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rkiladitis's review against another edition
4.0
I love a good meta picture book, and Sara Varon's latest, My Pencil and Me, fits that bill wonderfully. Sara herself stars in this story, along with her dog, Sweet Pea, and her special pencil. Not sure what to draw, Sara turns to Pencil for advice, and Pencil is ready and willing to guide her! What unfolds is an entertaining romp through the creative process, where Pencil encourages Sara to "go around and collect ideas", and "draw recent adventures". Deciding on the setting of a baseball game she attended last week, Sara creates characters and adds a plot: in this case, a baseball game between imaginary and real friends. When an inevitable conflict arises, Sara must put her story in the hands of the imaginary friends to save the day! It's adorable, it's filled with humor, and is a smart guide to creative writing that kids will love. A photo of Varon with the real Pencil and Sweet Pea, and some imaginary friends hanging around, places the reader and makes things a little more tangible. Endpapers highlight different pencils, pens, and paintbrushes strewn about the white background, with our very own Pencil smiling up at us, illustrated, and standing out on its own.
Sara Varon's artwork is always so much fun to enjoy, with imaginative creatures and animals alongside people and real(ish) situations. There's overall narration and word bubbles, and panels throughout, making this another addition to picture book/graphic novel shelves. She's great at capturing small moments, and she's great at telling larger scale stories, all with her relatable author's voice and charming artwork. Invite your littles to tell you their own story using Pencil's guidelines - and, of course, have plenty of Pencils on hand for your littles to personify for themselves. (Or crayons, naturally!)
Sara Varon's artwork is always so much fun to enjoy, with imaginative creatures and animals alongside people and real(ish) situations. There's overall narration and word bubbles, and panels throughout, making this another addition to picture book/graphic novel shelves. She's great at capturing small moments, and she's great at telling larger scale stories, all with her relatable author's voice and charming artwork. Invite your littles to tell you their own story using Pencil's guidelines - and, of course, have plenty of Pencils on hand for your littles to personify for themselves. (Or crayons, naturally!)
barbarianlibarian's review against another edition
3.0
cute, looks like it's for little kids, but better for older ones because it goes into the parts of the writing process, plot, etc
sarahward's review against another edition
4.0
Great story for those who struggle with perfectionism.
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
4.0
Some fun writing ideas and a surprise ending!
ljrinaldi's review against another edition
3.0
This is a cute, but not terribly exciting picture book/graphic novel about an artist trying to come up with something to draw. It shows how she relies on her pencil, who gives her good advice.
Good to get kids started on being creative, and they would probably enjoy this little story about being creative, and having fun with it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Good to get kids started on being creative, and they would probably enjoy this little story about being creative, and having fun with it.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
rahscake's review against another edition
3.0
Loving the illustrator, I was super excited to preview this new book given to my by NetGalley. However, I didn't like it as much as her previous work like New Shoes. The illustrations are all color which most children will enjoy. Idea of the story is a starting point for many teachers at school, so they will probably enjoy this a shared reading for their young students that are working on writing.
jessdarlin's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
My Pencil and Me was a very short and sweet story, it could defiently be used to introduce young kids to the art of writing a story. She also tackles the complex task of overcoming that anxiety and just creating your story. Give up on that unreachable idea of perfection. An imperfect finished story is always better, than a perfect unfinished story.
Jess
My Pencil and Me was a very short and sweet story, it could defiently be used to introduce young kids to the art of writing a story. She also tackles the complex task of overcoming that anxiety and just creating your story. Give up on that unreachable idea of perfection. An imperfect finished story is always better, than a perfect unfinished story.
Jess
thislibrarylife's review against another edition
4.0
I love that the feel of this book is a little bit like a beginner graphic novel. A great resource for students learning story elements or working on their own comics.
etienne02's review against another edition
4.0
A interesting book, a story in a story, which is all about creativity, being imaginative, don't be afraid of just trying and write and draw a good story. I think this can be perfect in class for introducting a writing activity. Some children just freeze in front of those and are afraid of making mistake so they just don't do anything. This show how we go with the story, create, have fun, and it also present some of the important part of a narrative story, the frame it has. Good potential and well done. I like it!
erindecker's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so cute. I absolutely loved the art and the insertion of the author-illustrator into the story. I think this is a great read aloud for kids when you are working on writing fiction skills and the process of publishing a book.