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Now that you know why kids should read comics, you need a list of the best comic books and graphic novels for your children. All of the titles listed I’ve read and fully recommend. If you want to add to this list, please do so in the comments. (Also, I’m including hybrids, books with both comic and narrative.)
Owly
Early Readers 4-6 year olds
Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems
Fly Guy books by Tedd Arnold
Owly books by Andy Runton
Toon Books
Silly Lilly What Will I Be Today
Benny and Penny Just Pretend
Nina in That Makes Me Mad!
Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking
My First Graphic Novel
Goalkeeper Goof, My First Graphic Novel
Balloon Toons
Rick and Rack and the Great Outdoors
Let’s Pretend
Elementary 6 – 10 year olds
Magic Pickle
Nursery Rhyme Comics - various cartoonists
50 classic verses illustrated in comics form by today’s greatest cartoonists and currently my new favorite book!
The Magic Pickle series by Scott Morse
Hilarious if you like puns; I do.
Bone series by Jeff Smith
Taro and the Magic Pencil by Sango Morimoto
Amelia Rules series by Jim Gownley
The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis
A group unlikely science-geek friends solve a mystery; great story.
Geronimo Stilton series
Lots of kids love these; I felt distracted by the text and fonts.
Donald Duck Treasury by Don Rosa
Archie by various
Mal and Chad: The Biggest, Bestest Time Ever!
Reminds me a bit of Calvin and Hobbes.
Amulet series and Copper by Kazu Kibuishi
Some of the best art you’ll see!!
Frankie Pickle (a hybrid) by Eric Wight
I think Wight is a genius – I adore these books! His newest, Mathematical Menace is so entertaining and has a very positive message for kids who may not love math.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (hybrid) by Jeff Kinney
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (hybrid-ish, hard to classify)
A very unusual way of storytelling, makes you think. It’s a beautiful story!
The Popularity Papers (hybrid) by Amy Ignatow
We love these books.
Asterix and Obelisk
Adventures of Tintin by Herge
The art and storytelling is amazing but the original books are 80 years old and include many cultural stereotypes. I’m not sure if the new books are updated. Does anyone know?
Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale & Dale Hale
One of my favorite books, not just graphic novels, EVER!
DuckTales by Carl Barks
Can’t forget the classic Disney comics.
Asterix the Gaul by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
An original, oldie but goodie.
Classics Illustrated published by Papercutz
Dragonbreath series (hybrid) by Ursula Vernon
I think these are hilarious.
Be Confident in Who You Are by Annie Fox (iPad app)
Very well conceived and written.
Meanwhile (hybrid) by Jules Feiffer
Check out his other books, he’s amazing.
Big Fat Little Lit edited by Art Spiegelman & Francoise Mouly
A varied collection of comics curated by the best editors the graphic novel world!
DC Super Heroes The Ultimate Pop-Up Book by Matthew Reinhart
You haven’t seen pop-ups like these ever, they are stunning.
Detective Blue by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Tedd Arnold
Looks like a picture book and is a great introduction to graphic novels.
Bake Sale by Sarah Varon
An unusual story about a cupcake.
Little Vampire by Joann Sfar
Not scary, very cute!
Zita the Space Girl by Ben Hatke
This adventure of friendship and bravery will appeal to both boys and girls.
The Unsinkable Walker Beanby Aaron Renier
The first in a series, we are following a hero on a pirate ship trying to return the cursed skull to the sea-witches. It’s a great opening book – I only wish the other books were written so I could keep reading!
Olympians
Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory by George O’Conner
See JJ in the photo above? She’s reading Hera! I love this photo because it captures how entranced she was with the story. Both my kids love O’Conner’s graphic novels and can’t wait for his next book, Hades. If you’re big Greek mythology fans, check out his other books, Athena and Zeus: King of the Gods.
Barrons Graphic Classics:
Hamlet
Jane Eyre
Also Check Out
- free online kid-friendly comics and graphic-novels at Kidjutsu.com.
- Smash Comic - fun web comic!
- 2011 Eisner Awards Comic-Con winner for the Best Publication for Kids was Tiny Titans, by Art Baltazar and Franco (DC) and the Best Publication for Teens was Smile, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic Graphix).
- more Graphic Novel recommendations and reviews on The Graphic Novel Reporter as well as how Melissa Burke-Markuqrt, 11th grade English teacher, uses graphic novels in the classroom.
- School Library Journal recommendations.
RECENT POSTS:
8 Reasons Why Your Kids Should Read Comics
Kids With Dyslexia Think Outside the Box
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Melissa Taylor is a mom and educator from Denver who is passionate about playful learning. Thanks for visiting the site!
17 Comments
Lovely list!
BTW, although the Tintin books are not updated – they are still fantastic reads. Unmissable!
Read Aloud Dad
thanks for that info, Chris. I was a Tintin addict as a kid, too.
[...] graphic novel recommendations for kids Thursday: teachers and add more to the discussion about [...]
Also, you might like Americus from MK Reed and Jonathan Hill — I haven’t read all of it yet but it’s interesting because of the issues it brings up.
Perfect timing to go with my blog post about reluctant readers. I will link from my post to this one to help parents find just the right comic for their kiddo!
Thanks,
Martha
thanks, Martha! Let us know your post so we can visit.
[...] Great Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids [...]
[...] Great Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids [...]
Thank you for posting these recommendations. I have a three-year-old son who loves for me to reading anything to him (even poetry!); however, I agree that kids should be exposed to all kinds of literature and anticipate he will discover comics no matter my feelings. It is great to have some place to start as the comics with which I am familiar are not appropriate for his age.
No Babymouse? We’re trying out that series this week. Not sure what my daughter thinks. Totally agree with you on your Rapunzel’s Revenge rec. That is an awesome book.
totally forgot about Babymouse. It’s one that many kids love — I’m sort of tepid about it myself but . . . let me know what you think.
[...] Great Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids [...]
As an regular reader of graphic novels, I love this topic especially as the father to two girls.
In addition to the your selection, I recommend Scary Godmother books by Jill Thompson. Very sweet and funny stories about the monsters and witches. The kids act and sound like real children – they just look a little different.
Also Jellaby books by Kean Soo. Ten-year old Portia meets a shy purple monster and has plenty of adventures. Previews can be seen at http://www.secretfriendsociety.com/index.php.
thank you for these ideas, Hooper! Can’t wait to read them.
Your website has to be the elcetnroic Swiss army knife for this topic.
Thanks for the list. The Nursery Rhyme one looks great! We love Binky the Space Cat (3 book series so far) and Sticky Burr: Adventures in Burrwood Forrest (2 books so far plus some online adventures).
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