Journeying Toward Creativity

When working with children who are pursuing a creative passion or working on an assignment, it's important to remind them (and ourselves) that it's a process which requires patience and practice.  It is an essential habit to acquire. This perseverance never ends because it is fueled by a love of creativity and the art we wish to perfect or the goal we wish to accomplish.

When we are privy to the steps taken by others, it gives us encouragement and a greater appreciation for their results.  Sweaterweather & other short stories (First Second, February 2, 2016) written and illustrated by Sara Varon is a collection of seventeen nearly wordless narratives.  Each story begins with insights and commentary by Sara Varon.

The first eight stories in this book were originally published in 2003 as part of my very first book, "Sweaterweather."  It was the beginning of my comics career, so my drawing style and choice of materials have evolved a little over the years.

We start with a story released in February 2002 featuring two friends, a rabbit and a turtle, who caught in a snowstorm, improvise on shelter accommodations and attire on the walk home.  A year earlier a short comic, four pages, follows the preparations necessary for a meal among friends.  These two are followed by an exercise in creating a story with twenty-six panels, one for each letter of the alphabet.

A trade is made and an unusual item is grown, a pie-eating contest results in more than one winner and a pool provides opportunities for an assortment of creatures.  Bees and their keepers are showcased and explained in a delightful exchange.  There are paper doll pages with humorous backs for a cat, person, baker dog and a couple of travelers.

A dog longs for a companion which is acquired but later left through an unfortunate result of their day's activities.  In the middle of the night as two campers sleep a bandit discovers their food and guilt-ridden leaves behind a substitute.  Not even a boxing match can come between these two friends.  A bookish lion does not understand the simplest fact.

Two pages give a nod to a favorite new book, a five day diary chronicles the artist's life and panels highlight a subway ride in Mexico.  An ice cream truck goes prehistoric.  To support a big life choice the conclusion contains artists' interviews on time well spent.


The conversations Sara Varon has with her readers preceding each story are lively, informative and personal.  These paragraphs help readers to feel as though they are talking with their best friend.  They work splendidly with her intuitive visual storytelling. Here is the second half of one of those essays.

I remember using my Gocco Printer to print the covers, and I remember laying out all the slightly sticky prints on my kitchen floor to dry and trying to keep my dog (in her perpetual effort to be as close to me as possible) from stepping on them.  I think this story was inspired by Eun-ha Paek's story of a flying elephant, which I'd seen on her website.


The dust jacket front is only the beginning of the connections made in this illustration.  It continues over the spine with the mouse's scarf extending like a winding path over a group of characters engaged in a variety of activities.  The book case is completely different.  Most of the background is pale blue with white snowflakes and reversed in a border along the bottom.  Two snowmen walking from the left and right edges are reading a purple book.  The book's title is arched over the snowman on the right.

In the colors of a bright rose-pink and blue and white the opening and closing endpapers have a white island placed on a pink wavy sea.  Characters from the comics are enjoying themselves floating on a raft, sailing, peeking out from a lighthouse, sunning on the beach, swimming, reading, walking, entering into a subway (?) and participating in an interview.  This is a comical introduction to the quirky whimsy found within the book.

Varon uses a limited color palette for her stories, blue, white, pink and purple and shades of those.  She may frame her panels in white with a heavy or fine border or place her images within lots of white space.  Her panel sizes shift according to the story.  The delicate details in her Bee Comic are impressive.

One of my favorite pages of panels is of the campers enjoying a treat of roasted marshmallows at night with an excited raccoon waiting for them to retire into their tent.  The look on its face is hilarious.  No one else could eat those gooey treats as fast as this thief.


Sweaterweather & other short stories written and illustrated by Sara Varon is an inventive gathering of original tales.  It explores process and the power of imagination.  Readers will see what the freedom to follow your dreams can attain.

To learn more about Sara Varon and her other work please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  At the publisher's blog in a post by Gina Gagliano you can see more images of and from this title.  Teacher librarian Travis Jonker highlights Sara Varon and her projects plus a couple of interview questions with her on his blog, 100 Scope Notes.  There are many pieces of the artwork.  Sara is interviewed recently on Let's Get Busy, Episode #236, at Pen & Oink, and at the Los Angeles Times.

One Of A Kind

There are those who deliberately try to stand out in a crowd.  Their trademark is individuality in the extreme.  There are those who despite every effort, attempting to blend in with the group, will be like a beacon in the darkest of nights.

There is also a distinct group who neither tries to be eccentric or indistinguishable from others.  You might say they are the perfect example of ignorance is bliss believing they are normal in every respect. Odd Duck (First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press) written by Cecil Castellucci with illustrations by Sara Varon is the story of conventional (she thinks) Theodora and her outlandish new neighbor, Chad.


Theodora's days were very busy.
In the morning, she swam in straight 
lines across the pond
with an object
on her head
to maintain 
perfect posture.


What some might call a routine or a rut with a capital R, Theodora thinks of as a typical day.  Groceries (mango salsa?), craft supplies (squares for quilting?) and library books (are you sure you want to check those out?) seem as right as rain to her.

Each night is the same as the night before; dinner and star gazing.  Each night she wishes the same wish on the first shining star.  Her life she loves though, being alone, is about to change.

The empty house next door has a new occupant who couldn't be more different than Theodora than if it is part of a cosmic plan.  Proper as she is, baking a cake and introducing herself is the only thing to do. But oh my, this duck is not proper, not proper at all. This duck named Chad is a messy, talkative, rude dude.

Theodora's only hope as the days go by is Chad will soon fly south for the winter.  She herself prefers to stay in the calming hushed quiet of the cold days.  Of course...Chad stays.  Theodora's life is about to change again.

During an evening of gazing skyward naming the constellations, Theodora finds herself accepting an invitation from Chad.  One spoken thought leads to another and before she knows it, as the chilly days pass, she and Chad have become inseparable---they're best friends.  Spring brings a third change to Theodora, in the form of a comment said aloud as the two of them pass by a chatting group of ducks.

Odd? Who's odd?  He's odd!  She's odd!  A door slamming argument threatens the newly formed friendship.  One day passes, two days pass, and on the third day, odd, even opposite-as-night-and-day odd, might be the best thing of all.


Cecil Castellucci know ducks and people, combining the attributes of one with the emotions and actions of the other.  Mixing a simple narrative with speech bubbles and descriptive, text-filled asides, this story of less than ordinary quackers, flows like a constant, babbling brook; sure and steady.  You can't help but feel the lightness of the tale, the humor evident in each of the six chapters.


The book's jacket serves to illuminate the personal qualities of Theodora and Chad; the front a close-up of both their peculiarities, the back a series of three activities.  Rows of full-color, square portraits of the ducks in the story pattern the cover.  Opening and closing endpapers, in three shades, teal, orange and gold, show heads of the characters first in once direction, then the other, among watery waves and lily pads.

The design and layout employed by illustrator, Sara Varon,  alternates between double page spreads, single pages and multiple panels on an individual page.  Her visuals are so expressive they not only enhance and interpret the text but tell a story all their own.  All the duckish details add to the delight; duck nesting dolls on Theodora's dresser, bunny slippers next to her bed, lily pad bedding, duck book titles, and Mallard's Moving Company on the side of the truck.

The body shapes of her ducks, their attire and accessories can't help but make readers smile; Theodora's hat, socks and gloves in contrast to the goggle-wearing, striped-scarf Chad with the dyed feathers.  Round, wide eyes and spindly legs add to the hilarity.  For the sentence, She and Chad would not be Friends, Varon uses two page, all white space except for a shocked Theodora holding a plate with a slice of cake on the left looking at Chad on the right scratching his head with a fork while yakking non-stop.  (I burst out laughing when I saw this.)


Without a doubt Odd Duck, written by Cecil Castellucci with artwork by Sara Varon, charmingly conveys to readers opposites, even odd opposites, can attract. This title is sheer, pure fun all around.  It  can't miss as a great read aloud.  Make sure you add this graphic novel to your collection.

Please follow the links embedded in the author and illustrator names to their official websites. This link is to the publisher website where eight of the beginning pages can be viewed.