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President Squid Written by Aaron Reynolds Illustrated by Sara Varon Chronicle Books    3/01/2016 978-1-4521-3647-9 44 pages       Ages 5—8 “President Squid hilariously explores the ideal qualities of a President. Squid knows he’s perfect for the job because he lives in a big house, does all the talking, bosses people around, and wears …

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Jarrett J. Krosoczka has unveiled the book trailer for Comics Squad: Lunch!. This book serves as a follow-up to the 2014 book, Comics Squad: Recess!.

The video embedded above features appearances from the contributors of this comics collection. This group includes Krosoczka, Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm, Jeffrey Brown, Cece Bell, Nathan Hale, Jason Shiga, Cecil Castellucci, Sara Varon, and Peanuts.

Krosoczka and the Holm siblings served as the editors of this project. Random House Books for Young Readers has scheduled the release date for Jan. 26.

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This weekend it's Comic Arts Brooklyn in Williamsburg and here's a look at the books that will be debuting. Thanks to all the contributing publishers and cartoonists for supplying the info and lightening our wallets. Because there were so many new and exciting books I'm splitting this into two parts. Look for part two tomorrow!

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Best YA and Middle-Grade novels selected by Pete Hautman. His latest book is Eden West, the story of a boy growing up in an isolated doomsday cult in Montana.

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The cover for Sara Varon’s forthcoming graphic novel, entitled Sweaterweather & Other Stories, has been unveiled. We’ve embedded the full image above—what do you think?

Varon offers readers a glimpse into her creative process with this project. First Second will publish this book in February 2016. (via School Library Journal)

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Cover Reveal Day is here once more!  This time it’s a true doozy.  A Sara Varon (and you know how the kids clamor for her).  Here’s a bit of a description and the book itself.  And I know my mom would approve of how they’re holding their knitting needles:

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.

Many thanks to the good folks at First Second for this sneaky peek!

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I've found that the best of these books spoke to my kids when they were pre-readers, but still continue to draw them back again and again, as they uncover more in the multilayered stories. So without further ado, here are the Fitzgerald family's Top 5 Wordless Books.

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Theodora swims balancing a teacup on her head, enjoys mango salsa with her duck pellets, and exercises her wings every morning (yet never flies). Claude dyes his feathers strange colors, constructs crazy art projects in his yard, and spends his nights gazing at the stars. So which duck is the odd one?

Cecil Castellucci has written a touching and sophisticated graphic story about two friends who learn to appreciate the other's nonconformity. Readers see the story through Theodora's POV, from the day that Claude moves into the empty house next door--disrupting her routine--to their gradual realization that "even though they were very different, they felt the same way about most things."

Then one day as the pair waddle past a group of snickering ducks, they overhear one remark, "Look at that odd duck." Theodora and Claude each assume the comment was meant for the other. Their fallout drives them back to their respective houses and appears to end the friendship. But Theodora finds life isn't the same without her odd friend and ultimately comes to a realization about herself.

Books about friendship are big with six to ten year olds, the group this book is clearly aimed at. Young readers will find much to enjoy in the six short chapters. And the illustrations are a joy, with hundreds of details for readers to ponder in the duck universe that Varon creates. In fact, pairing Castellucci, best known for her YA graphic novels, with Varon (Robot Dreams) was an inspired choice. Both are rather odd ducks themselves (in the best possible way) and their collaboration is proof that birds of a feather flock together!

Odd Duck
by Cecil Castellucci
illustrations by Sara Varon
First Second, 96 pages
Published: May 2013

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Nursery Rhyme Comics
Edited by Chris Duffy
Introduction by Leonard S. Marcus
$18.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-600-8
Ages 9-12
On shelves October 11, 2011

Nursery rhymes. What’s up with that? (I feel like a stand up comedian when I put it that way). They’re ubiquitous but nonsensical. Culturally relevant but often of unknown origins. Children’s literary scholar Leonard Marcus ponders the amazing shelf life of nursery rhymes himself and comes up with some answers. Why is it that they last as long as they do in the public consciousness? Marcus speculates that “the old-chestnut rhymes that beguile in part by sounding so emphatically clear about themselves while in fact leaving almost everything to our imagination” leave themselves open to interpretation. And who better to do a little interpreting than cartoonists? Including as many variegated styles as could be conceivably collected in a single 128-page book, editor Chris Duffy plucks from the cream of the children’s graphic novel crop (and beyond!) to create a collection so packed with detail and delight that you’ll find yourself flipping to the beginning to read it all over again after you’re done. Mind you, I wouldn’t go handing this to a three-year-old any time soon, but for a certain kind of child, this crazy little concoction is going to just the right bit of weirdness they require.

Fifty artists are handed a nursery rhyme apiece. The goal? Illustrate said poem. Give it a bit of flair. Put in a plot if you have to. So it is that a breed of all new comics, those of the nursery ilk, fill this book. Here at last you can see David Macaulay bring his architectural genius to “London Bridge is Falling Down” or Roz Chast give “There Was a Crooked Man” a positive spin. Leonard Marcus offers an introduction giving credence to this all new coming together of text and image while in the back of the book editor Chris Duffy discusses the rhymes’ history and meaning. And as he says in the end, “We’re just letting history take its course.”

In the interest of public scrutiny, the complete list of artists on this book consists of Nick Abadzis, Andrew Arnold, Kate Beaton, Vera Brosgol, Nick Bruel, Scott Campbell, Lilli Carre, Roz Chast, JP Coovert, Jordan Crane, Rebecca Dart, Eleanor Davis, Vanessa Davis, Theo Ellsworth, Matt Forsythe, Jules Feiffer, Bob Flynn, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Ben Hatke, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Lucy Knisley, David Macaulay, Mark Martin, Patrick McDonnell, Mike Mignola, Tony Millionaire, Tao Nyeu, George O’Connor, Mo Oh, Eric Orchard, Laura Park, Cyril Pedrosa, Lark Pien, Aaron Renier, Dave Roman, Marc Rosenthal, Stan Sakai, Richard Sala, Mark Siegel, James Sturm, Raina Telgemeier, Craig Thompson, Richard Thompson, Sara Varon, Jen Wang, Drew Weing, Gahan Wilson, Gene Luen Yang, and Stephanie Yue (whew!). And as with any collection, some of the inclusions are going to be stronger than others. Generally speaking if fifty people do something, some of them are going to have a better grasp on the process than others. That said, only a few of these versions didn’t do it for me. At worst the versions were mediocre. At best they went in a new direction with their mat

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Bake Sale Sara Varon

Cupcake owns the Sweet Tooth bakery and is in a bit of a baking rut. He needs to try something new and shake it up a bit. Then he discovers that his best friend Eggplant knows Turkish Delight, who is only the GREATEST pastry chef in the world. Eggplant invites Cupcake to Istanbul with him, but Cupcake can't afford it. In order to earn extra money, Cupcake starts selling baked goods at several different events around town and working extra hours.

I love Sara Varon's work. Robot Dreams blew me away. It's even on our summer reading list for rising 5th graders, which is pretty impressive when you consider that Robot Dreams is wordless.

Bake Sale has words (and recipes!). I loved watching Cupcake go through the morning routine of baking and making coffee before opening. I liked how Cupcake and Eggplant hung out at the diner and I loved Cupcake's band. I really enjoyed the whole subplot with the band. (Cupcake has to quit the band in order to sell more backed goods.) And, in typical Varon style, instead of having a Brooklyn inhabited by Chickens or Dogs, this time Brookyn was filled with anthropomorphic food.

I also love how Varon's illustration style-- walking and talking animals and food, in a washed out pastel palate could easily be too twee and cutesy, but doesn't go there.

Another book to just cement my Varon love.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Click image to enlargehttp://www.bookweekonline.com/bookmark
Click here to see the mural that Sara painted for her friend Sheila's baby's bedroom!

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Women Working in Panels

Date : Monday, July 21st

Time : 7pm

Location : Huckleberry Bar, 588 Grand St.(near Lorimer St.), Williamsburg, Bklyn. 718-218-8555. . Nearest Train: L/Lorimer Stop, G/Metropolitan Ave. stop, J/M/Z to Hewes stop.

Suggested Donation : $10 at the door, to benefit Behind the Book.
Your $10 donation entitles you to 1 free draft beer.

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by Sara Varon

You know when you're hungry, and you're looking for something to eat, and you finally think of something, and you eat it, and it was the perfect snack? It absolutely hit the spot? That was what Robot Dreams was like for me. It's a wordless graphic novel about a dog and a robot, and it delighted me to no end. The illustrations were so lovely that, although I wanted to find out how the story would end, I also wanted it to go on forever so I could keep looking at them. Everything about the book is charming and adorable. It was just what I needed to read: it hit the spot.

**
Robot Dreams has been short-listed for a Cybils award. Winners in all categories will be announced this Thursday!

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Rebecca OUP-US

Below is a poem by Buffalo Poet King Otho. Let him know what you think in the comments.

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