ARiOL Vol. 1: Just a Donkey Like You and Me and ARiOL Vol. 2: Thunder Horse Written by Emmanuel Guibert and drawn by Marc Boutavant Papercutz, $12.99 each The back cover copy on the first translated and re-published volume of ARiOL, a kid-centric comedy comic from the writer of Sardine in Outer Space and [...]
Interview: Edith Donnell on this weekend’s Kids Read Comics event
By on June 19, 2013
I’m chatting today with Edith Donnell, the Youth/Teen Librarian for the Chelsea District Library. For the last five years she has been one of the driving forces behind the all-ages Kids Read Comics event, which is held at the Ann Arbor District Library – 343 S 5th Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This year the [...]
Review of the Day: Jane, the Fox & Me by Fanny Britt
By on June 19, 2013
Jane the Fox and Me By Fanny Britt Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault Translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou Groundwood Books ISBN: 978-1-55498-360-5 $19.95 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 1st Isn’t it strange how few children’s graphic novels are published in a given year? This is one of those phenomena that defy the basic tenets [...]
Nonfiction Graphic Novels – A Continuing Discussion
By on June 14, 2013
Back in January, we had a conversation (in reference to Derf Backderf’s Alex Award-winning My Friend Dahmer) about what makes a graphic novel “nonfiction” and the rigidity of categories like “fiction” and “nonfiction.” A couple of new comments have been added to that thread, so please head over to the above link to read the whole chain, but [...]
Weekly Reviews: Mid-year Graphic Novels
By on June 10, 2013
Today we have three very different graphic novels. Matt Kindt’s Red Handed, a gorgeous, full-color novel with an intricately structured plot has been the source of a bit of debate. Kimberly over on Stacked.com, while granting the novel’s interest, found its experimental structure ultimately frustrating. And when I gave the book to one of my [...]
Preview: Ariol, vol. 2: Thunder Horse
By on June 8, 2013
Ariol may not be as well known as the Smurfs, Ninjago, or Nancy Drew, but when I was at the Papercutz booth at Book Expo America last week, people couldn’t leave this book alone. It’s no problem to pick it up with book 2, as the stories are self-contained, but after reading it, you’ll probably [...]
Matt Phelan on Visual Storytelling in Graphic Novels (Video) | SLJ Day of Dialog 2013
By on June 4, 2013 1 Comment
From a scratchy nib pen to splatter from a toothbrush, author illustrator Matt Phelan describes the special quality he derives from using traditional media in this clip recorded at School Library Journal’s Day of Dialog.
Booth Browsing at BEA 2013
By on June 3, 2013
Dragging bags and bags of “goodies–” I mean books– around the Javits Center all day (in the first heat wave of the season no less!), probably means I’ll wake up with a charlie horse in the morning. I walked around the convention hall, concentrating on children’s book publishers, hoping to notice some sort of trend [...]
Review | Tales of the S.S. Junky Star
By on May 28, 2013
Tales of the S.S. Junky Star By the Fillbach Brothers First Comics; $6.99 Matthew and Shawn Fillbach have been making various kinds of science fiction comics for a while, from alien invasions (an oversimplified description that doesn’t do justice to the craziness of Maxwell Strangewell) to werewolves fighting vampires on the moon. They’re best known [...]
Preview: Primates
By on May 27, 2013
We love Jim Ottaviani’s science graphic novels here at Good Comics for Kids, and his latest one is a real treat. Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas, illustrated by Maris Wicks, is a delightful book that distills the story of the three women who went out and studied primates [...]
Preview: Jinx, vol. 2: Little Miss Steps
By on May 23, 2013
Li’l Jinx started out as a gag comic that ran in different Archie Comics publications; the one-page stories revolved around the rather strong-willed Jinx, her father, and a small coterie of friends. The comics were funny but not particularly deep. In writing the teen-age Jinx stories, J. Torres has kept the humor but given the [...]
Agatha Awards Announced; ABDO Revamps ‘Star Trek’, ‘Jurassic Park’ Library Editions | News Bites
By on May 22, 2013 Leave a Comment
Penny Warner’s The Code Busters 2: The Haunted Lighthouse won the 2012 Agatha Award. Capstone is adding 60 more Presidential titles to the K–3 PebbleGo Biographies module in August 2013. ABDO’s will publish library editions of IDW’s “Jurassic Park” and “Star Trek” graphic novels this fall.
Weekly Reviews: Under the Radar
By on May 22, 2013
Last week, Angela talked about buzz books–those books that everyone seems to be talking about; this week, I want to talk about the other end of the spectrum–books that no one is talking about. None of the three books reviewed below has been reviewed (yet) by a library journal, nor have I been able to [...]
Links: Kevin Keller’s first kiss
By on May 21, 2013
Archie Comics’ openly gay character Kevin Keller gets his first kiss in August—and provokes the ire of a Riverdale mom, whose reaction Veronica catches on video. Archie writer and artist Dan Parent discusses the storyline at USA Today, and Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater notes that the remarkable thing about Kevin’s kiss is not that he [...]
Preview: Lego Ninjago, vol. 7: Stone Cold
By on May 18, 2013
The saga of Lego Ninjago continues—no, really!—as our little interlocking-block warriors face off against the evil Stone Warriors in Lego Ninjago, vol. 7: Stone Cold, out this Wednesday in finer bookstores everywhere. Here’s a preview to get …
Graphic Novel Review: On the Ropes
By on May 17, 2013
from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: The Empathy Muscle Vance and Berger practice storytelling and visual art in a manner that brings immediacy to history and universality to distinctly detailed fictional characters. The influences of politics, economics and individual chance all have as much bearing on what we can and do make of ourselves [...]
This Week’s Comics: Double the Boom!
By on May 17, 2013
If you like to wait for trade paperbacks, this week’s list is a treasure trove of titles! The fifth trade for Mega Man comes out this week from Archie Comics. BOOM! Studios has two for the adventurer and cat lover with the collection of Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens and Garfield, and IDW [...]
Links: A Flurry of First Second books
By on May 16, 2013
Dave Roman discusses his new release, Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry, the sequel to his first Astronaut Academy book. Here’s a sample to get you started: I pitched “Astronaut Academy” to First Second as two books, because a futuristic space station school is filled with endless possibilities. Book 1 establishes a world where people (like characters in [...]
Preview: Odd Duck, by Cecil Castellucci and Sara Varon
By on May 15, 2013
We have a treat for you today: A preview of Odd Duck, written by Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Sara Varon, out this month from First Second. Castellucci is well known for her young adult work, which includes the Minx graphic novel The Plain Janes (illustrated by Jim Rugg) and the hybrid graphic novel The [...]
Preview: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong
By on May 7, 2013
High school is all about tribes, so the story of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, the new graphic novel out this week from writer Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks (published by the inimitable First Second), will ring true to a lot of readers: It pits the robotics team against the cheerleaders. Life is never [...]
