My Pencil and Me, a gloriously odd letter of encouragement

My Pencil and Me by Sara Varon joins an elite club of books that is currently held by How This Book Was Made and Attack of the Stuff. All three of those releases are absurdly happy books that kids will enjoy, perhaps scratch their heads at, but certainly come back for more. Sara Varon’s My Pencil and Me is the softest and youngest skewing book on that list. If you have a child four-years-old and up who likes dogs, doodling, playful monsters, and having fun, then My Pencil and Me is one that you need to dig into ASAP.

We were familiar with Varon’s other books including Hold Hands and New Shoes among others. Her artistic style is warm, rounded, and quickly brings a smile to anyone who reads them. The themes that exist in her books vary to an extent, but always have aspects of friendship, early elementary school problem solving, getting along, and having fun. That is what makes My Pencil and Me such a hoot of a surprise.

It’s weird. It’s a very odd book that gives young readers a peek into what it’s like when they should be doing something, but they find it quite difficult to do at that moment. In My Pencil and Me the lead character is seated at her drawing table when her dog reminds her that she should be writing a book. She explains that it’s always hard to get started when the dog simply asks her to get some help from the pencil.

Her pencil is all too eager to help. It encourages her to start, just start doing something, even if it’s not perfect. As our artist starts drawing, she creates what she knows, a baseball game that’s being played by some of the purple and blue creatures that she’s just imagined. There is some dramatic conflict even when the pencil is accidentally broken. It all comes down to friends and trying your best. The animals lend a hand so that she can finish the book and submit it to her editor, who naturally loves it.

The thing about a weird book is that you can’t lay out all of its oddity. Experiencing the approachable uniqueness of a book that gleefully runs into a Technicolored-baseball field armed with a talking pencil means that the jokes in the book must remain there. Don’t worry, there are a couple of laugh-out-loud jokes for older readers. It’s the moment when the pencil is at its wit’s end at just having lost the baseball game and a couple of others.

My Pencil and Me is a glorious left of center book that celebrates creativity. It gives those who aren’t feeling creative the pat on the back to realize that it is normal to not have a productive thought. And when that happens, here’s how to deal with it, most likely through anthropomorphic creatures who encourage you to try. This is a different vibe of a book from Varon then she’s put out. It still has her hallmark sense of friendship and working things out, but injects an entirely new strain of weird-and you’ll love it.

As I was writing this our 11-year-old came into my office. He’s familiar with Varon’s work and me her last year on an author tour, but he didn’t remember that last bit. “I like this”, he said. I was surprised and asked him what he liked about it. He said that the book would be great for reading or art teachers, plus those students who don’t like to read, but are looking for a fun book that will “trick them into doing so”.

My Pencil and Me is by Sara Varon and on :01 First Second.

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