Graphic novels | Page 3 of 8

Above the Trenches, a graphic novel that edutains with ease from all angles

Having taught a couple of classes to middle school grades about World War I, I know that the subject can be confusing. The time spent on WWI for most middle school classes is very brief, with more time allowed for the Treaty of Versailles, especially for those lower grades. Those ages know about the mythos of the flying ace, even if they get hazy on who were the Allied Forces and what were the causes that led to it. Above the Trenches is a graphic novel in the Nathan Tale’s Hazardous Tales series. This entry is specifically about the flying aces that took to the skies in WWI and how they came to shape this new form of combat. Ironically, the most famous WWI pilot, the Red Baron doesn’t factor into Above the Trenches that much. Instead, the graphic novel is about the Allied Powers and their build-up of the foreign legion and the men who jumped into this relatively new mode of transportation.

Above the Trenches is a graphic novel with dozens of characters, and country-spanning action, that manages to make people appreciate history.

a Graphic novel with brains, funs and airborne guns

Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug doesn’t disappoint

An entertaining first book does not automatically ensure a series. Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold was a great book that sure looked like it had legs. Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug is mglit that runs with fun. It’s a book that lives somewhere between the graphic novel and chapter book world that incorporates the illustrated manic fun of the former while building upon the text-based latter that kids need to know.

Quest Kids and the Dark Prophecy of Doug blends comic style art and quickly paced text for an mglit series that spans elementary and middle school.

Stop, collaborate and read this book

Bunny Vs. Monkey, lays the ground for elementary graphic novel gold

Spy Vs. Spy was my jam growing up. Even when I was well past an emerging reader status, the simplicity of their wordless adventures, combined with the humor that I wanted Mad Magazine was the stuff of legend. Bunny Vs. Monkey offers up some of those same feelings but is collected in an elementary school package that’s shorter, more colorful and a graphic novel. Many people will compare Bunny Vs. Monkey to Dog Man, which is accurate to a point, but the latter has one has more of a staccato presentation which is well-suited to its young audience.

Bunny Vs. Monkey is a rabbit-paced graphic novel that grabs the attention of elementary school readers and keeps them engaged until the final page.

elementary and proud of it

Vern, Custodian of the Universe, a smart graphic novel that thinks and asks

Vern, custodian of the Universe is the strangest, most creative and surreal graphic novel since Neurocomic. It also echoes the sentiment from the classic Peggy Lee song, “Is that All There Is?”, and parallels to Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done For Me Lately”, which was certainly more about relationships, but could be extrapolated to a greater sense. Vern deals with the multiverse, and before you dismiss this smart graphic novel as merely jumping on the bandwagon that movies have mercilessly pounded into the ground, hear me out. This graphic novel accomplishes readers getting interested in it by successfully and entertainingly melding so many areas of a science-fiction venn diagram some readers might not know what to focus on. They’ll come for the trope of the multiverse, but get sucked into the art, check it out for the art, but then dig deeper into the STEM or one of any other possible paths.

Vern Custodian of the Universe features beautiful art and an intelligent, STEM based story about the multiverse and the minute details that could alter it.

Trippy, fun, creative and great for upper middle and high school ages

The Solvers Mission 1: The DivMulti Ray Dilemma does new math proud

Remember the “new math” joke from a couple of years ago? Parents of elementary school-age students realized that division and multiplication had a slightly different way of being taught. It’s not “new” per se, it’s just described using the commutative property, which is also a very quick way to learn craps. The Solvers is an interactive graphic novel series that entertains and educates. The DivMulti Ray Dilemma is the first in the series that manages to explain division and multiplication in a way that new and old math people can understand and does so with a strong superhero story that will guide those reluctant math readers.

The Solvers: The DivMulti Ray Dilemma is a math graphic novel that runs with energy, entertainment and education.

Graphic novel + Fun + Math = mastery of the subject

Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon!, is a new elementary tentpole

When does a book beget a series? Sometimes a book series is forced upon readers. It’s part of a bigger story to tell with the promise of multiple books to leisurely tell the tale that didn’t mandate so many books in the end. And other times it’s a genuine story, the evolution of characters who readers want to spend time with. The latter is important and one of those things that have the ‘it’ factor for elementary-aged readers. Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon! is the second book in this graphic novel/comic book series and it has the ‘it’ factor.

Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon! establishes itself as one of the big dogs in elementary school graphic novels.

Easy to read

Sick!, an eye-catching, appropriate name for a gateway STEM graphic novel

If elementary school-age students latched onto the disgusting elements of science I’m convinced that more people would follow the STEM path. I also fully believe that in 2034, many actively working scientists will cite Phineas and Ferb as a main influence. Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is a STEM book that’s disgusting in all of the right ways.

Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is an engaging chapter graphic novel on how little things are a big deal to animals.

A smart chapter graphic novel, yeah that’s a thing

Alterations, a graphic novel channeling middle school in all the right ways

Heartfelt is a dicey adjective to describe something because it could easily be misconstrued as soft, boring or too emotional; all of which are the death knell for graphic novels that are trying to be interesting to middle school audiences. In this case heartfelt, humorous, clever familial, and more could also be appropriate to describe Alterations. Change is hard. Middle school is harder. That’s the tagline for Alterations, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Ray Xu. The conflict in Alterations is one that any middle school student, or even those upper-elementary ages will latch onto.

Alterations is a graphic novel that humorously shows middle school and how its inhabitants view it and the world around them.

Not a double helix, but a great mglit graphic novel