Sara Varon

Last updated

Sara Varon
BornIllinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
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. Her best known work is the comic Robot Dreams which was later adapted into an animated film of the same name directed by Pablo Berger. [1]

Contents

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:

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

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Jiménez, Jesús (May 11, 2022). "'Robot Dreams', el cómic de Sara Varon que Pablo Berger llevará a los cines" ['Robot Dreams', Sara Varon's comic about friendship that Pablo Berger will bring to theaters]. RTVE (in Spanish). Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Sara Varon | Faculty Listing". School of Visual Arts . Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  3. ↑ Mozzocco, J. Caleb (April 4, 2016). "First Second's Tenth Year: An Interview with Sara Varon". ComicsAlliance . Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  4. ↑ Gustines, George Gene (October 13, 2011). "What's On at New York Comic Con" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Children's Book Review: My Pencil and Me by Sara Varon. First Second, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-596-43589-6". Publishers Weekly . 2020. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  6. ↑ Jamieson, Virctoria (February 16, 2018). "Great New Books for a Child Just Learning to Read" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "the site for sara varon - Page 2". chickenopolis. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Lafond, Ruthie (April 13, 2015). "A Pen & Oink interview with the great Sara Varon!". Pen and Oink. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  9. ↑ Zahed, Ramin (October 20, 2023). "Exclusive: Pablo Berger Takes Us Behind the Scenes of His Acclaimed Movie, 'Robot Dreams'". Animation Magazine . Robot Dreams is based on a 2007 graphic novel by Chicago-based artist Sara Varon.
  10. ↑ "The Sendak Fellowship - 2013". The Maurice Sendak Foundation. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Prix Livrentête". mediatheque-conquet.fr (in French). August 14, 2015. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Out of The Box: The Graphic Novel Comes of Age". Carle Museum. February 10, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  13. ↑ "The 25 Best Children's Books of 2019" . The New York Times . December 2, 2019. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
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