Sara Varon is an American

graphic novelist developed specialized terminology. Several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under ...

, writer, and illustrator best known for her work in children's literature. Her best known work is the comic ''

Robot Dreams Robot Dreams may refer to: * Robot Dreams (short story collection) ''Robot Dreams'' (1986) is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Isaac Asimov, illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie. The title story is about Susan Calvi ...

'' which was later adapted into an animated film of the same name directed by

Pablo Berger Pablo Berger Uranga (born 1963) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing and writing the silent drama film '' Blancanieves'' (2012), the black comedy films '' Torremolinos 73'' (2003) and ''Abracadabra'' (2017), a ...

Early life

Varon grew up in the

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

suburbs. She got her

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

and her MFA degree from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2002. Varon is on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts.

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. 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." Varon created a series of

alebrijes Alebrijes () are brightly colored Mexican handcrafts and folk art, Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures, traditionally made from papier-mâché or wood. The art form originated in Mexico City in the 1930s, whe ...

of some of her cartoon characters in collaboration with a

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

n artist. She has also made traditional-style

Turkish carpets Anatolian rug or Turkish carpet ( Turkish: ''Türk Halısı'') is a term of convenience, commonly used today to denote rugs and carpets woven in Anatolia and its adjacent regions. Geographically, its area of production can be compared to the terr ...

with images of her characters.

Personal life

As of October 2023, Varon lives in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She is married and her husband is Guyanese.

Honors and awards

Varon's book ''Sweaterweather'' (2003) was a 2004

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

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 Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for view ...

YALSA The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

Great Graphic Novels *

NYPL NYPL or N.Y.P.L. may refer to: * New York–Penn League, a minor baseball league in the northeastern United States * New York Public Library, a public library system in New York City {{disambiguation ...

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 The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Notable Children's Book * ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' 150 Best Books of the Year * ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' 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 ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

'' as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2011. In addition, it was a ''

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

'' Fall 2011 Selection. Varon was a recipient of the

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

Fellowship in 2013. Her and

Cecil Castellucci Cecil C. Castellucci (born October 25, 1969, in New York City), also known as Cecil Seaskull, is an American-born Canadian young adult novelist, indie rocker, and director. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Biography Castellucci gr ...

's book ''Odd Duck'' (2013) was a

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

nominee. In addition, it was named by ''

'' as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2013, and ''

'' named it one of the Best Children's Books of 2013. ''Odd Duck'' was a Spring 2013 Selection of the

. Translated into French as ''Des canards trop bizarres'', it won the 2015 Livrentête Prize in France. Varon's book ''New Shoes'' (2018) was selected as one of the books features in the

Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is a museum devoted to the art of the picture book and especially the children's book. It is a member of Museums10 and is adjacent to the campus of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Carle wa ...

's exhibit ''Out of the Box'' in 2019. Her book ''Hold Hands'' (2019) was selected as a

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

Notable Children's Book of the Year in 2019.

Bibliography

* ''Sweaterweather'' (2003) * ''The Present'' (2005) * ''Chicken and Cat'' (2006) * ''

'' (2007) * ''Chicken and Cat Clean Up'' (2009) * ''Bake Sale'' (2011) * (with

) ''Odd Duck'' (2013) * (with Aaron Reynolds) ''President Squid'' (2016) * ''Sweaterweather & Other Short Stories'' (2016) * ''New Shoes'' (2018) * ''Hold Hands'' (2019) * ''My Pencil and Me'' (2020) * (with Cate Berry) ''Thank You, Teacher'' (2023) ISBN 978-0062491572 * ''Detective Sweet Pea'' (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varon, Sara American female comics writers American female comics artists American graphic novelists Living people Artists from Illinois School of Visual Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)