My Pencil and Me

July 6, 2020
Varon (Hold Hands) isn’t just the author of this how-to picture book—she’s the protagonist, too, drawing herself as a character who, stumped for a story, takes the advice of her dog, Sweet Pea, and asks her pencil for help. Pencil is a worthy aide (“Aw, forget about the eraser! It doesn’t need to be perfect”), and the protagonist is soon sketching
an action-packed baseball tale of friends vs. brightly colored, adorably eclectic monsters. It’s all fun and games—Varon depicts herself as a power hitter—until Pencil insists that “nobody likes a book where everybody gets along” and is accidently snapped in two. The monsters take over the narrative, turn Pencil into a magic bat, and write themselves a massive victory. “Best story ever!” the winners declare, and the powers that be seem to agree: a few pages later, the meta book has a primo spot in a real bookstore window. The creative process—its pains, its joys, and its so-crazy-it-just-might-work moments—has found a thoroughly funny chronicler in Varon. Ages 3–6.

July 15, 2020
How to create a story...with some help from an anthropomorphic pencil. In this metafictive picture book, the illustrated version of the actual author/illustrator is stymied--she's got to start a new book but doesn't have any ideas. Cleverly opening with three back-to-back double-page spreads that function like a camera zooming out, it shows the metafictive author sitting at her worktable, staring into space. She admits to her dog, Sweet Pea, that she has no ideas. The dog sagely replies, "Why didn't you just ask your pencil for help?" And, voil�, pencil springs to assistance. With the pencil encouraging her, "You could start by drawing some recent adventures," the two begin to create their story. That is, until the imaginary characters take over. The book's design, black-outlined illustrations often within panels and with dialogue bubbles for characters' speech, has the look of a simple graphic novel. There are cute sight gags, and the dialogue bubbles are lively and often funny. The insertion of narrative conflict (which the pencil says a story needs and Sweet Pea rejects, insisting they're all friends) is slyly effective. The ending, though, is disappointing, failing to bring the story to a conclusion that is likely to satisfy readers, though the protagonist and Sweet Pea are happy with it. The protagonist has beige skin and brown hair; other human characters are illustrated with both lighter and darker skin. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 35% of actual size.) A mostly entertaining romp, but the ending underwhelms. (Picture book. 5-10)

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September 1, 2020
Grades 1-3 Rounding off her simply drawn cartoon illustrations with a photograph that reveals the autobiographical nature of her latest outing, Varon traces an artist's work from first tentative scribblings to finished story. Following the advice of her special pencil ( Let's go around and collect some ideas! ), she starts with a memory?then, in stages, creates a setting (a baseball stadium), an event (a game between teams of pets and imaginary friends), a cast, a conflict ( Nobody likes a book where everybody gets along ), and a resolution. Then, following an idealized editorial meeting ( Don't change a thing! ), she has the twin joys of sending the finished book off and later seeing it in a bookstore window. The publication bit isn't a given, but her creative process offers a valid model for aspiring visual artists and writers searching for their own styles and stories. There's something to be gotten from the closing scenes, too, as artist and pencil exchange a high five . . . and then get back to the drawing board.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)