The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
It’s been a while since we have done one of these, so there’s quite a bit to read here. Let’s start with two stories I had a hand in: I talked to Uglydolls co-creator David Horvath and artist Ian McGinty about Uglydolls in general and the comic version they are producing for Viz, and I [...]
Today is Free Comic Book Day, the national holiday that celebrates all things sequential. Check the official website for a list of comic book stores that will be offering special FCBD comics to all comers today—and the site also has a list of the comics. And to tide you over, here are a series of [...]
Philippe Coudray’s Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas! Is laugh-out-loud funny.
Last time we discussed the many charms of Faith Erin Hicks’s Friends with Boys, recognized this year as one of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten for 2013. Readers who relish Hicks’s story of family, hauntings, and navigating a new school should turn to these recommendations for their next title. Anya’s Ghost by [...]
This slick biography of President Barack Obama is more inspirational than informational, presenting a smoothed-out view of his rise to the Oval Office. Obama: The Historic Election of America’s 44th President By Agnieszka Biskup Illustrated by Seitu Hayden Capstone Press Let me start by saying that this is a biographical graphic novel that is clearly [...]
This year’s nominees for the Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards have been announced, and it’s quite a varied lineup. Last year’s judges (ahem) increased the number of young reader categories from two to three, and this year’s judges have continued that practice, which opens up the nominations to a wider range of books. Best Publication [...]
Lerner Publishing Group’s My Boyfriend is a Monster series has two popular publishing trends covered: Graphic novels and post-Twilight YA paranormal romance. The series of standalone, black-and-white, hardcover graphic novels by different creative teams all feature fast-paced, rather light melodramas in which a teenage girl falls for a boy who’s not quite human (but close [...]
We have a special treat for you today: An exclusive preview of the last collection of Art Baltazar and Franco’s Tiny Titans series. Tiny Titans: Aw Yeah Titans collects issues #45-50 of the Eisner award-winning series in a 128-page, comic book-sized paperback priced at a kid-friendly $12.99. Here’s the blurb: It’s the final TINY TITANS [...]
Our fifth title from the YALSA Hub Reading Challenge is Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks. Friends with Boys was highlighted as a Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten title for 2013 . As a quick refresher, the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection list showcases titles “recommended for those ages 12-18, meet [...]
The recent removal of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis from some classrooms in the Chicago Public schools attracted a lot of attention. Although it first appeared that all the books were being removed, it turned out that the school district had had second thoughts about teaching it to seventh-graders, largely because of a single page depicting torture. [...]
The fairies conspire to throw a surprise party in the latest volume of Disney Fairies, Tinker Bell and the Most Precious Gift, but the guest of honor goes astray. These books are fun for Disney Fairies fans and stand well on their own; this one is out …
We have had our discussion of the graphic history of the atomic bomb, Trinity, and now we’re suggesting more for your nonfiction graphic novel junkies. Curious about science, politics, history, and genius? Check out these titles. Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón Why? For those who enjoyed the [...]
Our fourth title from the YALSA Hub Reading Challenge is Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm. Fetter-Vorm has found a solid career in creating nonfiction graphic novels with the publisher Hill & Wang, including the forthcoming Cartoon Introduction to World Civilization and a history of the Civil War. Trinity was highlighted as [...]
James Kochalka has a field day in Johnny Boo Does Something, his fifth Johnny Boo book, sending his ghostly main character off on a Boring Adventure, a maybe-birthday celebration, and the bottom of an ice cream hole. Kochalka, who won an Eisner Award last year for another young-readers book, Dragon Puncher Island, is back and [...]
Geronimo Stilton meets Akira Kurasawa in Geronimo Stilton: The First Samurai, the 12th volume of the time-traveling mouse’s adventures in graphic novel form. In this story, the Pirate Cats travel back to 1603 Japan, and Geronimo and his troupe follow, impersonating a traveling band of actors, to find out what they are up to. Good [...]
from Francisca Goldsmith, graphic novel guest blogger extraordinaire: Coding How We Speak Family Secrets Rutu Modan has proved to be an adept storyteller as well as creator of visually rich images of both characters and their settings. She’s been published to some acclaim in the US as the author and cartoonist of a collection of [...]
All the Robins—past, present, and future—have to rally round to save Batman in this exclusive preview of The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold—Small Miracles, which collects Batman: The Brave and the Bold #15 and #17 and The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13-16. And there’s more: This 128-page, all-ages trade paperback [...]
Viz Media has launched a kid-oriented comics app, sticky DOT comics, which features a slew of Pokemon manga as well as their Voltron Force, Redekai, and Mameshiba graphic novels; Mr. Men and Little Miss are on the way as well. And they had another big announcement as well: They will publish a line of original [...]
Our third title up for discussion in the YALSA Hub Reading Challenge is Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. This collected edition introduces Miles Morales as the new Spider-Man after the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Marvel universe. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man volume 1 was highlighted on the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten for 2013 list. [...]
Let’s kick off our Tuesday with a preview of Dance Class vol. 4: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Paris. You don’t have to have read the earlier volumes to get the idea: It’s a lively slice-of-life story about three friends who are in dance class together. In this volume, they are training [...]
