No, that’s not a typo. I enjoy looking back at my yearly summaries, so I’m filling in those I missed as I can. And 2015 was a good year, with plenty of diverse, entertaining, substantial reads. (Plus, with more time to look back, I can better know which works are longer-lasting, instead of the hot thing to talk about that year.) Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova — An outstandingly good graphic novel for and about kids, with surprising depth regarding motivations […]

Continuing my coverage of what First Second is planning to put out about a year from now… I previously wrote about the launch of Maker Comics and plans for more Science Comics. Here are some stand-alone books that have ties to previous favorites. Lucy Knisley has a new graphic memoir coming next February. Her last major release was Something New: Tales From a Makeshift Bride, about her wedding, so now comes Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, about her […]

This seems like an excellent companion to the Science Comics line, only more practically focused. These “do-it-yourself” comic guides will appear under the umbrella title Maker Comics. The first two releases are as follows, with both due February 5, 2019. Maker Comics: Bake Like a Pro! by Falynn Koch (Science Comics: Bats) includes recipes! Maker Comics: Fix a Car! by Chris Schweizer These are both excellent survival skills for growing up. I hope there’s a future book about how to […]

This year, I was honored to be one of the judges putting together the “Top 10 Graphic Novels 2017” list for School Library Journal (since I blog for their Good Comics for Kids site). Here is their list of this past year’s top ten (with links to my reviews where I’ve covered them). Brave by Svetlana Chmakova Mega Princess by Kelly Thompson and Brianne Drouhard The Time Museum by Matthew Loux Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham Louis […]

The latest Diamond Previews catalog lists a lot of books worth checking out. You can order them now through your local comic shop for delivery in October or later. Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm AMP! Comics for Kids, $9.99, AUG17 1149, due out October 18 There have been five collections of this charming comic strip, beginning with Phoebe and Her Unicorn, and they’re all great. Now, Dana Simpson has created an original graphic novel with the characters: […]

I know, it’s completely ridiculous timing, but while continuing to import old posts into the new version of the site, I realized how much I enjoyed looking back at my yearly roundups, which I last did in 2013. So here, for future reading, are my top ten graphic novel picks for 2016. Because ranking puts me into too many arguments with myself, they’re in alphabetical order by title. Brief Histories of Everyday Objects by Andy Warner — A fascinating collection […]