Sweaterweather: & Other Short Stories

by Sara Varon

Overview

Back before Odd Duck, before Robot Dreams, Sara Varon created Sweaterweather. This endearing, quirky volume is a captivating look into Varon's creative process. It combines short comics stories, essays, and journal entries, and invites the reader into the world of Sara Varon: where adorable, awkward anthropomorphic animals walk the streets of Brooklyn and a surprising, sideways revelation is waiting around every corner.

First Second is proud to introduce Sweaterweather to a new generation of readers in this gorgeous jacketed hardcover, with a new cover and plenty of new content.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626726796
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	02/02/2016
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	35 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

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. They have received many accolades—among others, Odd Duck was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Children's Books of 2013, Bake Sale was named a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for 2012, and Robot Dreams was on Oprah's Kids' Reading List in 2008. In 2013 Sara Varon was a recipient of the Maurice Sendak Fellowship.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/16/2015
Varon has added 10 stories to the eight gathered in her 2003 comics collection of the same name, along with brief introductions for all 18. Most of the stories are short, and most feature animals. In one, a bird and a monkey batter each other in a boxing match, then sit companionably on the couch nursing their wounds. A lion borrows a library book called How to Fit In in the African Grassland and tries various techniques for socializing with his prey (then gives the book a five-star review). There’s a snapshot of the Mexico City subway and its hawkers (“Cacahuetes! Diez pesos!” a bear cries), and a series of nervous interviews of her artist friends as Varon prepares to quit her job and work from home (“Coyote says that the times she has to really struggle to figure out what’s next, though uncomfortable, are the times she grows the most”). Varon’s characters, their sheepish expressions, and their animated conversations are unfailingly delightful, while flashes of graphic inventiveness—a fake flyer bound into the book, a set of carefully engineered paper dolls—are icing on the cake. Ages 8–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Varon's characters, their sheepish expressions, and their animated conversations are unfailingly delightful, while flashes of graphic inventiveness—a fake flyer bound into the book, a set of carefully engineered paper dolls—are icing on the cake." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Varon shows a knack for both verbal and visual storytelling." —Kirkus Reviews

"A cozy collection with something for all ages." —Booklist

"Varon fans will be fascinated by all the insider information, and developing artists will appreciate the range of styles, materials, color choices (especially the insight on how single colors can carry a whole story) and the sense of developing craft over the decade or so this book covers." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A highly recommended purchase for fans of Varon’s previous works and for lovers of offbeat, big-hearted comics." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

03/01/2016
Gr 3–6—A rerelease of Varon's first work, a 2003 comics collection, with new stories added. Varon has penned introductions to each tale that give readers a glimpse into her creative process, including the backstory behind her popular 2007 graphic novel, Robot Dreams (First Second). Varon charms readers in the way that only she can, with her beautifully drawn two-color tales of a s'more-stealing (yet repentant) raccoon and sweltering dinosaurs who cool off with a visit to the ice cream truck as well as informational and exquisitely detailed depictions of beekeeping and the Mexico City subway system. She also treats readers to some fun Easter eggs—a tiny flier bound into the book's pages and an intricate paper doll set. The selections' introductions and a few of the pieces themselves may hold more appeal for adults than children due to their mature (but certainly not inappropriate) themes, but that won't detract from the delight this collection will give to a wide range of graphic novel lovers. VERDICT A highly recommended purchase for fans of Varon's previous works and for lovers of offbeat, big-hearted comics.—Laura Lintz, Henrietta Public Library, Rochester, NY

School Library Journal

2015-11-03
The graphic novelist updates her first solo collection (2003) with additional art, commentary, and minicomics. Like the understated quality of the drama and humor that infuse these very short pieces, Varon's (seemingly) casual drawing style hardly changes over the decade-plus of stories. The first entry is a wordless tale from 2002 about a rabbit and a tortoise sheltering inside the tortoise's shell for tea on a wintry night, and the collection closes with a mid-2014 story in which animal figures share crowded panels with an autobiographical essay on turning full-time freelancer. In between she tucks graphic exercises such as a connected narrative with one panel for each letter of the alphabet, paper dolls (she suggests making photocopies to cut out), reports on beekeeping and on a trip on Mexico City's subway, a discomfiting predecessor to Robot Dreams (2007) in which a dog abandons a rusty robot on a beach, and other abbreviated stories or personal incidents. Though a pervasive palette of deep blue, pale pink, and gray lends visual unity, as do the neatly hand-lettered texts and introductory notes, in subject matter this retrospective is all a bit of a hodgepodge, and any technical development in the artist's craft revealed here will likely be visible only to experts. Varon shows a knack for both verbal and visual storytelling, but this showcase is likely to be of more interest to confirmed fans and budding graphic artists than to general readers. (Graphic short stories. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews