Do you have thoughts on that?
Varon: Hmm, I think I’m just really bad at drawing backgrounds! Ha! But you’re right that keeping things simple does leave more room for the reader to imagine. Ooo, I absolutely loved the style of the Nimona book: I love that flat, simple, comic book style, and I wondered how you got to the style of the characters in the movie? Was that your design? Or did you work with the design team?
Stevenson: I’m also bad at backgrounds!! In my head, I think it’s always this very fleshed-out cinematic movie, and then my style just doesn’t do that, and that tension is always in my work. But then there’s this whole team of production designers and they’re designing this extremely cool and detailed sci-fi world, and I like that I can set up that playground for them to have fun. And then they can draw all the flying cars that I am incapable of drawing, hahaha. So overall, I was very supportive of the style changes because I liked that it set the movie apart from the book and they could be these two very different things… as long as they stayed true to the heart of the book, which in the end they did!
Varon: Oh, that’s cool! I’m glad to hear you were happy with the changes made. Oh, two things: 1) Did you also work on the movie, because you also work in animation? And 2) as someone who works on projects entirely alone, it is amazing to see what a whole team of people, each with a specialized skill, can make happen. Like in Robot Dreams, there are (obviously) people who only draw backgrounds and they are all so good! Like it would take me forever to draw some of the things they drew!
Stevenson: Yeah, I work in animation as well, but I’m very much not an animator myself! I don’t really conceive of shapes in three dimensions very well, honestly; it always comes out as kind of a paper cutout in my art. But I did lend a hand on the movie, and I was very grateful that the filmmakers let me feel like a part of the crew. I think lots of people dread working with the creator of the original work, but at the end of the day, we all wanted the movie to be the best it could be, and so having my insight be valued meant so, so much to me. I love animation because of the collaborative element! And I love comics because of how much it gives you a glimpse into an individual’s mind!
What about you? What was your involvement like on the movie?
Varon: I think my involvement was primarily as cheerleader? This didn’t seem terribly important, but the director said it was really helpful. I did concept art in the beginning, and, actually, I was really happy to be able to redraw the characters and backgrounds because I did the original art about 20 years ago, and I would like to think that I’ve improved a little. And then that was really it. I kind of think that if I had been faster (I work at a sloth-like pace) he might’ve asked me to be part of the production team, but I think it’s better that I wasn’t, because I love the vision he had for the story, and there might’ve been places where I would’ve been like, “Well, that’s not how the story goes.”
Stevenson: I know what you mean!! I definitely had a few times where the movie was taking off in this totally different direction, and I was like, “I’m not against this, but I don’t think it’s the best idea for me to be a part of this version of the story.” Like at a certain point, your expertise on the world and the characters doesn’t really help when things are taking on a new direction, and there are lots of incredible adaptions that are really different from the source material, and I wanted it to be the best it could be whether or not I was working closely on it. I do think I’m pretty good at setting aside the characters as I know them for something new and exciting in the adaptation, though, and in the end, I think I’ve ended up with twice as many characters to love. They’re so different, but still familiar.
Relating to the adaptation process: comics can be so personal that having them adapted can feel like people are playing in your own personal worlds, your own imagination. You mentioned being a cheerleader, but it’s also like you’re the key to the world and that’s such an integral part of any adaptation. It’s so amazing how they kept your style and the feel of the world intact while building on that to make it its own thing.
How does it feel to have others trying to tap into your psyche to capture the magic that made the book so special?
Varon: Oh, that’s a good question. It is really personal. In a way, even though the story of Robot Dreams is totally unrealistic, all the things in the story somehow relate to my life, and the first time I saw the movie, I felt really exposed in a weird way. But in terms of keeping the style, I think I was really lucky. Pablo bought all my books for the studio, and especially the character designer. I have about a dozen, and the worlds all kind of exist on the same plane, so I think there was a lot to draw from. He definitely pulled characters from some of the other books, like Dog’s neighbors are Chicken and Cat (who are from a picture book called, surprise, Chicken and Cat) and there are other characters as well, like there’s a line of schoolkids at some point who are from Hold Hands.
Stevenson: OMG that’s amazing. I love the idea of this shared world. It definitely feels like this very real, fleshed-out place where the characters are wandering in and out of each other’s stories.
Varon: Oh, yeah, they literally are!
I wish I could keep asking you questions. You’ll be at the Oscars, right?
ND: I will! You??
Varon: Yes!!! I’m super-excited! I hope to find you there!! And huge congratulations!!!!!
Stevenson: You too!! See you at the Oscars!!!!!
Varon: Ha! Yes, see you at the Oscars! What a cool thing to be able to say!
Nimona by ND Stevenson. HarperTeen, $17.99 2015 ISBN 978-0-06-227823-4
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon. First Second, $16.95 2007 ISBN 978-1-59643-108-9
Sara Varon
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sara Varon
Born Illinois, U.S.
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer, Artist
Notable works Sweaterweather
Robot Dreams
Bake Sale
Odd Duck
New Shoes
Hold Hands
chickenopolis.com
Sara Varon is an American graphic novelist, writer, and illustrator best known for her work in children's literature. She is the author of the comic Robot Dreams which was later adapted into an animated film of the same name directed by Pablo Berger.[1]
Early life
Varon grew up in the Illinois suburbs. She got her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago and her MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City[2] in 2002.[3] Varon is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts.[2]
Career
Varon's characters are entirely non-human — she claims to be bad at drawing people — except in her book My Pencil and Me where she draws herself.[4][5] Her characters often form unlikely friendships — cats and chickens, cupcakes and eggplants — which combine to form what the New York Times calls "endearing, uncommon narratives."[6]
Varon created a series of alebrijes of some of her cartoon characters in collaboration with a Oaxacan artist.[7] She has also made traditional-style Turkish carpets with images of her characters.[8]
Personal life
As of October 2023, Varon lives in Chicago.[9] She is married and her husband is Guyanese.[8]
Honors and awards
Varon's book Sweaterweather (2003) was a 2004 Harvey Award nominee for Best Graphic Novel.
Varon's book Robot Dreams (2007) landed on many 2007 and 2008 "best-of" lists, including:
Oprah's Book Club
YALSA Great Graphic Novels
NYPL Book for the Teen Age
NYPL Book for Reading and Sharing
Bank Street Book of Outstanding Merit
NCTE Notable Children's Book in the English Language Arts
American Library Association Notable Children's Book
Publishers Weekly 150 Best Books of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books of 2007
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon title
Bake Sale (2011) was named a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for 2012 and selected by the School Library Journal as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2011. In addition, it was a Junior Library Guild Fall 2011 Selection.
Varon was a recipient of the Maurice Sendak Fellowship in 2013.[10]
Her and Cecil Castellucci's book Odd Duck (2013) was a Eisner Award nominee. In addition, it was named by School Library Journal as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2013, and Kirkus Reviews named it one of the Best Children's Books of 2013. Odd Duck was a Spring 2013 Selection of the Junior Library Guild. Translated into French as Des canards trop bizarres, it won the 2015 Livrentête Prize in France.[11]
Varon's book New Shoes (2018) was selected as one of the books features in the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art's exhibit Out of the Box in 2019.[12]
Her book Hold Hands (2019) was selected as a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year in 2019.[13]
Bibliography
Sweaterweather & Other Short Stories (2003) ISBN 1-891867-49-0
Chicken and Cat (2006) ISBN 0439634067
The Present (2005)
Robot Dreams (2007) ISBN 1596431083
Chicken and Cat Clean Up (2009) ISBN 0439634083
Bake Sale (2011) ISBN 1596437405
(with Cecil Castellucci) Odd Duck (2013) ISBN 1596435577
(with Aaron Reynolds) President Squid (2016) ISBN 1452136475
New Shoes (2018) ISBN 1596439203
Hold Hands (2019) ISBN 1596435887
My Pencil and Me (2020) ISBN 1596435895
(with Cate Berry) Thank You, Teacher (2023) ISBN 978-0062491572
Further reading
Bean, Joy (29 June 2006). "Spring 2006 Flying Starts: Sara Varon". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
QUOTED: "inviting and appealing."
"Sniffing around for an adorable, exciting, and thoughtful tale? This doggy detective delivers."
Varon, Sara THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN BONE First Second (Children's None) $14.99 6, 11 ISBN: 9781250348401
When the Golden Chew Bone mysteriously goes missing, Sweet Pea the dog is on the case.
Sweet Pea resides in the town of Parkville, where several animal species live harmoniously mostly. She enjoys painting, eating out of the garbage, and learning about her family history. She's never solved a mystery before, but when the Golden Chew Bone disappears before the Parkville Art Museum's celebration of its return (the bone had been on loan to another museum), Sweet Pea is asked to use her strong sniffing abilities to find it. Dogs regularly visit the museum to chew on the bone; it keeps their teeth clean but somehow never gets any smaller. Dental problems among Parkville dogs are now on the rise, but with the help of newcomers Jelly and Casper and insight from her great-aunt Petunia's stories, Sweet Pea gets to work. These characters and this town feel bursting with more stories to tell; readers will be grateful that this charming and smartly crafted mystery is just the start of a new series. Varon's cute, brightly colored, bold-lined, and immediately recognizable art style is inviting and appealing, while chapter breaks make the story accessible and contribute to the narrative's momentum. While the mystery is delightful, this story goes deeper thematically--which is made clear when Sweet Pea exclaims, "Everyone has a different perspective based on their own experiences."
Sniffing around for an adorable, exciting, and thoughtful tale? This doggy detective delivers. (information on Varon's character inspiration) (Graphic mystery. 7-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Varon, Sara: THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN BONE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A789814731/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e310717e. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
QUOTED: "This book does an excellent job of capturing the bittersweet feelings that come with the last day of school."
BERRY, Cate. Thank You, Teacher! illus. by Sara Varon. 32p. HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray. Mar. 2023. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062491572.
PreS-Gr 4--A love letter to educators, this is written from the perspective of a diverse group of students singing a goodbye song to their teacher on the last day of school. Each page shows students reminiscing about the ways their teacher has supported them over the school year, from suggesting a new favorite book to breaking up classroom arguments. The students thank their teacher for continuing to support them through the behavioral challenges and chaos that can come with an early elementary classroom. Berry highlights the patience and care that the teacher puts into her relationship with her students through endearing poetry. This book does an excellent job of capturing the bittersweet feelings that come with the last day of school while still keeping the story cheerful. Varon's illustrations are funny and visually engaging for an early elementary audience. This book is great for students who are having a hard time at the end of the school year, and could be a useful tool for talking about change, emotions, and school memories. VERDICT This upbeat story serves as a tribute to the endurance of educators. Great for school and public library collections. --Jillian Girardeau
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
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Girardeau, Jillian. "BERRY, Cate. Thank You, Teacher!" School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 5, May 2023, pp. 69+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A748258426/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b7a26bab. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
QUOTED: "Cheerful, chunky-outlined illustrations reminiscent of Varon's graphic-novel art make this picture book solidly appealing for early elementary school students."
Berry, Cate THANK YOU, TEACHER! Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins (Children's None) $17.99 3, 7 ISBN: 978-0-06-249157-2
As the school year draws to an end, students recount their classroom adventures and sing the praises of a dedicated teacher.
A diverse group of children stand before their teary-eyed, brown-skinned teacher and prepare to "sing [their] thank-you song." As they reminisce, we see the teacher cheering a student on through stage fright at a school play, chasing the class's escaped pet, comforting a scared child when a spider shows up, encouraging the students to share, and more. Each scene is accompanied by a brief, upbeat rhyme that says it all ("Thanks for all the science stuff. / We love it when the class erupts!"). Cheerful, chunky-outlined illustrations reminiscent of Varon's graphic-novel art make this picture book solidly appealing for early elementary school students. Each moment is endearing, with gobs of visual interest and opportunities for conversation starters about feelings and school memories. The educator's efforts shine through, emphasizing the importance of showing action through care--adult readers will come away stirred and eager to make an impact on the children in their lives. However, this volume is best shared out of the classroom; if a teacher were to share it with their students, it could be perceived as awkward or gratuitous. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A loving tribute to the efforts of hardworking educators. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Berry, Cate: THANK YOU, TEACHER!" Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072757/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=d6ac159c. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.