Pants' Books & Stuff!

I was a little iffy on this one to start but by the end I was completely sold! This is a super cute story, though I can't really put into words what I liked about it so much; there's just something very charming about it. The art makes it almost a borderline comic, as many pages are comprised of only 2-3 panels, but this would make it great for children who are being introduced to graphic novels for the first time.

My favourite part? That Varon included recipes for all the baked goods Cupcake makes throughout the story! If parents want to pick this up for their kids they could easily make it an interactive experience, or librarians could create some kind of program around it somehow; it just adds an extra layer to the reading experience that I think could be a lot of fun. :)

I'll definitely be checking out Varon's previous work Robot Dreams and I look forward to whatever she puts out next.

[As an aside, can I mention how I find it kind of bizarre how this world is populated by food, but they all obviously eat food (e.g. Cupcake bakes a carrot cake, but in the next scene a giant Carrot is serving him grilled cheese; or, Tomato picks up an order of cake, but later on Cupcake is buying tomatoes to use in his baking. This is just me over-thinking though, honestly.) This obviously didn't deter from my enjoyment of the work, but the thought wouldn't leave me alone!]