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Cartooning Classes for Schools & Libraries

I'm Mark Anderson, and I have the best job in the world - I'm a cartoonist.

And while drawing funny pictures and writing jokes is fun, my favorite part of the job is getting to look at the world not necessarily as it is, but as it might be.

For example: What would a raccoon order at a restaurant? What might a pirate say to his therapist? And what if someone on trial brought their sousaphone along? (All actual cartoons I've done.)

In my cartooning classes, students will learn to see things differently too and explore:

Problem solving

Design thinking

Individuality

Curiosity

I'd love to come to your school or library and share not only a lot of fun, but also the benefits of seeing things differently.

In this high-energy draw-along program, students will learn to draw 26 adorable cartoon animals using only the alphabet and simple shapes.

Students play a series of fun drawing games and invent their own silly animals. And at then end they get to share their funny favorites on the big screen in a wacky zoo!

Kids will learn to flex their cartoon creativity and draw their own:

Mysterious Mummies

Dangerous Dinosaurs

Terrific Treasures

Then watch as their creations are "dug up" live on the big screen!

First, kids draw dangerous dinosaurs on one side of the page and then radical robots on the other. What happens next? Do they fight or have a picnic? Shoot lasers or share ice cream? Either way, students love this fun draw-along.

Testimonials

The participants had a great time and learned a lot from Mark, but equally important was Mark's ability to handle the kids. Not everyone who presents a program knows how to manage kids.

Deidre Winterhalter

Niles Public Library

Every student was engaged in the experience. They were so impressed with their drawings! Mr. Anderson taught them to draw each character step by step. I would recommend this to any school, club, or program!

Karen Coffinbargar

Fullerton Elementary School

It was wonderful to see the kids who usually are reluctant to make their presence known become engaged, and even enthusiastic without realizing it. They were having fun, connecting with the activity and the group, and learning about cartooning all the while.

Jean Jansen

Villa Park Public Library

Contact Me

Please fill out the fields below. I can't wait to teach some classes with you!

© 2018 Andertoons

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I'm Mark Anderson, and I have the best job in the world - I'm a cartoonist. And while drawing funny pictures and writing jokes is fun, my favorite part of the job is getting to look at the world not necessarily as it is, but as it might be.

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Black Lives Matter Comics Reading Lists (BCALA and the ALA Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table)

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Black Lives Matter Comics Reading Lists (BCALA and the ALA Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table)

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Last updated June 8, 2020
Comic books have always been political. They are both a reflection and a barometer of our times. From the first appearance of Captain America in March 1941 punching the face of Hitler, to recent titles like I am Alfonso Jones and - titles tackling police brutality, #BlackLivesMatter, and the life story of Congressman John Lewis - comic books have been and continue to be vitally important avenues to visually tell our stories, to share our histories, and to show experiences and multiple perspectives while engaging both sides of our brain.

The Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library Association affirms the ALA Executive Board's statement and stands in support of not only the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, but also the Black community at large. The United States has a long history of violence against the Black community and white supremacy is laid into the foundation of our societal contract.

In solidarity, the GNCRT is collaborating with our colleagues at the BCALA on this reading list that draws attention to the Black experiences of the past and present to demand a new future for our Black friends and neighbors. It is our hope that this list will grow and serve as an important resource going forward for educators, parents, and readers of all ages.

We must not stand by in silence as lives continue to be unnecessarily taken. Action and education must happen. Join us. #saytheirnames #BlackLivesMatter

Have suggestions for additional titles to add to this list?
Connect with us on social media -@BC_ALA and @libcomix - with #bcala #libcomix #BlackLivesMatter
Visit BCALA online.

Children's Comics, Graphic Novels & Picture Books

Young Adult Comics & Graphic Novels

I Am Alfonso Jones
Tony Medina, writer; Stacey Robinson and John Jennings, artists
2017, Tu Books
Alfonso Jones, a young black teen, is only trying to buy a suit when an off-duty cop mistakes a clothes hanger for a gun and shoots him on sight.
Publisher site
Worldcat

Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography
Andrew Helfer, writer; Randy DuBurke, artist
"A graphic novel that shows Malcolm Little's transformation from a black youth beaten down by Jim Crow America into Malcolm X, the charismatic, controversial, and doomed national spokesman for the Nation of Islam." - Baker & Taylor
Publisher site
Worldcat

MARCH
John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, writers; Nate Powell, artist
2013 - 2016, Top Shelf Productions
A three volume history of the Civil Rights Movement, as experienced by civil rights leader and U.S. congressman John Lewis.
Publisher site
Worldcat

Adult Comics & Graphic Novels

Are You at Risk for "Empathy Myopia"?
Ezra Claytan Daniels
Upgrade Soul author and BTTM FDRS writer Daniels "considers the idea that we subconsciously force our experiences into moral narratives that satisfy an evolutionary desire for order. But if we believe everything happens for a reason, what happens when our reasoning is flawed?" Also available in print through Radiator Comics.

The Nib
The Nib is a webcomic publisher primarily focused on political and social commentary. Over the years, a number of creators have published invaluable work on Black experience in the United States. We have provided links to a few selections below, but it is not exhaustive.

Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Octavia Butler, writer; Damian Duffy, adapter; John Jennings, artist
2020, Abrams ComicArts
"In this graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, the author portrays a searing vision of America's future. In the year 2024, the country is marred by unattended environmental and economic crises that lead to social chaos. Lauren Olamina, a preacher's daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from danger by the walls of her gated community. However, in a night of fire and death, what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: a startling vision of human destiny . . . and the birth of a new faith." - from the publisher
Publisher site
Worldcat

Silver Wire
Kriota Willberg
Draw Stronger author Willberg considers the history of medical experimentation on unwilling subjects, with particular emphasis on "founding father of gynecology" J. Marion Sims' abuse of enslaved Black women, and the ramifications of benefiting from this cruel approach to medicine. Author introduction and print editions.

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Last updated June 8, 2020 Comic books have always been political. They are both a reflection and a barometer of our times.

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How to Make a Zine: A Kid-Friendly DIY Guide | Brightly

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Follow along with these simple instructions and you’ll be creating a zine in no time — the perfect project for children looking to express their creativity!

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Telling Our Own Stories: A Making Comics Workshop with Jarod Roselló, author of Red Panda & Moon Bear

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Telling Our Own Stories: A Making Comics Workshop with Jarod Roselló, author of Red Panda & Moon Bear

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Telling Our Own Stories: A Making Comics Workshop - Crowdcast

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Learn the principles behind cartooning, and then create your own comics!

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The UnCommons (Weird Enough Productions) 

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The UnCommons (Weird Enough Productions) 

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Graphix | Graphic Novels | Scholastic Kids

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The Lion Forge LLC - Comics for Everyone

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The Comic Book Teacher, Ronell Whitaker (Teaching Tolerance) 

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The Comic Book Teacher, Ronell Whitaker (Teaching Tolerance) 

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I've been teaching for over 10 years, and I've been teaching with comics for the past seven. But my journey to becoming the Comic Book Teacher started when I was a kid. When I started second grade, I was part of a school-busing program that took kids like me from what we might now call "at-risk" surroundings and put us in a more successful school. This was especially tough for me because I was way outside of my neighborhood, and I knew no one. I felt like an alien.

Until one day in science class when we were learning about the human body, and my teacher asked, "What is the human body made up of?" Hands went up all around me with answers of "hair" or "skin" or even "muscles." Before I knew it, my hand went up, too. You see, I might have felt out of place most times in school, but I had been consuming a steady diet of Spider-Man, X-Men and The Incredible Hulk. And if there was any topic I felt confident in, it was science. The teacher called on me and I said, "The human body is made of atoms, molecules, cells and stuff that's controlled by genes that come from your DNA." My teacher had a shocked expression on her face, confirmed what I said and then went on to talk about skeletons and muscles.

Now, even though my teacher's lesson that day was about the human body, what I learned was that the comics I loved so much were actually teaching me things I could use in class! However, while my confidence in class was growing, I still was struggling to find friends. I'd sit at the lunch table with other kids, bring out my X-Men comic and read while I ate. Yet again, comics came to my rescue. One of the boys in my class saw what I was reading, came over and asked if he could see it.

We began talking about how cool Wolverine was and argued about whether Batman could beat Superman in a fight. In short, we became fast friends. This was my first experience with one of the other pluses of comics: community building.

When I became a teacher, I knew I would use comics in my classes because of how I had benefited from them, but I also knew that comics had some other superpowers. Yes, comics are engaging, but they also allow reluctant readers to build confidence in comprehending and inferring. My students who once felt like they were missing out on what was going on are now "in on the secret," and they are often the ones who feel empowered to lead discussions. Comics can help students become successful in areas in which they weren't previously successful.

Comics also are more current than traditional classroom reading options, which leads to more relevance in the material. Broader representation is easier to find in today's comics than in short stories and novels on the recommended reading lists in many schools. Comics are where I send students who never see themselves in stories. This is why a few colleagues, the education directors at Pop Culture Classroom and I started the Comics Education Outreach program. We want to get comics, especially social justice-centered comics like March and Persepolis, into as many classrooms as possible through our lending library of comics and graphic novels.

I start off every school year by telling kids a little about myself. Inevitably, when I mention how much I love comics, I always get a bunch of kids who light up with surprise and delight. Then they ask the question they didn't know they'd get to ask a teacher: Do you think Batman could beat Superman in a fight?

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I've been teaching for over 10 years, and I've been teaching with comics for the past seven. But my journey to becoming the Comic Book Teacher started when I was a kid. When I started second grade, I was part of a school-busing program that took kids like me from what we might now call "at-risk" surroundings and put us in a more successful school.

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Graphic medicine is the use of comics to tell stories of illness and health.

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Graphic medicine is the use of comics to tell stories of illness and health.

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The Cardboard Kingdom is a graphic novel about kids, creativity, and cardboard! The book follows a variety of children who all live and play in the same neighborhood -- throughout the many chapters, you'll see each child's story unfold, overlap with other kids' adventures, and finally converge upon an epic final quest before summer's end! I created and coordinated the project with these ten amazing writers:
The Cardboard Kingdom received starred reviews from: And The Cardboard Kingdom is recommended by a variety of organizations and publications!
The Cardboard Kingdom: Roar of the Beast, the next book in the Cardboard Kingdom series, will be published in summer of 2021!

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The Cardboard Kingdom is a graphic novel about kids, creativity, and cardboard! The book follows a variety of children who all live and play in the same neighborhood -- throughout the many chapters, you'll see each child's story unfold, overlap with other kids' adventures, and finally converge upon an epic final quest before summer's end!

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Cardboard Kingdom (Texas Bluebonnet Award) 

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Cardboard Kingdom (Texas Bluebonnet Award) 

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Taking Turns: Stories From HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by M. K. Czerwiec (Hoopla)  

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Taking Turns: Stories From HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by M. K. Czerwiec (Hoopla)  

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In 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, MK Czerwiec took her first nursing job, at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, as part of the caregiving staff of HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371. Taking Turns pulls back the curtain on life in the ward. A shining example of excellence in the treatment and care of patients, Unit 371 was a community for thousands of patients and families affected by HIV and AIDS and the people who cared for them. This graphic novel combines Czerwiec's memories with the oral histories of patients, family members, and staff. It depicts...

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Graphic Medicine: Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371

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In 1994, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the United States, MK Czerwiec took her first nursing job, at Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago, as part of the caregiving staff of HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371. Taking Turns pulls back the curtain on life in the ward.

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My newest children's graphic novel is Doodleville, out now! It's a magical exploration of creativity and collaboration set in my neighborhood of Chicago.

Doodleville is about kids coming together to solve a monstrous problem of their own making-there's lots of drawing, an emotional adventure, and an epic battle of good and evil.

Here's a video of me reading the first chapter of the book:

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My newest children's graphic novel is Doodleville , out now! It's a magical exploration of creativity and collaboration set in my neighborhood of Chicago. Doodleville is about kids coming together to solve a monstrous problem of their own making-there's lots of drawing, an emotional adventure, and an epic battle of good and evil.

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Meet-the-Author Recording with Chad Sell (TeachingBooks)

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Meet-the-Author Recording with Chad Sell (TeachingBooks)

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Chad Sell introduces and shares some of the backstory for creating Doodleville.

This Meet-the-Author Recording with Chad Sell was exclusively created in April 2020 by TeachingBooks with thanks to Random House.

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TeachingBooks Book Reading | Doodleville

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Chad Sell introduces and shares some of the backstory for creating Doodleville. This Meet-the-Author Recording with Chad Sell was exclusively created in April 2020 by TeachingBooks with thanks to Random House.

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Chad Sell on Doodleville (TeachingBooks)

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Chad Sell on Doodleville (TeachingBooks)

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In this post, we feature Chad Sel l, the author of the popular graphic novel The Cardboard Kingdom. You can hear him speak about the inspiration for his new graphic novel, Doodleville, and try his fun "invitation to imagine" activity. You'll also find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Written and illustrated by Chad Sell

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Release date: June 9, 2020

Drew, a young artist, creates mischievous doodles; rarely do they stay in Doodleville, the world she makes in her sketchbook. But after she draws Levi, a friendly monster, things get particularly out of hand. When Levi begins to wreak havoc on Drew's other doodles, and on the heroes her classmates have dreamed up, Drew must call on the help of her loyal art club friends to save Doodleville before it's too late. Set in Chicago and starring a diverse cast of young creators, this graphic novel about friendship and creativity tells an exciting adventure in which drawings literally leap off the page.

Listen to Chad Sell talking with TeachingBooks about creating Doodleville. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.

Invitation to Imagine

TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activity contributed by Chad Sell.

Imagination Activity with Chad Sell

I love creating characters and sharing them with the world. In my book Doodleville, drawings and doodles magically come to life, which sounds pretty fun, right? But did you know that you can bring your own drawings and characters to life, too? And you can make a book just like Doodleville to share with the world! Learn how to create your own doodle book by following this link!

Finish This Sentence . . . with Chad Sell

As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy Chad Sell's responses.

"While creating my book, I spent a lot of time . . ."

When writing Doodleville, I spent a lot of time at the Art Institute of Chicago, where some of the book takes place. Since all the art is alive in Doodleville, it was fun to think about what all the paintings at the Art Institute would do if they came to life. Would people from different paintings gather together to dance or to play music together? Which animals in the paintings would get along well, and which ones would chase each other around? I love to play these games with my imagination when I look at art in a museum, and maybe you will, too!

"I hope that my book encourages kids to think about . . ."

I hope that my book encourages kids to explore their own creativity. Drawing and storytelling are an amazing kind of magic; they allow us to bring characters and whole worlds to life. You can bring your own stories to life by drawing comics, or writing stories, or even putting together a play!

Thank you!

To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Chad Sell for signing a book for all of us!

More Connections to Doodleville and Chad Sell
Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more! Text and images are courtesy of Chad Sell and Penguin Random House and may not be used without expressed written consent.

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In this post, we feature Chad Sel l, the author of the popular graphic novel The Cardboard Kingdom. You can hear him speak about the inspiration for his new graphic novel, Doodleville , and try his fun "invitation to imagine" activity. You'll also find other resources to explore.

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Comics Relief Festival | First Second Books

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This virtual festival will give comics fans an in-depth look at the key moments in comic creation, and you'll hear from many beloved graphic novel creators.

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Whether you're a parent looking for something fun to entertain your kids over and over, or you're an educator looking for remote resources to utilize, CBLDF has you covered with a new series of free tools designed to get those creative ideas flowing! There are no creative superpowers needed to make a comic, comics are for everybody, and nothing makes that clearer than CBLDF's Let's Create Resources. The first resource we've created is a simple template that can be printed out, or used digitally to create a comic. More than simple boxes on a page, a blank comic sparks the imagination into thinking of ways to craft a narrative with pictures. This is a tool that can be used for all ages, all skill levels, and all subjects.

Create a comic about the founding of America

Share a memory that makes you smile

Tell a story about a girl and her fish friends

Write the sequel to your favorite comic

Whether you print out the pages and staple them together, download the digital files to use on a tablet or computer, or mix and match all of the above - the possibilities for creation are endless. This is a great project for solo or multiple kids, students, maker spaces, and more. Here are a few things to get you started, but we want to hear from you! Share your ideas and comics with the #CreateFreeExpression and don't forget to tag us!
Download PDF to Print or View:
Let's Create Comics Template
Download Digital Files Below: LetsCreateComicBookTemplatePNG Bubbles, Captions, & Sound Effects
Print Your Templates
Go ahead and print out the Let's Create Comic Books template and get started! The best thing about comics is all you need is a pen(cil) and paper and you're on your way. You can print out the template as is, staple the first ten pages, and leave the last two separate so kids can cut out the different bubbles and paste them or trace them wherever they want. You can put the comic book grid pages in any order you want, just use one page, or print the same page over and over to tell a story. You can print the last two pages as many times as needed for speech bubbles, captions, and sound effects - or kids can draw their own. Oftentimes while printing, the dialog box allows the scale to be changed so you can make the bubble larger or smaller.

Share Your Templates Safely
If you think friends and neighbors may be interested in creating their own comics, you can direct them to the free resource at cbldf.org/lets-create or send them the downloadable template. We want to know how you share free expression, so make sure to send us your collaborations and ideas for sharing these safely, tag us and #CreateFreeExpression so we can all benefit from each other's great ideas!

No Drawing Required
Cut out things from magazines or printed from online and paste them into collage comic! This can open up worlds of creativity as creators take seemingly disparate elements and weave a story together.

Go Digital
Webcomics are fun to read and to make! You don't need an expensive set up to create digital comics, there are options for every budget and available resources at home. Download the digital image assets and start making comics today! You can use a computer, tablet, or even a phone to create comics. There are apps designed specifically for comic strips that you can find in your App Store, or check apps like Seashore, Sumopaint, Pixlr x, which are just some of the free apps available that offer a lot of flexibility for artists of all ages and skillsets. Open the digital assets from CBLDF's Let's Create! and start layering them with drawings and text of the creator's choosing.

Share Your Comics Online
Obviously you're going to want to show off the creativity and work that goes into these finished comics, so whether you're posting them on social media or sharing with friends, make sure to let others know that they can download their templates at cbldf.org/lets-create/ and use the #CreateFreeExpression so we can enjoy and share these comics too!

Really, No Drawing Required
Check out different filters for phone and tablet cameras, or settings in photography and art apps that turn pictures into drawings and comics. Then use those drawings to tell a story. This forces any creator to plan ahead while creating a scavenger hunt for the items and scenes they want for their story.

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Let's Create Comic Books! New Free Templates for Inspiring Activities

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Whether you're a parent looking for something fun to entertain your kids over and over, or you're an educator looking for remote resources to utilize, CBLDF has you covered with a new series of free tools designed to get those creative ideas flowing!

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Every CBLDF supporter knows that comics are a great medium for expressing what matters. While so many Americans are making their voices heard in demonstrations around the United States, there are also many children and teens feeling a need to express their beliefs or share their experiences who aren't in a position where it's safe to leave their home. Thankfully, they can still make their voices heard by exercising their creativity, and mini-comics are a great way to do that!

This resource is designed to help parents and educators support kids who want to speak out through comics by providing specific tips about writing, drawing, and sharing their work.

Why Comics?

Comics are a medium merging words and pictures to create dynamic stories. Whether you're making a personal narrative, a non-fiction report, or a call to action, making comics is a great way for kids to express themselves with immediacy. Comics are multi-disciplinary by nature, so inspiring kids to make them encourages verbal and visual literacy. You can also partner kids to work together, inspiring greater teamwork.

Why Mini-Comics & Zines?

Mini-comics and zines are short, frequently handmade publications that anyone can make. They're a concise format that lets a creator make a complete statement quickly and cheaply, but effectively. For kids, making mini-comics and zines provide a sense of accomplishment by allowing them the space to create a complete publication - from creativity to print - all on their own. They're also highly shareable, and can be handed out to fellow activists, mailed to friends, or even posted online. The format makes it possible for kids to become authors.

If we can imagine a better world, we can make a better world. At a time where we're all called upon to speak up, making mini-comics is a great way to encourage kids to hone their talents and raise their voices.

Here are some simple tips that kids can follow to make their own mini-comic or zine that shows us the worlds they imagine.

1. Learn How Comics Work

First, let's get a handle on the parts of a comics page. Key vocabulary includes panels, balloons, gutters, captions, sound effects, and emanata. This spread from CBLDF's free publication Panel Power shows how the parts of a comics page work. Share it with your kids, and then ask them to point out examples from comics you have around the house. Talk about the movement of the reader's eye across a page to help them think about ways they can organize their work.

2. Think About What You Have to Say

Mini-comics are a great tool for making a point in a quick, direct way. So, start by asking two important questions:

1. what do I want to say, and

2. who am I speaking to?

Spend time talking through these questions - not only will they help kids process what they're going through, they'll provide them with a way to connect with others through the work they're about to make.

Educator Jill Gerber uses mini-comics in her classroom and recommends these prewriting questions:

Purpose Statement: "My Zine will..."

I want my readers to know:

My readers should be able to answer the following question/s about my topic:

Quick Summary:

Key Ideas That I Want to Include:

Key Images That I Want to Include:

Additionally, these prompts may be helpful to spark ideas:

Quotes: Encourage kids to find statements that inspire them towards activism.

Portraits: Who are people that inspire your kids toward activism? Creating portraits or even short biographies are great for mini-comics.

Feelings: How are current events making kids feel? Dramatizing them in a mini-comic may be helpful.

Experiences: Have your kids had a direct experience of justice or injustice? Ask them to express it in their comic.

Recommendations & Responses: Does your kid have a favorite set of activist books or comics? Maybe they've read one of the anti-racist graphic novels we recommended this week and they want to make a response to the author? Response comics are a great way to continue the conversation.

The Future: What is the world they want to grow up to live in? Ask them to express it in their comic - it may just inspire others!

3. Decide On Your Format

Before you start working on your story, think about what you want your final mini-comic to look like. Determine what size paper you're working with and how you're going to fold it into booklets. Creator and educator Jessica Abel points out the most common mini-comics formats:

5.5" x 8.5" This is the most common and cheapest format for a minicomic, and it's called "DIGEST SIZE" (Cheapest because the paper is cheap and photocopies on it are usually the cheapest available at any copy place). If you fold it again the long way, you get a booklet that's...

5.5" X 4.25" This is possibly the second most common size, and it's called "MINICOMIC SIZE." Take note that for this book to open and read, you will have to trim one edge after you staple it. And the final fold, the long way, will create a tiny book that's...

2.25" X 4.5" This is called "MICRO SIZE." In this format, you have to cut two edges off after it's stapled.

There's a lot more good information about this in the incredible overview on Jessica's website: https://jessicaabel.com/resources/diy/making-minicomics/

If you want to get right to the nitty-gritty, here are a few format templates you can download:

Here's a great one sheet, 8-page zine format tutorial from the LA Zine Fest: https://www.lazinefest.com/resources

Marek Bennett created this terrific video about how to make an 8-page mini-comic:

Here's another short video about how to make a zine from one piece of paper.

Work with your kids to decide on what template they want to use, then the fun starts!

This is an exercise in self-expression, not perfection. Ask your kids to take what they have to say and start breaking it down into the amount of space they've decided to fill. We recommend working in four or eight page units and asking kids to do one to two panels per page. They'll feel a real sense of accomplishment when they start to see their work take the shape of a book!

Storyboards & Pre-Writing

Once you know the size of your mini-comic, it's time to start laying out your story. Here's a couple of quick and easy storyboard and writing tips to help kids get to work.

Index cards: Have students prepare rough drafts of their panels with stick figures and spare narration and dialogue, using one panel per card. This lets them arrange panels to determine how their story will flow before committing to a final drawing.

Templates: Jill Gerber says: "Other students prefer to plan a story by using templates. Below is an example of a fill-in-the-blank template that I have used with great success."

The above template helps kids determine what happens on each page, with space for narration, action, and dialogue.

You can also use Let's Create, an activity book from CBLDF with readymade comic book page layouts that you can use for both pre-writing and final drawn pages: http://cbldf.org/2020/04/lets-create-comic-books-new-free-templates-for-inspiring-activities/

Remember, there's no right way to make a comic! Even life-long professionals differ in how they make their work, even from project to project. Let your kids experiment with what works best for them!

Writing & Drawing

Now comes the fun part! Once kids have their story planned out, it's time to move onto making the comic. If your kid is drawing the comic themselves, they can use their storyboard or index cards and start drawing their final pages. To keep it simple, we recommend that they work at the same size as the finished comic and draw on individual sheets of paper cut to the size of the final project. At the end you'll paste those drawings onto the master copy.

If your kids are working in pairs or larger groups, we recommend a few simple approaches:

Scripting: If one of your kids is writing for another person to draw, they should write a simple script. There're many, many, many different ways to write a comic script, so don't get hung up on format. They just want to focus on conveying information clearly for the artist to draw.

This script template from our friends at Comics Experience is a good guide. https://www.comicsexperience.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Comic-Experience-Script-Template-2013-10-05.doc

Penciling: Whether a single student is making all the art, or whether they're sharing chores, we recommend that you split the art into two stages - penciling and finishes. Penciling will lay out all of the story information on each page, including characters and lettering. Pro-tip: put in the lettering first, and then build your pictures around it!

Finishes: This is where your artist can really shine! Either apply ink, colored pencils, markers, or paints above the pencils to make the artwork shine. For zines, simple is best, so encourage kids to work in black and white or limited color. This lets them get a sense of completeness and limits the chance of overdoing it.

5. Sharing Your Comics

This is where it all pays off!

If you're making one of a kind booklets, take each finished page and glue it into the template, and voila - you have a hand-made art zine!

If you're making something to share, you can paste the finished art into a template and then photocopy them. Make sure your pagination is correct before you start printing! At the end, take the copies, fold them and staple them and now you have a printed mini-comic!

If you have access to a scanner or camera, you can also scan or photograph each individual page and insert them into an album on social media or as individual images in a post, creating a webcomic reading experience. When you post, don't forget to use hashtags to help people find your message.

Whatever age you are, it always feels amazing to complete a creative work that you can share with the world. It will feel even more amazing when kids use their creativity to express their solidarity with an important cause.

The Bottom Line

Kids have rights, kids have voices, and kids voices matter. Encouraging them to make mini-comics is a great way to inspire activism, reflection, and engagement.

Creativity is habit forming and confidence building. Following these simple steps, and letting kids experiment and play will help them unlock their own creativity for making comics. Start simple - they can get more elaborate from here as they make more mini-comics in the future.

Young people have a lot to show us. Comics is a great way for them to express what they have to say about making a better world. We can't wait to see their vision!

Don't forget to show us what they make when you post on social media by using the hashtag #cbldf
CBLDF is a non-profit organization that needs your help during these difficult times! Help support CBLDF's important work by sharing this article. You can also donate to support our efforts by visiting the Rewards Zone, making a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!

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Making Mini-Comics For Activism & Self-Care

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Every CBLDF supporter knows that comics are a great medium for expressing what matters. While so many Americans are making their voices heard in demonstrations around the United States, there are also many children and teens feeling a need to express their beliefs or share their experiences who aren't in a position where it's safe to leave their home.

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Read over 75,000 comics and over 700 free comics available from publishers such as Marvel, DC, Image, BOOM, IDW, Top Shelf, and Oni Press on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android, Windows, browser and more.

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This inaugural volume in the Graphic Medicine series establishes the principles of graphic medicine and begins to map the field. The volume combines scholarly essays by members of the editorial team with previously unpublished visual narratives by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, and it includes arresting visual work from a wide range of graphic medicine practitioners. The book's first section, featuring essays by Scott Smith and Susan Squier, argues that as a new area of scholarship, research on graphic medicine has the potential to challenge the conventional boundaries ...

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This inaugural volume in the Graphic Medicine series establishes the principles of graphic medicine and begins to map the field. The volume combines scholarly essays by members of the editorial team with previously unpublished visual narratives by Ian Williams and MK Czerwiec, and it includes arresting visual work from a wide range of graphic medicine practitioners.

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Guest review by Dr. Devlyn McCreight

MK Czerwiec's graphic memoir Taking Turns is one of the latest entries in the Graphic Medicine series published by Penn State University Press. The book chronicles Czerwiec's seven years serving as a nurse on the dedicated HIV/AIDS Care Unit at Illinois Masonic Hospital. While it could be reasonably assumed that Czerwiec serves as the de facto "main character" of the story due to the autobiographical threads woven into the narrative, this does not actually seem to be the case. The care that Czerwiec takes in gathering and sharing the stories of the doctors, nurses, and patients she worked alongside reflects the "part of the family" mentality that framed the patient care paradigm of Unit 371. The author does an excellent job of illustrating how one can tell their own story without reducing others who shared in the experience to one-dimensional "supporting characters" - even the history of the hospital and Unit 371 are given eight pages of attention! In fact, one of the most remarkable things about Taking Turns is exactly how many panels the author does NOT appear in - which allows the the book to act as more of a historical witness than a self-interested autobiography.

Not surprisingly, relationships are centerpiece of Taking Turns. The author's deft handling of the multiplicity of relationships involved in patient care is the strength of the book, and they are all represented throughout the narrative. Czerwiec does an excellent job of showing how Unit 371's commitment to care facilitated a depth of intimacy between provider and patient not often found in today's productivity-driven medical care. The most affecting parts of the book are when the author recalls the patients she accompanied through their final moments of life, which truly brings home how important the provider-patient relationship truly is. In contrast, she is just as transparent regarding the less-than-ideal aspects of health care, including when human error negatively impacts the ability provide care, helping clients deal with having been abandoned / rejected by their families, and even the existential crises that accompany witnessing death on a recurring basis. Czerwiec even goes so far as to briefly discuss the anxiety she felt regarding potential boundary issues even as she attempted to provide care that transcended the expected "professional detachment" of nurses and doctors at the time. The author's ability and willingness to show both the profoundly meaningful and affirming side of care alongside the difficulties, ambiguity, and ugliness is a testament to her desire to tell the most honest story possible - not simply the most uplifting and inspirational one.

Czerwiec also provides basic education throughout the book on the etiology of AIDS/HIV, how symptoms of the illness manifest, and how the advancements in medication dramatically improved treatment outcomes for those dealing with AIDS/HIV - and how this ultimately led to the closing of Unit 371. Providing important health education through comics is at the heart of the Graphic Medicine movement, and the author accomplishes this with a skillful hand. The best example of this is on page 9, as she includes one of her patients in a single-panel diagram of how the immune system is impacted by the illness. Amidst the multiple text boxes, her patient states quietly, "You forgot my skin. Be sure to tell them about Kaposi's sarcoma." This is a subtle reminder that symptoms do not exist independent of the people who suffer from them, which can sometimes be a pitfall when discussing clinical and medical conditions in the abstract.

While there have been some who have been critical of Czerwiec's art (I'm looking at you, anonymous Amazon.com reviewer), I believe that her style fits the deeply personal tone of the work perfectly. Given the preceding paragraphs in this review, my belief is that the author's intention was to tell the story in the most direct, yet authentic and accessible way possible - meaning that the art serves the story, not vice-versa. The simplicity and cleanliness of the art is what allows the emotional content to find its mark consistently, which only serves to reinforce the importance and immediacy of the relationships between all of those involved in Unit 371.

Overall, Taking Turns is a worthy addition to the gradually expanding pantheon of Graphic Medicine books. It is no easy feat to balance a linear narrative, faithfully report the historical experience of others, and provide clear and concise medical information in less than 250 pages, however, the author shows that she is up to the task. While it might seem odd to mention the number of pages in the book, it simply serves to illustrate how effective Czerwiec is her presentation given the amount of ground that the book covers. In the end, the author accomplishes what the larger Graphic Medicine movement desires to provide, which is a comic that is accessible "because of its ability to reach diverse audiences and to provide a platform for marginalized voices- [and] can make visible and reflect upon the urgent subject of health access." Czerwiec's book is an indispensable addition to the field of Graphic Medicine - and does an admirable job setting the stage and preparing the way for the next volumes in the series.

Devlyn H. McCreight, PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision

Owner, McCreight Psychotherapy & Clinical Consulting, LLC

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Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 | Graphic Medicine

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Guest review by Dr. Devlyn McCreight MK Czerwiec's graphic memoir Taking Turns is one of the latest entries in the Graphic Medicine series published by Penn State University Press. The book chronicles Czerwiec's seven years serving as a nurse on the dedicated HIV/AIDS Care Unit at Illinois Masonic Hospital.

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MK Czerwiec - Death Panels: Comics Contemplate End of Life

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MK Czerwiec - Death Panels: Comics Contemplate End of Life

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MK Czerwiec - Death Panels: Comics Contemplate End of Life

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Comic: Looking For a Helper in the Age of Coronavirus

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Comic: Looking For a Helper in the Age of Coronavirus

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COMIC: Looking For A 'Helper' In The Age Of Coronavirus

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Mister Rogers said "look for the helpers" in times of crisis. Here's the story of Shah Dedar. He's 32, he's a Tom Hanks fan - and he works to protect the most vulnerable in crowded refugee camps.

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Like so many other issues surrounding women's reproductive health, menopause has been treated as a cultural taboo. On the rare occasions that menopausal and perimenopausal women are depicted in popular culture, they are stereotypically cast as the butt of demeaning jokes that encourage us to laugh at their deteriorating bodies and emotional volatility. The result is that women facing menopause often feel isolated and ashamed. In a spirit of community and support, this collection of comics presents a different view of menopause that enables those experiencing it to be seen and to feel empowered.

Balancing levity with sincerity, these comics unapologetically depict menopause and all its attendant symptoms, from hot flashes and vaginal dryness to forgetfulness, social stigma, anxiety, and shame. Created from a variety of perspectives, they represent a range of life experiences, ages, gender identities, ethnicities, and health conditions. The common thread uniting these stories is the affirmation that, while we can and should laugh at ourselves, no one should be ashamed of menopause. The comics in this book encourage us to share our experiences and to support one another, and ourselves, through self-care and community.

Featuring works by a host of pioneering and up-and-coming comics artists, Menopause is a perfect foil to the simplistic, cheap-joke approach society at large has taken to this much-derided women's health issue. Readers will revel in the sly humor and universal truths found here.

The contributors include Lynda Barry, Maureen Burdock, Jennifer Camper, KC Councilor, MK Czerwiec, Leslie Ewing, Joyce Farmer, Ellen Forney, Ann M. Fox, Keet Geniza, Roberta Gregory, Teva Harrison, Rachael House, Leah Jones, Monica Lalanda, Cathy Leamy, Ajuan Mance, Jessica Moran, Mimi Pond, Sharon Rosenzweig, Joyce Schachter, Susan Merrill Squier, Emily Steinberg, Nicola Streeten, A. K. Summers, Kimiko Tobimatsu, Carol Tyler, Shelley L. Wall, and Dana Walrath.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

MK Czerwiec

Menopause

Maureen Burdock

Menopositive!

Lynda Barry

#crockpotrunner

When My Biological Clock Stopped Ticking

Monica Lalanda

Burning Up

Comic Nurse (MK Czerwiec)

Desertification

A. K. Summers

Zen and the Art of Menopausal Maintenance

Leslie Ewing

Climacteric Calamity

Rachael House

My Menopause Story

Sharon Rosenzweig

"Are You Sexually Active?": Vaginal Truth Telling

Joyce Schachter and Jessica Moran

Invisible Lady

Carol Tyler

The End, for Now

Roberta Gregory

A Slow Intermittent Leak

Jennifer Camper

2:14 am-4:43 am: Let Me Introduce Myself

Nicola Streeten

Any Day Now

Ajuan Mance

Cycles

KC Councilor

An End Is Not the End

Leah Jones and Cathy Leamy

Ready, Set, "Pause"

Ellen Forney

The Big Change

Teva Harrison

Paused

Emily Steinberg

Kimiko Does Menopause

Kimiko Tobimatsu and Keet Geniza

Surgical Menopause-in Ten Postures

Susan Merrill Squier and Shelley L. Wall

When the Menopause Carnival Comes to Town

Mimi Pond

(A) Men-O-Pause

Dana Walrath

Antique Restoration

Joyce Farmer

Resources

List of Contributors

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Menopause: A Comic Treatment Edited by MK Czerwiec

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Like so many other issues surrounding women's reproductive health, menopause has been treated as a cultural taboo. On the rare occasions that menopausal and perimenopausal women are depicted in popular culture, they are stereotypically cast as the butt of demeaning jokes that encourage us to laugh at their deteriorating bodies and emotional volatility.

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Comics and Cartoons Are a Powerful Way to Teach Kids About COVID19

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Comics and Cartoons Are a Powerful Way to Teach Kids About COVID19

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An image from My Hero is You, produced by the UN and several humanitarian agencies. IASC/Helen Patuck

The global COVID-19 pandemic has turned children's lives upside down. Stay-at-home orders mean that they cannot go to school, visit a playground or spend time with friends. Just like adults, they may be scared and frustrated.

But given the right information, children can be powerful agents of change in their families and communities. That's according to a UNICEF guide for communicating with children. This guide highlights the need to communicate with children in an age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, inclusive and positive way. It emphasises that to be effective, the communication must be interesting and engaging.

In response to the current pandemic, leading health scientists and child psychologists have joined forces with writers, educators and artists to produce innovative communication materials. These range from children's books and videos to infographics and comics. It's a powerful collaboration: scientists provide the credibility and accuracy, while artists ensure this is communicated with creative flair and appealing design.

And there's science to back up their efforts. An academic overview of research looking at educational comics has concluded that comics have great potential to make complex topics more meaningful to diverse audiences. This is achieved by combining visuals with powerful metaphors, character-driven narratives and emotionally charged storylines. Scholars confirm that science-themed comics can both entertain and educate, thereby stimulating interest in science topics.

Comic books have been shown to be more effective than textbooks in increasing interest in and enjoyment of science topics. The medium is particularly effective at engaging low literacy audiences and young people with a low interest in science.

Cartoons and comics may, research suggests, be particularly effective when trying to explain viruses and how they affect our health.

Here are some of the best examples I have come across in the past few weeks. All were created especially for communicating about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. Importantly, these resources are shared freely online, and some are translated into several languages.

A variety of resources

A fantasy creature called Ario is the lead character in My Hero is You. The book resulted from collaboration between several agencies of the United Nations and several dozen organisations working in the humanitarian sector. Ario helps children to understand why the coronavirus is changing their lives and how to cope when they are feeling worried, angry or sad.

Script writer Helen Patuck drew on input from more than 1,700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world who shared their ways of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. This online book is also available in audio format. Translation has been finalised or is in progress in more than 100 languages.

Vaayu is the superhero who's been called upon to help Indian children cope with the pandemic in a comic book issued by the Indian ministry of health and family welfare.

From Singapore comes a series of comic strips for young children featuring Baffled Bunny and Curious Cat. They're seeking advice and clarification from Doctor Duck. This series was created by award-winning graphic novelist Sonny Liew, who worked with Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, the programme leader for infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore.

Nosy Crow, a UK publisher, has created a digital book for primary school age children, with the help of Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an expert in the modelling of infectious diseases. The book is also available as a free e-book in Afrikaans, with text by South African author Jaco Jacobs.

After asking experts in mental health what kids may want to know about the coronavirus, Cory Turner, an educational reporter on National Public Radio, created an online comic that is also available in a printable "zine" version. It's available in Chinese and Spanish too.

A comic strip promoted by the South African health department features Wazi, who asks questions about the coronavirus and then shares advice provided by his parents and teachers.

Oaky and the Virus was written by South African author, poet and academic Athol Williams. It's available in English, isiZulu, Siswati, Sepedi and Tshivenda, and helps children understand why they have to stay at home and wash their hands regularly.

Jive Media Africa, a science communication agency in South Africa, created a series of cartoon-based infographics with "Hay'khona Corona" as a theme. "Hay'khona" is a South African expression meaning "no, definitely not!". These infographics are based on the World Health Organisation's guidelines around COVID-19. They're available in several of South Africa's official languages, as well as languages spoken in other parts of the continent like Yoruba, KiSwahili, French and Portuguese.

Instagrammers are also creating and sharing graphics about coping with COVID-19, with good examples at "comicallysane", "callouscomics" and "comicsforgood".

Evidence-based communication

Of course, comic strips aren't just for kids. Some have been created specifically for adults, tackling questions about the coronavirus with a mixture of education and humour. One example is a collection curated by Graphic Medicine, a health communication platform created by a team of researchers, information specialists and artists.

All of this work and the many other comics and cartoons available to help explain COVID-19 show that these media are far from frivolous. Scientists and communicators are becoming more aware of the special appeal and communication potential of science comics, and are starting to use them as part of an evidence-based portfolio of communication tools.

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Comics and cartoons are a powerful way to teach kids about COVID-19

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The global COVID-19 pandemic has turned children's lives upside down. Stay-at-home orders mean that they cannot go to school, visit a playground or spend time with friends. Just like adults, they may be scared and frustrated. But given the right information, children can be powerful agents of change in their families and communities.

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Michigan University Libguide: Graphic Medicine

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Michigan University Libguide: Graphic Medicine

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"Some healthcare professionals-especially those working in public health, with young people, or with non-native speakers-have begun to use graphic stories for patient care and education. One reason this practice is not more widespread is probably because most doctors have not considered its merits. We believe that graphic stories have an important role in patient care, medical education, and the social critique of the medical profession. What follows is an introduction to graphic stories, with some examples of what they are, how and why they work, and how they can enhance teaching and patient care." Green MJ, Myers KR. Graphic medicine: use of comics in medical education and patient care. BMJ 2010; 340 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c863.

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Research Guides: Graphic Medicine & Comics in Healthcare: Getting Started

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"Some healthcare professionals-especially those working in public health, with young people, or with non-native speakers-have begun to use graphic stories for patient care and education. One reason this practice is not more widespread is probably because most doctors have not considered its merits.

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National Library of Medicine: Graphic Medicine

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National Library of Medicine: Graphic Medicine

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The combined language of words and pictures that is the comic medium gives approachability and emotional impact to these personal stories, and even to the clinical data they sometimes include.

Comics combine the explicit meaning of words and symbols with the abstract expressiveness of art to create the unique, multi-layered language of comics. When reading (or creating) comics, the text and images work together to create meaning that neither conveys alone. Other common aspects of this storytelling language used by comics include visual metaphor, combined or altered symbols, and humor.

Graphic medicine communicates the author's personal experience of illness and health, as the art adds subjective, emotional impact. The author's internal, individual viewpoint balances the external, clinical realm of medical symptoms and diagnoses. Additionally, for other patients who share that health issue, it's a way to have company and share information.

"...the text and images work together to create meaning that neither convey alone."

An intrinsic part of being a patient is dealing with the health care system, which is represented in some examples of graphic medicine. For health professionals, family, and the public, the insight provided by these stories can offer valuable feedback to health care providers and promotes effective treatment.

Taking care of someone with a health issue is a story in itself. Health professionals, family, and friends form a network around a patient and their illness and treatment. Personal memoirs by caregivers show the emotional and logistical complexities that stem from the diverse relationships, roles, and perspectives.

Infographics of specific clinical information can be folded seamlessly into a story, expanding on the author's subjective experiences. Learning about illness and treatment can be an effective coping and healing strategy for the author, and sharing that information with readers can transform a negative experience into a positive one.

"LEARNING ABOUT ILLNESS and TREATMENT CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE COPING AND HEALING STRATEGY FOR THE AUTHOR, AND SHARING THAT INFORMATION WITH READERS CAN TRANSFORM A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE INTO A POSITIVE ONE."

Top

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The combined language of words and pictures that is the comic medium gives approachability and emotional impact to these personal stories, and even to the clinical data they sometimes include. Comics combine the explicit meaning of words and symbols with the abstract expressiveness of art to create the unique, multi-layered language of comics.

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How To Make a Mini-Zine About Life During the Pandemic

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How To Make a Mini-Zine About Life During the Pandemic

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Check the hashtag #quaranzine on social media and you'll see thousands of mini books - called zines - that people are making to document their lives in the pandemic.

Read the comic to find out how you can make one yourself - including how to fold your zine and what to write about. All you'll need is a sheet of paper, a pen, 30 minutes and a little creativity.

We'd love to see your final zines. Post them on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #quaranzine and #NPRLifeKIt. We'll be keeping our eye out for them!

Malaka Gharib is an NPR editor and the author and illustrator of I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir, about being first-generation Filipino Egyptian American.
For more Life Kit, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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How To Make A Mini-Zine About Life During The Pandemic

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All you need is a sheet of paper and a pen. Read the comic for directions on how to fold and what to write in your zine. Then share it with Life Kit on social media. We'd love to see it!

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Graphic Medicine responds: Comics in the Age of COVID-19 (#LibcomixOnline)

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Graphic Medicine responds: Comics in the Age of COVID-19 (#LibcomixOnline)

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Graphic Medicine responds: Comics in the Age of COVID-19

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Rocky Vista University Libguide: Graphic Medicine

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Rocky Vista University Libguide: Graphic Medicine

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We're so glad you're here! You've made it to Graphic Novels & the Humanity of Mental Illness, an online annotated bibliography. Here you will find a collection of 46 graphic novels that focus on a shared topic: mental illness. Because this is an annotated bibliography, you will also find book summaries, analysis, and recommendations.

You can dive right into this website using the tabs at the top. To access the annotations, click on either:

Before you do, consider visiting Project Design, which will provide answers to many questions, including: Why did you create this site? Who can benefit? Why are some books included, but not others?

If you've enjoyed the site, or have suggestions on how it could be improved, please utilize our Feedback Form.

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We're so glad you're here! You've made it to Graphic Novels & the Humanity of Mental Illness, an online annotated bibliography. Here you will find a collection of 46 graphic novels that focus on a shared topic: mental illness. Because this is an annotated bibliography, you will also find book summaries, analysis, and recommendations.

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The Graphic Medicine International Collective exists to guide and support the uses of comics in health. You can learn more about the work of graphic medicine by visiting www.graphicmedicine.org.

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Posted by Nosy Crow, April 6, 2020

Axel Scheffler has illustrated a digital book for primary school age children, free for anyone to read on screen or print out, about the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it. Published by Nosy Crow, and written by staff within the company, the book has had expert input: Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine acted as a consultant, and the company also had advice from two head teachers and a child psychologist.

The book answers key questions in simple language appropriate for 5 to 9 year olds:

* What is the coronavirus?
* How do you catch the coronavirus?
* What happens if you catch the coronavirus?
* Why are people worried about catching the coronavirus?
* Is there a cure for the coronavirus?
* Why are some places we normally go to closed?
* What can I do to help?
* What's going to happen next?

We want to make sure that this book is accessible to every child and family and so the book is offered totally free of charge to anyone who wants to read it. However, we have suggested, at the back of the book, that families might make a donation to help our health service if they find the book useful: https://www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/.

Kate Wilson, Managing Director of Nosy Crow, said:

"We were very aware that many parents and carers are struggling to explain the current extraordinary situation to children, many of whom are frightened and confused. We thought that the best thing we could do would be to use our skills to produce a free book to explain and, where possible, reassure children. We asked Axel, whose work is so familiar and so loved, to illustrate it. He was happy to do it, and did it extraordinarily quickly. Meanwhile, having heard Professor Medley interviewed by the BBC, we looked him up and wrote to him, and despite his huge workload, he reviewed the book over a weekend, and we were able to incorporate his suggestions, together with those of two head teachers and a child psychologist, into the final version of the book. We hope it helps answer difficult questions in difficult times."

Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo, said:

"I asked myself what I could do as an children's illustrator to inform, as well as entertain, my readers here and abroad. So I was glad when my publisher, Nosy Crow, asked me to illustrate this question-and-answer book about the coronavirus. I think it is extremely important for children and families to have access to good and reliable information in this unprecedented crisis, and I hope that the popularity of the books I've done with Julia Donaldson will ensure that this digital book will reach many children who are now slightly older, but might still remember our picture books."

Professor Graham Medley, Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said:

"This pandemic is changing children's lives across the globe and will have a lasting impact on us all. Helping children understand what is going on is an important step in helping them cope and making them part of the story - this is something that we are all going through, not something being done to them. This book puts children IN the picture rather just watching it happen, and in a way that makes the scary parts easier to cope with."

You can read the new, revised edition of Coronavirus and Covid: A book for children about the pandemic below, and download it as a PDF here.
We have also created a free audio edition of the book, read by Hugh Bonneville. You can listen to the audio for free on Soundcloud here, and below. It is also available to download for free through the Cloudaloud audiobook app, which can be found on the App Store here.
Nosy Crow produced the audiobook with Strathmore Publishing, and both Strathmore and Bonneville gave their time for free.

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Out now: a free information book explaining the coronavirus to children, illustrated by Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler

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Axel Scheffler has illustrated a digital book for primary school age children, free for anyone to read on screen or print out, about the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it. Published by Nosy Crow, and written by staff within the company, the book has had expert input: Professor Graham Medley of the London ...

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Oni Press - 20 Years of Great Graphic Novels!

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Portland's premier comic book and graphic novel publisher printing high quality, award-winning, and genuinely inclusive titles.

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Draw Me Like One of Your Graphic Novels #EverywhereBookFest

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Looking for resources to make comics with your students? Need a worksheet for a panel analysis activity? Check out our growing list of downloadable templates to use with your students.

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Looking for resources to make comics with your students? Need a worksheet for a panel analysis activity? Check out our growing list of downloadable templates to use with your students.

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The Big Triangle

In Understanding Comics, I was looking for a way to put all of comics' visual vocabulary (pictures, words, specialized symbols, etc.) into some kind of easily understood map of possibilities. Chapter Two's "Big Triangle" was the result.

Click on the numbers or the forward arrow below to learn more.

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In Understanding Comics , I was looking for a way to put all of comics' visual vocabulary (pictures, words, specialized symbols, etc.) into some kind of easily understood map of possibilities. Chapter Two's "Big Triangle" was the result. Click on the numbers or the forward arrow below to learn more.

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Draw Every Day With Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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Draw Every Day With Jarrett J. Krosoczka

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✒️Draw Every Day with JJK—all episodes🖋️

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Rewarding for teachers, easy for families, fun for kids- a love of reading is inside every Book Box.

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Series of Templates Children Can Use To Create Paper Cities During Lockdown

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Series of Templates Children Can Use To Create Paper Cities During Lockdown

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If you think you're bored being stuck at home all day, think about all the children that can't go to school or go outside to play with their friends. However, British architecture studio Foster + Partners found a way to keep children entertained during the lockdown. They have released a series of paper building templates that kids can print out, color and use to build their own paper cities to keep themselves busy. The studio even encourages children to share their own creations on social media using the #architecturefromhome hashtag!

"Over the next few weeks we will be sharing new activities for children whilst at home, away from school. We'll include drawing, making, playing, thinking, reading, watching and other activities to keep them entertained - for at least a few hours!" writes the studio.

More info: Foster + Partners | Instagram | Twitter | h/t: Dezeen

Architecture studio Foster + Partners came up with a creative way to keep children occupied during the lockdown

In an interview with Dezeen, Katy Harris, a senior partner at Foster + Partners, said that the recent lockdown offered the studio an opportunity to create a number of online initiatives that educate and entertain the children that cannot attend school as well as support their parents.

They released a series of templates that kids can print out, color, and fold to create paper cities

Katy says that the studio's initiative is a "chance for all of us to have some fun and learn at the same time".

The studio encourages children to share their creations using the #architecturefromhome hashtag

"How about drawing the future architect and the most fantastical skyscraper ever designed!" writes the studio in their latest Twitter post. "This is so much fun and the whole family can play."

Foster + Partners released templates for a skyscraper, houses and even a tutorial on how to draw trees like an architect.

So far the studio released templates for a skyscraper, some houses...

Katy says that the studio has tried to engage children in activities that are both practical and thought-provoking.

The studio's main aim was to get children to ask questions about their surroundings and start thinking about the environment they built.

Even though the activities are aimed at children up to 12 years of age, everyone can join in on the fun. "From the responses we are getting, even older children are taking something from these activities," said Katy. "The broad appeal means that anyone can develop them into something bigger and better."

...as well as a worksheet showing how to draw trees

Katy says that so far the response has been "absolutely fantastic" and "a bit overwhelming". The studio received emails from all over the world, including Canada, Spain, Italy, Australia and Cambodia. "We are glad to be able to brighten someone's day or kindle their creativity in some ways - stay tuned for many more fun activities!" concluded Katy.

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This Architecture Studio Released A Series Of Templates Children Can Use To Create Paper Cities During Lockdown | DeMilked

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If you think you're bored being stuck at home all day, think about all the children that can't go to school or go outside to play with their friends. However, British architecture studio Foster + Partners found a way to keep children entertained during the lockdown.

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STAYING IN? FAMILIES CAN HAVE SUPER-POWERED FUN AT DC KIDS CAMP

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STAYING IN? FAMILIES CAN HAVE SUPER-POWERED FUN AT DC KIDS CAMP

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HarperAlley Comics - HarperCollins Children's Books

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HarperAlley is a collaborative, creator-focused publisher of graphic novels for kids and teens that connect with readers of all ages.

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Lunch Doodles! with Mo Willems

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First Second Books is a graphic novel publisher located in New York City. We publish graphic novels in every genre and for readers of all ages. Our graphic novels are available online, in libraries, in comic book shops, and wherever books are sold.

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DC is committed to providing resources for our partners in education and libraries. Below, you will find reading guides, activities and more for the classroom and beyond!

CATALOGUES | ACADEMIC READING GUIDES | SELL SHEETS | CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

DC GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR KIDS

Check out some of the graphic novels for kids that are on sale now and check out our DC Graphic Novels for Kids page for all of the latest info on current and upcoming titles.

DC GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR YOUND ADULTS

Check out some of the graphic novels for kids that are on sale now and check out our DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults page for all of the latest info on current and upcoming titles.

CATALOGS

ACADEMIC READING GUIDES

SELL SHEETS

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

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CONTACT

For any marketing inquiries or to ask about possible author visits or other collaborations, please reach out to us at bookmarketing@dcentertainment.com.

For ordering information, please contact csorders@penguinrandomhouse.com or visit the website at www.penguinrandomhouse.com.

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DC is committed to providing resources for our partners in education and libraries. Below, you will find reading guides, activities and more for the classroom and beyond! CATALOGUES | ACADEMIC READING GUIDES | SELL SHEETS | CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES Check out some of the graphic novels for kids that are on sale now and check out our DC Graphic Novels for Kids page for all of the latest info on current and upcoming titles.

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New Releases | TOON Books - Coming Soon/Hot Off the Press

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Stay up to date on what's new to our ever-expanding line of comics for young readers at TOON!

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Anti-Racism Matters in Graphic Medicine, Too

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Anti-Racism Matters in Graphic Medicine, Too

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Isabelle Dethan Isabelle Dethan is a French artist and writer of bande dessinée. Driven by a love for history and drawing, she nevertheless chose to study literature. In 1992,...

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European Comics and Graphic Novels, in English and Digital

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Isabelle Dethan Isabelle Dethan is a French artist and writer of bande dessinée. Driven by a love for history and drawing, she nevertheless chose to study literature. In 1992,... We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. To find out more, please read our cookie policy. I ACCEPT

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Graphic Medicine Database (Alice Jaggers)

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Graphic Medicine Database (Alice Jaggers)

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More and More Children Are Feeling Anxious. This Graphic Novelist Is Trying to Help

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More and More Children Are Feeling Anxious. This Graphic Novelist Is Trying to Help

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Children's Books

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From "Guts," by Raina Telgemeier. Credit Credit Raina Telgemeier/Scholastic

When you've been in psychotherapy for as long as I have, you end up talking to your therapists from time to time about writers - Freud and Kierkegaard, let's say, or Brené Brown and Tara Brach - whose insights might, or so you hope, have relevance to your treatment. But no writer have I pushed more fervidly on a therapist than Raina Telgemeier.

"Look at this," I said to my psychologist a few weeks ago, thrusting some splayed-open pages of Telgemeier's new book under his nose so urgently that he leaned back in his chair and looked a bit alarmed. "Now, read these three pages," I said, flipping ahead. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Though her name might conjure an image of a Teutonic psychotherapist or Kierkegaard scholar, Telgemeier is neither a psychologist nor a philosopher but rather, as nearly every American girl who has passed through elementary school in the last decade knows, a graphic novelist who writes about the social travails and family dynamics of early adolescence. Since 2010, when she overcame the prognostications of shortsighted publishing executives who claimed girls wouldn't buy comics, she has seen one book after another propelled to the top of the best-seller lists by her avid young fans, who show up by the thousands for her appearances. Telgemeier is like the Beatles, or maybe the J. K. Rowling, of graphic novels.

What drove me to share Telgemeier's latest book, GUTS (Scholastic, 224 pp., $24.99; ages 8 and up), with my therapist was not her rendering of the social ecology of fourth grade - though her skill at that puts her in the rarefied company of writers like Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary - but rather the accuracy and vividness with which she conveys the phenomenology of anxiety. No other book I have read on the subject - and to say I have read a lot of them is an understatement - has captured with such brilliant economy and psychological acuity what a severe phobia or panic attack is like. So spot on is her portrayal that I wondered if Telgemeier had somehow taken up residence in my amygdala.

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But Telgemeier is simply drawing on - and drawing - her own experience. "Guts" is a memoir, the third she's published, after "Smile"and "Sister." (She's also written two works of original graphic fiction - "Drama" and "Ghosts" - and illustrated several books for the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel series.) In "Guts," a series of events propels Raina, already struggling with the sometimes nerve-racking challenges of navigating fourth grade, into a full-blown anxiety disorder, which begins to take over her life.

One reason the shock of recognition was so strong for me is that fourth-grade Raina's main phobia happens to be the main one I struggled with as a boy (and still struggle with as an adult) - emetophobia, the pathological fear of vomiting. What's more, the secondary anxieties and associated symptoms - debilitating phobia of germs and fears around food, intense stage fright, the indignities of a nervous, irritable bowel - that beset young Raina are the same ones I endured at that age. (These fears and symptoms commonly cluster together.) Scene after scene rang true to me; the familiarity was almost painful - in places almost a form of exposure therapy. When I was a child (and not only when I was a child), anxiety generally - and the fear of vomiting in particular - felt like a peculiar and embarrassing affliction, and I tried to hide it from my peers, out of shame and fear of stigmatization, going to great lengths to conceal my weekly visits to a psychotherapist. Raina at first endeavors to do the same.

In all three of Telgemeier's memoirs, Raina contends with the abiding stresses of sibling rivalry and parental discord and mean girls at school. But whereas in those earlier books anxiety is merely a subtheme, an element of Raina's personality that sometimes figures into the story, in "Guts" it is the force that drives the plot. That Telgemeier is only now, in her third memoir, telling the story of her childhood anxiety straight on could be because it took her a while to gin up the courage to write about this particular set of vulnerabilities. Or it could be because she perceived that we've reached a moment when a book like this could be very helpful to her audience.

Children are struggling. Over the last decade, cases of anxiety disorder in young people have increased by 20 percent or more. Rates of suicide and suicidal thinking have risen sharply among young people of all ages - including, horrifyingly, children under 11. Scholars debate why this is happening - plausible culprits include social media, video gaming, helicopter parenting, school shootings and lockdown drills, overweening college pressure, and both the over- and under-prescribing of medication, among other things - but the fact of steadily rising numbers of children with anxiety and depression is hard to dispute.

Telgemeier is not, in a book aimed at third to eighth graders, out to solve the mystery of this rise or limn its sociological roots. What she does do, in keeping with the mode of her previous books, is provide a remarkably well-rendered and accessible first-person account of what it's like to experience clinical anxiety as a 10-year-old girl - which, I can say with authority, is also pretty much what it's like to experience clinical anxiety as a 10-year-old boy.

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Credit Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post, via Getty Images

Though Telgemeier's drawing style owes more to the exaggerated caricatures of newspaper comic strips - the bright colors and the simple features - than to the straight realism or stylized grittiness of graphic novels aimed at older readers, her images convey emotional depth and resonance that belie their cartoony aesthetic. Telgemeier has said that she modeled her early comic strips after Bill Watterson's "Calvin & Hobbes," where moments of antic silliness give way suddenly to moments of emotional profundity, and Lynn Johnston's "For Better or for Worse," where the day-to-day accretion of domestic detail and psychological portraiture yields an effect that is almost novelistic. Those influences are still evident. If Judy Blume wrote graphic novels, this is what they would look like.

In a few deft panels early in "Guts," Telgemeier illustrates the moment when young Raina's phobia first fully breaks through. It is the only sequence of three consecutive full-page panels in the book. Few words of narration appear on these pages ("I didn't puke. But the thought that I might ... was worse than if I actually had"); the images do the work. In the first panel, Raina, enveloped by a sickly green, suffers acute nausea that leaves her shaking and sweating on the bathroom floor. In the second, Raina is clinging to the floor tiles by her fingertips, trying to keep from falling into an abyss. In the third, she loses her grip with a cry, plunging back into her actual bathroom, where she lies quaking in a fetal curl as her parents look on in bewilderment; she has fallen into a new and terrifying existence. It is simple, frightening and psychologically realistic.

As viscerally rendered as Raina's plunge into phobic misery is, her climb out of it, with the assistance of a kindly therapist named Lauren who helps her understand that she can survive even the worst of her anxiety, feels gratifyingly and realistically hopeful; the reader exhales with Raina as she begins both to transcend the worst of her anxiety and to rise above the pettiness and misunderstanding that beset fourth-grade social relations.

Could this book not merely entertain kids, but actually help the struggling ones with their anxiety? "Guts" captures with remarkable concision and accuracy, and without ever going outside of 10-year-old Raina's perspective, some of the theoretical concepts and applied techniques that underlie treatment of anxiety. But what will reverberate in the trembling psyches of anxious kids is the recognition that they are not alone in their suffering. Watching Raina endure something like what they may be going through, and then partly triumph over it, provides solace and consolation and possibly hope. I suspect that if I'd read it when I was 10, my perspective on my own anxious adolescent misery would have been helpfully enlarged by the recognition of my own struggles in Raina's.

"Guts" is dedicated to "anyone who feels afraid." For anyone that includes, this book's warmth, humanity and humor - it ends with a sonorous and well-earned fart - provides a balm more soul-soothing than any pill.

Correction:

An earlier version of this review misspelled the author's surname several times. She is Raina Telgemeier, not Telgemaier.

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More and More Children Are Feeling Anxious. This Graphic Novelist Is Trying to Help.

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Children's Books When you've been in psychotherapy for as long as I have, you end up talking to your therapists from time to time about writers - Freud and Kierkegaard, let's say, or Brené Brown and Tara Brach - whose insights might, or so you hope, have relevance to your treatment.

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What is a Graphic Medicine Book Club Kit?

Kits are...

Available for any New England-based organization

Loaned for six-weeks at a time

Non-renewable

Free-of-charge - mailed to you by us, with a return shipping label included

Appropriate for both new and long-time comic readers

Great for students, faculty, professionals, and the public alike!

Request a Graphic Medicine Book Club Kit HERE!

Contact Sarah Levin-Lederer ( Sarah.LevinLederer@umassmed.edu or 508-856-5910) if you have questions about the kits or suggestions for other Graphic Medicine kit titles or programs.

Available Topics
Topic: Addiction

Topic: Aging

Title: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (2014)

Description: From the publisher... "Roz Chast and her parents were practitioners of denial: if you don't ever think about death, it will never happen. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? is the story of an only child watching her parents age well into their nineties and die. In this account, longtime New Yorker cartoonist Chast combines drawings with family photos and documents, chronicling that "long good-bye.

Aging Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: AIDS

Title: Pedro & Me: Friendship, Loss, & What I Learned by Judd Winick (2009)

Description: From the publisher... "Pedro Zamora changed lives. When the HIV-positive AIDS educator appeared on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, he taught millions of viewers about being gay and living with AIDS. Pedro's roommate on the show was Judd Winick, a cartoonist from Long Island, and the two soon became close friends. Judd created Pedro and Me to honor Pedro Zamora, his friend and teacher, and most of all, an unforgettable human being."

AIDS Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: Cancer

Topic: Emergency Preparedness and Recovery

Title: Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown (2015)

Description: From the Publisher: "On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina's monstrous winds and surging water overwhelmed the protective levees around low-lying New Orleans, Louisiana...The riveting tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage-and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality. Don Brown's kinetic art and as-it-happens narrative capture both the tragedy and triumph of one of the worst natural disasters in American history."

Emergency Preparedness and Recovery Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: Epilepsy

Title: Epileptic by David B. (2005)

Description: "A painfully honest examination of the effects of debilitating epilepsy on one man and his family, told through a combination of straightforward text and expressionist imagery that ranges in its palette from centuries-old symbolism to the secret worlds of childhood. Even as he shows up the hollow promises of every school of esoteric and alternative medicine his family encounters in their quest for help, David B. works a real kind of deeply human magic on the page-- something forged from black ink and a soul's struggle--that marks Epileptic as one of the first truly great narrative artworks of the new millennium." --Jason Lutes

Epilepsy Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: Grief

Topic: LGBTQ

Title: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (2006)

Description: "At once a coming-out story, an examination of the complex relationship we can have with our parents and the role of art and literature in processing our lives... Smart, darkly funny and a little fearless, Fun Home reads like a true-life modern American Gothic." - Time Best Comics of 2006

LGBTQ Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: Mental Health

Topic: OCD/Doctor-as-Patient

Title: The Bad Doctor by Ian Williams (2015)

Description: From the publisher... "Meet Dr. Iwan James: cyclist, doctor, would-be lover, former heavy metal fan, and, above all, human being. Weighed down by his responsibilities - from diagnosing personality disorders to deciding who can hold a gun license - he doubts his ability to make decisions about the lives of others when he may need more than a little help himself. Cartoonist and Doctor Ian Williams introduces us to Iwan's troubled life as all humanity, it seems, passes through his surgery doors."

OCD/Doctor-as-Patient Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

Topic: Veteran's Health

[This Kit is unique in that it contains two titles]

Title: At War With Yourself by Samuel Williams (2016)

Description: From the publisher... "In this illustrated conversation between Samuel C. Williams and his friend, Matt, they talk candidly about Matt's struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. From scoping out quick exits in coffee shops to re-experiencing his traumatic events, Matt describes his unique experiences and how he has learnt to cope."

Title: When I Returned from The Center for Cartoon Studies (2016)

Description: When I Returned is a comics anthology containing six unique stories from veterans at the White River Junction VA Medical Center in Vermont. Illustrated by a number of cartoonists from The Center for Cartoon Studies, these stories help show the depth and variety of the "veteran experience".

Veteran's Health Graphic Medicine Book Club Discussion Guide

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What is a Graphic Medicine Book Club Kit? Kits are... Available for any New England-based organization Loaned for six-weeks at a time Non-renewable Free-of-charge - mailed to you by us, with a return shipping label included Appropriate for both new and long-time comic readers Great for students, faculty, professionals, and the public alike!

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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Even before then, dozens of comics about COVID-19 began coming across our news and social media feeds.

Graphic Medicine website co-managers MK Czerwiec, RN and Alice Jaggers, MLS have curated many of them here. We include only comics with reliable information in the following categories. Click on the buttons below to see the comics in that category.

As of 09/20/20, the most recent comic in each category will be displayed first.

Please let us know if you come across comics that should be included here.

COVID-19 Comics: Educational

COVID-19 Comics: Ethics/Social Justice

COVID-19 Comics: By/About Caregivers

COVID-19 Comics: By Patients

COVID-19 Comics: Coping & Humor

COVID-19 Comics: Historic

COVID-19: Non-Comic Resources

Added 11/24/20

COVID-19 Comics Publications and Presentations

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Posts updated 12/16/20 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Even before then, dozens of comics about COVID-19 began coming across our news and social media feeds. Graphic Medicine website co-managers MK Czerwiec, RN and Alice Jaggers, MLS have curated many of them here.

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Books on Tap Live with Svetlana Chmakova 

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Books on Tap Live with Svetlana Chmakova 

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Welcome to Books on Tap , a casual, come as you are (wear your jammies if you wish) hangout where the vibe is always chill and the conversation always scintillating. Hear from and chat with your favorite authors and maybe even win that book you've been dying to read at this virtual lounge hosted by knowledgeable industry insiders. All Books on Tap Live events are sponsored.

Featuring prominent authors discussing their new or forthcoming titles in fiction, nonfiction, comics/graphic novels and children's/YA, Books on Tap Live brings you the story behind the story and allows you to mix and mingle - virtually without all the awkward moments - with the guests after the interview. Streaming live on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, our author web series appreciates your naturally quizzical nature and wants to put your questions to our guest following the official interview. So join the conversation by writing in on Facebook during the live event or submit your questions early for the best chance at getting selected by using the brief form included in the What's on Tap section below.

We're excited to say our first event is with beloved middle grade graphic novelist Svetlana Chmakova. She'll discuss her latest series, The Weirn Books, along with the importance of diversity in comics, the explosive growth of middle grade graphic novels and the inspiration behind her work with PW comics editor Calvin Reid. Sponsored by Yen Press.

To make this deal even sweeter, we'll also be giving away 5 signed copies of The Weirn Books, Vol. 1. Simply enter your email in the space provided below for a chance to win. You'll also receive a reminder email on the day of the event that you have plans because who can remember days and times anymore?

Note: By entering, you'll automatically receive updates on future Books on Tap Live events.

Date: Thursday, June 18
Time: 4:00 PM Eastern/1:00 PM Pacific
Where: Live on Facebook, YouTube
Sponsored by Yen Press

Svetlana Chmakova was born and raised in Russia until the age of 16, when her family emigrated to Canada. She quickly made a name for herself with graphic novels such as Dramacon, Nightschool, the manga adaptation of James Patterson's Witch & Wizard and the webcomic Chasing Rainbows. Her Berrybrook Middle School series has captivated readers of all ages since the publication of its first volume, Awkward, in 2015 and has cemented her place as one of the most beloved creators in the world of middle grade graphic novels.

Additional information on Svetlana Chmakova is available on her official website .

Calvin Reid is a senior news editor at Publishers Weekly, editor of PW Comics World, PW's online graphic novel coverage, and editor of The Fanatic, PW's comics and pop culture newsletter.

Got plans on Thursday but really want to see the Talk? No worries. All episodes will be archived so if you miss one, you can watch it right here at PublishersWeekly.com/booksontaplive any time or find it archived on Facebook and YouTube.

Have some burning questions for our guest? Lay them on us. We'll do our best to get them to the top of the pile. You can always ask a question on Facebook during the live event, too.

Your email is required to verify your account. It will not be used for any other purpose.
Enter your email below for a chance to win one of five signed copies of The Weirn Books, Vol. 1 by Svetlana Chmakova!

Note: By signing up to enter, you'll automatically receive updates on future Books on Tap Live events. You can unsubscribe from these emails at any time.

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Welcome to Books on Tap , a casual, come as you are (wear your jammies if you wish) hangout where the vibe is always chill and the conversation always scintillating. Hear from and chat with your favorite authors and maybe even win that book you've been dying to read at this virtual lounge hosted by knowledgeable industry insiders.

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Sign up to receive a collection of comic strips for kids 5 and up from a diverse group of creators.

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THESE ARE GRAPHIC MEDICINE TIMES

Right now, almost every aspect of our lives has been impacted by two major cultural/medical phenomena: pandemic and violence. COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd is shaping our values, our behaviors, and our body/mind/spirits.

This implies that practically any comics that you make these days could qualify as graphic medicine: comics about everything and anything to do with health, medicine, illness and our bodies.

Whether your interest is in protecting people from COVID-19, fighting racism, or just blowing off some tension by making gag cartoons about herpes, creating graphic medicine presents a range of challenges like - making arguments that will inspire people to make healthier choices; communicating intense subjective states like pain, grief, or fear; using humor to explore sensitive subjects; educating readers without being boring; or mastering techniques for drawing the perfect word balloon.

Are you making comics about graphic medicine? Looking for answers to tricky comics problems? Want to share your skills and knowledge? Have nothing to do on Tuesday evenings?

JOIN THE GRAPHIC MEDICINE CONFAB! - IT'S FREE!!

The Graphic Medicine Confab is a roundtable conversation focusing on the challenges and techniques of making graphic medicine: comics about everything and anything to do with health, medicine, illness and our bodies.

Each meeting has a theme and a facilitator.

The GMC will meet four times this summer via Zoom, Tuesday evenings from 7-7:45 PM (ET).

June 16, Kriota Willberg - How can we make dangerous information less threatening?

June 30, Joel Christian Gill - TBA

July 14, Georgia Webber - TBA

July 28, Ben Schwartz - TBA

Join us to contribute ideas, ask questions, get feedback, and share resources.

Fill out this Google Form and we will send you the Zoom invite to each meet.

ston University and a BA from Roanoke College. His latest work is a memoir chronicling how children deal with abuse and trauma: Joel Christian Gill™ is the chairman, CEO, president, director of development, majority and minority stock holder, manager, co-manager, regional manager, assistant to the regional manager, receptionist, senior black correspondent and janitor of Strange Fruit Comics. He is the author/illustrator of 2 books from Fulcrum Publishing Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence (Oni Press January 2020.) Strange Fruit vol I Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History May 2014 and Tales of the Talented Tenth Fall 2014. In his spare time he is the Chair of Foundations at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and member of The Boston Comics Roundtable. He received his MFA from Bo

Georgia Webber is a comics artist, writer, and editor entirely occupied by the intersection of health and art, making music, comics, and facilitating health workshops. Georgia is best known for her debut graphic memoir, Dumb: Living Without a Voice (Fantagraphics 2018), the chronicle of her severe vocal injury and sustained vocal condition which causes her pain from using her voice. This difficult experience lead her to work as a Cranial Sacral Therapist, a meditation facilitator, and as an improvising musician. She has extended her love of the voice into the community with a project called MAW Vocal Arts. MAW hosts a vocal arts showcase event and online practice sessions called Breathing. Georgia's latest book is a collaboration with Vivian Chong, Dancing After TEN (Fantagraphics 2020).

MD is a staff cartoonist for the Ben Schwartz, New Yorker and an assistant professor of medicine (in surgery) at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. After graduating from medical school at Columbia University and completing an internship in internal medicine, Schwartz decided to take the leap to becoming a full-time cartoonist. Though he no longer practices as a doctor, Schwartz has taken on multiple roles at Columbia, where he teaches comic storytelling in the school's Narrative Medicine program, serves as Chief Creative Officer for the Department of Surgery, and provides communication strategy to various groups throughout the medical center.

Kriota Willberg makes comics about the body sciences, medical history, and bioethics. Her book, Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Visual Artists, is published by Uncivilized Books.Other comics have appeared in: 4PANEL.ca, Spiral Bound (Medium.com), SubCultures, Comics For Choice, The Graphic Canon, Intima: Journal of Narrative Medicine, and Strumpet 5, among others. Willberg writes a self-care column for the Comics Beat called Get A Grip!. Her comic Silver Wire was nominated for a 2019 Ignatz Award. She teaches graphic medicine and drawing in the Department of Humanistic Medicine at NYU.

Hope to see you soon!

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THESE ARE GRAPHIC MEDICINE TIMES Right now, almost every aspect of our lives has been impacted by two major cultural/medical phenomena: pandemic and violence. COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd is shaping our values, our behaviors, and our body/mind/spirits.

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The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to offer Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read!, a resource for parents & educators about the learning benefits of comics! This new resource is written by Dr. Meryl Jaffe, with an introduction by three-time Newbery Award honoree Jennifer L. Holm ( Babymouse, Squish) and art by Eisner Award winner Raina Telgemeier ( Smile, Drama) and Eisner Award nominee Matthew Holm ( Babymouse, Squish). Graphic design was handled by Brooklyn-based designer David Herman. Raising A Reader! was made possible by a grant from the Gaiman Foundation.

Download a digital copy here.

Donate for bundles of hard copies here.

For further inquiries, please contact betsy.gomez@cbldf.org.
RAISING A READER is a registered trademark owned by Raising A Reader and is used with permission.

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Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read!

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The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to offer Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read!, a resource for parents & educators about the learning benefits of comics! This new resource is written by Dr. Meryl Jaffe, with an introduction by three-time Newbery Award honoree Jennifer L.

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Comics Fest 2020: Your Life in Panels: Autobiographical Comics Workshop

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Jun 18, 2020

Free Comic Book Day, the comic book industry's largest annual promotional event, is traditionally scheduled to take place the first Saturday in May each year. However, the impact and spread of COVID-19 prevented the event from being celebrated at its normal time this year. Now, the beloved event has been rescheduled and reworked to take place throughout July and early September in order to accommodate social-distancing and store capacity regulations across the country, effectively making it Free Comic Book Summer!

Scheduled to take place between July 15 and September 9, comic shops will receive five to six Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) titles in their weekly shipments during each week of the promotional window. Release of these titles may vary from shop to shop, as retailers are encouraged to release the books as they see fit for their unique circumstances. Retailers may release one free title a day, may make all of that week's free titles available at once, or any other plan that works for them. Free Comic Book Summer is designed to be flexible and customizable so retailers and fans can get the most out the event.

"Every year, Free Comic Book Day is our big event to thank current comics fans, welcome back former fans and invite those new to comics to join the fun," said Joe Field, originator of FCBD, and owner of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, CA. "In this very different year, Free Comic Book Day is more like Free Comic Book Summer... and there's so much fun to discover in this year's FCBD comics! So many cool stories are available for this stretched-out Free Comic Book Day 2020. I'm confident long-time fans and newcomers alike are going to find a story that'll make them want to visit their local comic shop every week! Fans, bring your friends and family and head to your local comic shop every week starting July 15 through September 9 to check out the new, and fantastic, free comics available that week!"

Free Comic Book Summer will feature 45 of the previously announced titles from publishers like Marvel Comics, Image Comics, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment, DC, and more! The 45 titles are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes and run the gamut from superhero stories, to TV and movie tie-ins, to sci-fi adventures, all-ages tales, and beyond. There will also be two educational support titles from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Gemstone Publishing.

A complete listing of all 46 FCBD titles, including the 10 Gold Sponsor and 35 Silver Sponsor comic books, can be viewed online at www.freecomicbookday.com. A release schedule of when titles will be hitting comic shops is available below!

For more FCBD news and updates, visit www.freecomicbookday.com and become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

In Shops: August 12, 2020

In Shops: September 2, 2020

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Free Comic Book Day 2020 to Take Place July 15 through September 9

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Jun 18, 2020 Free Comic Book Day, the comic book industry's largest annual promotional event, is traditionally scheduled to take place the first Saturday in May each year. However, the impact and spread of COVID-19 prevented the event from being celebrated at its normal time this year.

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With commute time reduced to zero, social events cancelled, and the rest of the city closed, it feels like we have more time on our hands, so why can't we be as productive, or more productive than before? Singapore is closing all schools and non-essential businesses for a month, from tomorrow onwards, to slow down the spread of Covid-19.

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At age 23, Rachel Lindsay was working for a Manhattan advertising agency when she had what her family deemed a bipolar disorder-related manic break. She'd recently been promoted onto an account making antidepressant ads, and her work there led her to question her own understanding of marketing and mental illness. Following a dramatic upheaval, she was involuntarily hospitalized.

While in the hospital, Lindsay drew comics and cartoons about her experience, as well as about her history with mental illness. These comics eventually became a book, RX: A Graphic Memoir, which came out earlier this fall. (Lindsay is now a full-time, Vermont-based cartoonist and art instructor with a side gig at a record-pressing factory.)

Her book is also part of an emerging publishing trend: "graphic medicine," or illustrated memoirs grappling with life, death, health, and the medical industry. While cartoons and chronic illness might seem like an odd combination, readers have been finding that comics can provide an antidote, or at least a balm, to the isolating world of pain, illness, and health care.

Some recent graphic medicine titles include Peter Dunlap-Shohl's My Degeneration: A Journey Through Parkinson's, Dana Walrath's Aliceheimer's: Alzheimer's Through the Looking Glass, and Jennifer Hayden's The Story of My Tits, a memoir about breast cancer.

"I wrote my book to reclaim the history of my life," Lindsay told me. "To tell my own story, separate from the hospital notes. And to then share it with people as the truth."

Echoing Lindsay, the cartoonist and doctor Ian Williams, who in 2012 coined the phrase " graphic medicine," says that part of the phenomenon's appeal is that comics allow artists to "reclaim" their own story by "wrestling some of the power away from the experts." Instead of being "objectified by the medical gaze," he told me, artists "are choosing how to depict their bodies and deciding how much to show, or withhold, from the reader." (Beyond being a general trend, "graphic medicine" is also a website, a specific book series, and an annual conference theme.)

At the same time, graphic medicine can also bridge the gap between patients and the medical world. In Lindsay's case, in the months since her book's release, she's been asked to speak at hospitals and at medical schools - including Harvard, Mt. Sinai, and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - in front of doctors and medical-school residents (as well as regular fans and readers). She's been surprised and moved by their responses. "Based on some of my own bad experiences," she said, "I'd lumped all doctors together, and at first I never felt like I could trust them - I felt like I had to be really controlled around them, and that I could never be myself." But the clinicians (and psychiatrists and social workers) who've reached out to her have wanted to learn more about her story, and to use it in service of improving the patient experience overall. Lindsay said that their responses "made me realize that my frustration and anger were counterproductive. And that the most I could do was let this book speak for itself. It was heartening, and disorienting."

It helps that some of those doctors, nurses, and residents are cartoonists themselves, like Williams, but also (to list a few) Grace Farris, Mike Natter, and palliative care physician Nathan Gray, who in a recent graphic medicine story for Topic wrote that doctors and nurses are similarly "searching for ways to reinject humanity into our hospital routines."

The strongest force driving graphic medicine cartoonists seems to be an urge to create the thing that the artist would have appreciated reading themselves the first time around. "Whatever the subject, whether it's cancer, bipolar disorder, loss of a child, ADHD, or surviving sexual trauma," nurse and Graphic Medicine co-editor MK Czerwiec (also known as Comic Nurse) told me, "the artist's intention is for the book to serve as a guide for others."

Lindsay said something similar: "The last thing I wanted to do was suggest that my journey was anything like anybody else's, but I also knew that there were various parts of my story that other people might relate to." Specifically: "the realities of having a chronic illness, of dealing with it within our health-care system, and of being involuntarily hospitalized."

But why comics rather than a written story, or a photo essay?

"For trauma in particular," Lindsay said, "comics really allow you to show rather than tell. There are certain things that I just cannot put into words, period. And having the flexibility to move back and forth between image and words - it's really helpful."

For a reader, Czerwiec told me, comics can be especially useful in situations when someone is under great stress (like in the face of a new diagnosis), and when they need to learn a lot of important information, quickly (like what that diagnosis means, and what they should do next). "This applies just as well to someone newly diagnosed with cancer as it does to medical or nursing students," she said. "Or even think of the informational card about what to do in a crisis on an airplane - it's a comic."

This all makes sense to me - it wasn't quite graphic medicine, but earlier this year I published a comic about my own struggles with alcohol, in part because I was hoping to do for someone else what Julia Wertz and her sobriety comics did for me. Drawing felt less rigid than typing, and I felt freer to let whatever was there just come out. (I also sometimes publish graphic medicine on Spiralbound, the comics site I run on the side.)

Even though the topic is heavy, Lindsay's RX: A Graphic Memoir is funny throughout. I laughed out loud a few times, including at the image of her angrily stringing together beads during the hospital's jewelry-making class.

I also laughed at how she rendered herself quitting her advertising job, getting a terrible new hairstyle, aggressively buying marijuana, and planning a move to Arizona. I mentioned this to her, and she seemed amused that I'd found it funny. "I know, it's - that's one of the more surprising reactions that I've been getting. Because, like, that was an excruciating experience."

I think that's why the illness-comics combination - of levity and pain, traditionally - works so well: It allows artists to reclaim a story not just from anonymity but from darkness, too.

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At age 23, Rachel Lindsay was working for a Manhattan advertising agency when she had what her family deemed a bipolar disorder-related manic break. She'd recently been promoted onto an account making antidepressant ads, and her work there led her to question her own understanding of marketing and mental illness.

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Graphic Medicine. 5.9K likes. Welcome to Graphic Medicine, the FB page for the website www.graphicmedicine.org It is my contention that comics/graphic fiction could be a useful resource for...

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To celebrate the release of my new graphic novel DOODLEVILLE, my doodles are going on a world tour! You can download these printable images of the book's characters and set up scenes with them at your own home! Will they meet your own drawings? Or your toys? Or pets??

Simply click here to download a four-page PDF, or save the individual pages below! If you have a printer, you can print them and cut them out, or you can work with them right on the screen of a phone or tablet!

I would love to see what happens at your stop on the Doodle World Tour! To share photos of your event, post the photos on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #doodleworldtour and tag me: @chadsell01. You can also share the photos on my Facebook page!

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To celebrate the release of my new graphic novel DOODLEVILLE , my doodles are going on a world tour! You can download these printable images of the book's characters and set up scenes with them at your own home! Will they meet your own drawings? Or your toys? Or pets??

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A BookConline recap on the Graphic Novel Committee's panel

On May 30 & 31 the book world experienced another foray into the virtual conference with BookConline. Along with BookExpo, sessions were broadcast on their respective Facebook pages. The Children's Book Council's Graphic Novel Committee sponsored the We Need Diverse Kids Comics panel, a discussion about upcoming books featuring diverse characters.

Roxane Gay and Tracy Lynne Oliver discussed their experiences in translating their story, The Sacrifice of Darkness, into a graphic novel. Gay explained how she wanted to "tell a magical realism-like story about black people where race was not necessarily the primary issue in the story." Gay shared that she enjoyed how this comic gave real estate to scenes that weren't necessarily expanded on in the short story. "Part of what makes graphic novels and comics so great is that collaboration [between the writers and artists] and seeing how someone reinterprets your creativity." Oliver agreed, saying that as her first graphic novel, she found the task of translating the short story to be "challenging and easy and fun because I'm really a visual writer." She also wanted to make sure that the heart of each chapter hit as hard as it would in the visual realm.

Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright, the writer and artist of Twins respectively, discussed their experience in how they adapted their story into a comic. Johnson drew on his own experience of being a twin as his inspiration for this book, and he felt that "there's been a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion in books and seeing these beautiful black girls come to life in this comic was a powerful thing." Wright explained that she found this story to be very representative of her experiences growing up, and she didn't see that much when she was younger. She recalled a memory where a teacher applauded her for the real representation of middle school friend groups and she was both honored and saddened when thanked for creating a cast of people of color. "This was a book that celebrates and actually finally allows black and brown kids to be the stars." Johnson further elaborated on how the twin characters were proud of their culture, which is what he intended in this book. "I think a story can be about their being black and culture without the pain that comes with [the struggles] that an African American has gone through". Wright also expressed her moments of joy in creating this graphic novel and that the characters and their family felt very real to her. She found it natural and comfortable to write. "The family and friend groups felt really real. That's where I was finding joy. I like to create my own joy."

As the writer and artist of Flamer, Mike Curato put his own experiences with sexual identity on display. Curato's book has much to do with self identity "whether that involves sexual identity and race, whether that involves dealing with friends and bullies." Curato also spoke about the unfiltered way he wrote his graphic novel. "How I see it is: why should I limit my sharing when others would not limit their hatred towards me? This whole story has been, to me, what I can do to dismantle my little part of the system that holds me down by dismantling my own shame." Ultimately, Curato wanted to share that kids should be taught how to be loved and how to be a loving person.

You can view all sessions from BookConline on their Facebook page, separated by day. Readers can find the We Need Diverse Kids Comics panel with Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynn Oliver, Shannon Wright, Varian Johnson, and Mike Curato on Day 1 of the conference, between the 42:00 and 1:25:00 minute marks.

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A BookConline recap on the Graphic Novel Committee's panel On May 30 & 31 the book world experienced another foray into the virtual conference with BookConline. Along with BookExpo, sessions were broadcast on their respective Facebook pages. The Children's Book Council's Graphic Novel Committee sponsored the We Need Diverse Kids Comics panel, a discussion about upcoming books featuring diverse characters.

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Using Graphic Novels in Education (CBLDF) 

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Using Graphic Novels in Education (CBLDF) 

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Using Graphic Novels in Education is an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers. In this column, we examine graphic novels, including those that have been targeted by censors, and provide teaching and discussion suggestions for the use of such books in classrooms.

The list below includes all of the titles we've covered so far, but we add two to three titles per month throughout the year, so come back to discover more amazing graphic novels to use in your classroom!

Some teaching suggestions follow, but the sky's the limit when it comes to graphic novels! Many of the books listed under one heading below would suit another, so visit your local library or comic book shop to explore these amazing classroom tools!

Books for elementary school readers:

Jimmy Gownley's Amelia Rules! is a New York Times bestseller. It has been nominated for 13 Eisner Awards (four nominations in 2008 alone), has been nominated for five Harvey Awards, and was a short list finalist for the Howard E. Day Prize in 2002. In 2007, Volume 3: Superheroes won the Cybil Award for best graphic novel for readers aged 12 and under. In 2008, Gownley won the Pennsylvania Library Association One Book Award, and in 2012, Volume 8: Her Permanent Record became the first Amelia Rules! book to make the New York Times bestseller list. Read the full post

Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet is an award-winning graphic novel series about Emily and her brother Navin who, through extenuating circumstances, find themselves battling for the freedom of a parallel world and face mounting dangers with new-found friends.Emily and Navin move into their great-grandfather's country house outside a town called Norlen after their father's death. While the locals believe the house is haunted, Emily and Navin's mom, Karen, has no choice but to fix up the old house and move in. Times have been hard without their dad, and the home is all they can afford. While cleaning the cobwebs and dust, Emily discovers a locket - the Amulet - and Karen, Emily, and Navin are transported into an alternate world through a small door in the basement. They soon discover that they're descended from a line of Stonekeepers, people charged with protecting the alien world. They also find shortly after their arrival that something is terribly wrong. Read the full post

Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm's Babymouse is an award-winning graphic novel series that showcases the trials and tribulations of elementary school students and teachers, as seen through the eyes of Babymouse, as spunky, lovable mouse who wrestles with popularity, quirky lockers, competition - in the school band, school play, math Olympics, and even the best birthday party ever - and more. The series has won multiple Children's Choice awards, the 2006 Gryphon Award, the 2006 ALA Notable Children's Book Award, the 2006 New York Book Show Award. Read the full post

for ages 8-12. HiLo is a wonderful series about JD Lim, an average boy in a family of superstars who thinks he's only great at one thing - being Gina's friend. But Gina moves away and DJ is on his own. Until one day, something shoots down from the sky and in the crater, DJ finds HiLo, a boy in silver underwear. From that moment on, DJ is good at two things: being friends with both Gina (who moves back) and HiLo. The problem is that HiLo doesn't remember much about his past. He doesn't remember where he's from or why he's come to Earth. And he has no idea why he's wearing silver underpants, although he thinks they're really cool. Together, HiLo, DJ, and Gina start piecing the fragments of HiLo's memory together as strange robots continue to collide with Earth and the trio of friends bravely save the day. While a joy for all readers, the publisher recommends HiLo Read the full post

The Misadventures of Salem Hyde is a wonderful series about a strong-willed, spunky, impulsive young witch living in a non-witch community, who has a slight problem: Her spells tend to backfire. However, with the help of Whammy, her companion cat, she slowly deals with her "spelling" issues while boldly facing her nemesis Shelly and her teacher Mr. Fink (who "dislikes all kinds of kids but especially Salem"). The Misadventures of Salem Hyde received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, and was named one of the Top 10 graphic novels of 2013 by The School Library Journal. These books contain fun-filled adventures and wordplay that make them an awesome read for kids of all ages (even though it is geared for 7- to 10-year-olds). Read the full post

Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm Squish is a comic book-loving, Twinkie-eating, blubbery, super-swell amoeba "kid" who wrestles with good and evil in life around him and learns about life's responsibilities. He faces all sorts of challenges with his friends Pod, a nerdy, mooching amoeba who's always working on some lay-brained science scheme to help him tame his world, and Peggy, a clueless, huge-hearted, super-sweet, happy-go-lucky loving paramecium. In the first four books, they face challenges in school, summer camp, soccer games, and much more. Read the full post

Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa, translated by Project Gen (Last Gasp of San Francisco, 2004) is considered one of the most important anti-war manga ever written. The series focuses on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the aftermath of the Pacific War. Barefoot Gen has been repeatedly banned in its home country of Japan, but remains one of the most read manga in the world. Read the full post

Gene Luen Yang's Boxers & Saints revisits the Chinese Boxer Rebellion (1899-1900), sensitively and evenhandedly relating Chinese peasants' perspectives from each side of the conflict. Boxerstells the story of the illiterate peasants tired of being hungry, tired of failing farms, and tired of Chinese Christian ruffians who would steal, cheat, and beat them while under Western protection. Saints tells the story of a peasant girl, who is shunned by her family but finds compassion and belonging with Christian converts. Read the full post

In Persepolis, author Marjane Satrapi tells of her experience growing up during the Iranian Revolution, the subsequent war between Iran and Iraq, and the rise of the Islamic Republic. Against these tumultuous events, readers get a glimpse of Satrapi's teenage angst and her struggles to express herself under the burgeoning social repression of the new regime. Read the full post

In recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, we take a closer look at two comics and one graphic novel, all of which retell events of the Holocaust: , written by Trina Robbins and illustrated by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh (Lener Publishing Group, 2011). Karski's Mission: To Stop the Holocaust and The Book Hitler Didn't Want You to Read: The True Story as Related by Senator Alan Cranston, both by Rafael Medoff and Dean Motter (David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, 2015, and Lily Renee, Escape Artist Read the full post

In honor of Black History Month, we're taking a closer look at Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy, and illustrated by John Jennings (Abrams ComicArts, 2017). Known as "the grand dame of science fiction," Butler's work earned two Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, the PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant", and a Solstice Award. In addition, Butler is a 2010 i nductee of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame . In the past 40 years, Butler's works have experienced expanding popularity in both academia and popular culture. Kindred is one of her most widely used works in education, and the 2017 graphic novel adaptation of this 1979 classic won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium and the 2018 Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. Read the full post

King by Ho Che Anderson (Fantagraphics, 1993; reprint edition 2010) is a highly acclaimed award-winning biography integrates interviews, narrative, sketches, illustrations, photographs and collages as it pieces together an honest look at the life, times, tragedies, and triumphs of Martin Luther King Jr. For King, Anderson won the Harvey Awards for Best New Talent (1991); Best Graphic Album (1993); and Parents' Choice Award (1995). Read the full post

MARCH: Book One begins the trilogy of Representative John Lewis's graphic novel memoir, co-written with his aide Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell. It is a critically acclaimed best-seller that received the 2013 Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award by the American Library Association and has been named one of the best books of 2013 by USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book, ComicsAlliance, and others. Read the full post

MARCH: Book Two is the second volume of Representative John Lewis's graphic novel memoire, co-written with his aide Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell. March: Book Two details the real-life heroes of the 1960s, from the Civil Rights leaders of SNCC and the SCLC to the black and white protesters who risked life and limb for what was right. In Book Two, Lewis's story continues with the events that took place on November 10, 1960, in Nashville, Tennessee, as "...our young organization had successfully ended segregation at the lunch counters downtown and turned its attention to fast food restaurants and cafeterias using the same strategy." It then continues with events that took place in the South between 1960 -1963, culminating with the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Read the full post

MARCH: Book Three brilliantly and sensitively concludes Representative John Lewis' story while documenting Americans' struggle for equal rights and civil liberties. Through all three volumes of March, readers read, see, and feel those struggles first hand. Furthermore, while each part of the trilogy tells a continuing story, that they each can equally stand on their own as solid stories and historical resources. Alone and together, these three volumes relay the struggles, the pains, and the hopes of Black and White Americans in the early 1960s, while highlighting some of this country's greatest modern heroes. Read the full post

Kyle Baker's Nat Turner received the Glyph award for Best Artist, Best Cover, and for Best Story of the Year, 2006; the Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work, 2006; and the Harvey Award for Best Graphic Album - Previously Published, 2009. This work also received an Eisner Award nomination for Best Limited Series, 2006; and Harvey Award nominations for Best Writer, Best Artist and Best Single Issue or Story, 2009. Library Journal gave it a starred review noting, "Baker's suspenseful and violent work documents the slave trade's atrocities as no textbook can, with an emotional power approaching that of Maus." Read the full post

The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos and Nate Powell (First Second Books, 2012) is a semi-autobiographical story told from the perspective of Mark Long, as a boy. It centers around civil rights incidents covered by his father, a television reporter in Houston, Texas, in 1968, following the Texas Southern University student boycott after the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was banned from campus. It ends with Dr. King's assassination and the mourning of the larger Houston community as they marched in his memory. Read the full post

Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013, by Trina Robbins, is a more traditional biography that discusses the lives, times, struggles, and contributions of women in the world of cartoons and comics. (Recommend for high school and older.)

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves and Other Female Villains, by Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay, incorporates both prose and illustration to put the deeds of 26 women - who were both famous and infamous - in perspective. (Recommended for middle school readers.) Read the full post

Aya: Life in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie is loosely based on Abouet's life and centers around 19-year old Aya, her friends, and their families in the Ivory Coast working class suburb of Abidjan in the 1970s. Aya was the winner of the Best First Album award at the Angouleme International Comics Festival, the Children's Africana Book Award, and the Glyph Award. It was also nominated for the Quill Award, YALSA's Great Graphic Novels, and the Eisner Award. It has also been included on best of lists from The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal. It has been adapted into a film, Aya of Yop City (produced by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux). Read the full post

is an award-winning graphic novel series that showcases major events and individuals in history, primarily United States history. The series has won multiple awards including a 2012 Cybils Award Finalist; spots on the New York Public Library's Children's Books list in 2012 and 2013; 100 Books for Reading and Sharing list; YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list in 2013, 2014, and 2015; Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People in 2014; and an Eisner Award nomination 2014. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales Read the full post

Soupy Leaves Homeis a graphic novel written by Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Jose Pimienta. Set in the early 1930s in the heart of the Great Depression, this is a story about two hoboes: one young named "Soupy," and one much older named "Ramshackle." Together they journey south and then "Westward" while healing their hearts, facing their respective demons, and evaluating their paths and dreams. Read the full post

Trickster collects 21 Native American tales from across the continent. In Native American traditions, the Trickster takes many forms and the diversity of the Trickster's form and talents are clearly reflected in this anthology. Whether a coyote, rabbit, raccoon, raven, beaver, fox, or man, Trickster is always a crafty creature who disrupts, humiliates, or betters himself or those around him.

In this anthology, Dembicki has paired Native storytellers with a writer or artist, and he illustrated one of the stories as well. The stories come from all over the United States. The range of locations adds to the range and depth of the selected stories. Trickster is the recipient of the 2010 Maverick Award, the 2011 Aesop Prize for Children's folklore, and a 2011 Eisner Award Nominee.

Cece Bell's El Deafo, a 2015 Newbery Honor Book has also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly. El Deafo's Newbery Honor "for outstanding contribution to children's literature" is the first given to a graphic novel. In this graphic memoir, Cece Bell discusses with humor and honesty the challenges she faced as young girl after losing her hearing to illness. No one likes being different, and having to wear a bulky hearing aid strapped to her chest certainly didn't help. Reading El Deafo, we experience what it is like living with severe to profound hearing loss, we see how lonely it can be when communication is difficult, and at the same time we realize that all of us are similar in some ways and different in others. The key is finding the inner strength to embrace our weaknesses and differences, and becoming stronger because of them. Read the full post

I Kill Giants, by Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura, won the IGN Best of 2008, was voted one of the 10 Best Comics of 2009 by New York magazine's Dan Kois; was a YALSA (Young Adult Library Association) 2010 Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and won the Gold Award at the 5 th International Manga Award I 2012. Through the prose and art of I Kill Giants, Joe Kelly and JM Ken Niimura provide a timeless, honest rendering of a child's reaction to critical illness as eleven-year-old Barbara struggles to face an untimely loss, first through escapism and then gradually through acceptance. With Kelly's insightful text and Niimura's powerful images, we feel Barbara's pains and struggles as she faces life's challenges. Read the full post

starred review and the Comics Alliance's Charles Xavier Memorial Award Best Comics of 2012 for "Best Melancholic Welding Drama." The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire. It explores themes of loss, parent-child relationships, the struggle of balancing emotion and reality, and ramifications of decision-making. The Underwater Welder was Amazon's Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2012, Amazon Canada's #1 Best Graphic Novel of 2012, and A.V. Club's Top Ten Graphic Novels for 2012. It received a Publishers Weekly Read the full post

American Born Chinese is a 2006 National Book Award Honor Book for Young People's literature, the 2007 winner of the Michael L. Printz Award honoring literary excellence in Young Adult literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album, and a 2007 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year. In this work, creator Gene LuenYang skillfully weaves three seemingly independent stories of Chinese folklore, a teenager's need to fit in, and adolescents' balancing of their Chinese American heritage. Read the full post

As the Crow Flies, written and illustrated by Melanie Gillman, collects the first volume of Gillman's webcomic of the same name. The book explores 13-year-old Charlie Lamonte's spiritual, cultural, and identity growth during a stay at Camp Three Peaks, a Christian sleepover retreat where teen girls retrace a pilgrimage begun by 19th century pioneering women. Charlie feels out of place due to race, sexual orientation, and a growing sense that the feminist trek on which the camp counselors are leading campers may not be as inclusive as they think. Gillman uses generous colored-pencil artwork to capture the contemplative scenery and balances text between Charlie's inner dialog and the conversations and friendships Charlie builds within the group. Read the full post

Astronaut Academy is a two-volume series about friendship, rivalries, diversity, teamwork, growing up, and the pleasures and pains of boarding school - in space. It is chalk-full of dinosaur cars, robots, magical elves, pandas, bunnies sports, love, bold statements, puns, cuteness, and evil. His story centers around life at a futuristic boarding school in space, and Roman packs so many references to both kid and adult movies, books, and games that these books, while geared for grades 4-8, can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. Read the full post

Larry Marder gives you everything you're going to need to navigate through Beanworld in the first few pages. He introduces you to the characters in, under, around, and traveling through Beanworld. It is a wonderful story about the forces and cycles of life, about responsibilities, about learning, and about growing. It's about friendships and love. It's about rivalries, creativity and balance. From Marder's use of language, wordplay, slang and puns to his play on cultures and life and his simply drawn but far from simple images, it's pure fun. Read the full post

Hope Larson's Chiggers is graphic novel that takes an honest look at the timeless ritual of summer camp as seen and experienced first-hand by Abby, a young teen attending her last year as a camper at sleep-away camp. Chiggers is a Junior Library Guild Selection and YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens Nominee. It follows Abby from the moment her parents rush her out of the house and drive her through country highways and hills to get her to camp before any other campers arrive and concludes when her parents are the first car in line on the last day of camp to take her home. It's a story about friendship, fitting in, love, and loyalty, and it interweaves realities and fantasies of summer life. Read the full post

Kim Dong Hwa is a widely popular Korean comic artist. In the Color of Earth Trilogy, Dong Hwa tenderly tells the story of his mother's growth into womanhood, as he imagined it might have been. This story is an incredible blend of prose, poetry, and penciled art. It is a story about young Ehwa's growing curiosity about sex, puberty, and relationships. Based on Ehwa's observations and interactions with friends, nature, and the villagers around her, she has wonderfully frank discussions with her mother, who tactfully and sensitively opens the world up for Ehwa. Read the full post

Raina Telgemeier's Drama is a fictional story about seventh-grader Callie, who, like many kids her age, wrestles with a pesky, snooping little brother while navigating middle school friendships and crushes. The interesting thing about Callie is her passion around being on the Drama Club's tech crew and interacting with her friends in the club. What makes this book so special though, is its message to young girls. Specifically, what makes Callie happiest is not being cool or popular or even winning "the boy." Instead, it's working hard on her set ideas, becoming the best stage manager ever of the Drama Club, and refining her voice, her vision, and her skills within that role. Read the full post

Hey, Kiddo is the autobiographical story of author and artist Jarrett J. Krosoczka, who was born of a drug addicted mother and subsequently raised by his old fashioned but genuinely loving grandparents. Using a limited color palette and primary source documents, including actual art from the author's childhood, the story traces Jarrett's development from infancy to his high school graduation and examines the nature of family, love, and purpose. Tracing the impact addiction can have on the parent-child relationship across multiple generations, as well as how Jarrett's love of drawing played a role throughout his life, the book is a balanced look at the struggles and successes that defined Jarrett's childhood. It is a story of loss but also of the tenacity of the human spirit and the importance of a strong support system around us. The book includes an insightful author's note and an interesting note on the art, in which Krosoczka explains the work that went into the book and expands on some of his family's story. Read the full post

bestseller; won the 2015 Eisner Awards for Best Series and Best Publication for Teens (13-17); received 2015 Diamond Gem Awards for Best All-Ages Series and Best All-Ages Graphic Novel; was nominated for Harvey Awards for Best Letterer, for Best New Series, and for Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers; and is a nominee for GLAAD's Outstanding Comic Book for 2016. Lumberjanes is an ongoing coming-of-age series about friendship and girl-power in the great outdoors. It is filled with humor and adventure as a lovably quirky diverse group of friends tackle wild, mystical mysteries using anagrams, astronomy, and Fibonacci series' strategies, mixed in with brain power and pure brawn. Lumberjanes is a New York Times Read the full post

Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona features Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim girl from Jersey City, New Jersey who becomes the new Ms. Marvel. Wilson, Alphona, and the Marvel team create a modern twist offering fun and diversity for tween readers and beyond. Ms. Marvel is a finalist for the first Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity (nominees range from independent to mainstream comic books) and one of YALSA's Top Ten 2015 Great Graphic Novels for Teens. It is also one of YALSA's 2015 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Read the full post

is about a confident, occasionally snarky, and often inspiring shapeshifter named Nimona who ostensibly serves as supervillain Lord Ballister's sidekick. Lord Ballister is a disfigured knight who must leave the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics after he loses his arm in a joust against Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. Subsequently, he becomes an evil scientist. His only goals are to defame Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and to expose and destroy the underhanded and dastardly deeds of the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics. Readers, however, soon find out that nothing is as it seems, not even Nimona. Not even good versus evil. Even more fascinating - and engaging - is that the more we read about Nimona and the more we see her in action, the less we know or understand about who or what exactly she is. All we know is that we are constantly rooting for her and can't quite get enough. Nimona Read the full post

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong is a graphic novel adapted and drawn by Faith Erin Hicks from the young adult novel Voted Most Likely by Prudence Shen. It's full of unlikely friendships and nicely nuanced characters who bend and shatter stereotypes and expectations. The central characters are Charlie Nolen, captain of Hollow Ridge High School basketball team and his (best) friend Nate Harding, president of the robotics club. In a twist of fate, the robotics club and the cheerleaders are vying for student council funding. In an effort to win the funding, Charlie decides to run for student council president. The "Gestapo" cheerleaders decide to have Nate run against him with the hopes that they can manipulate Nate into funding their new outfits and not the robotics club. And while each group is convinced that their strategies are flawless, things don't work out the way anyone had planned. Read the full post

The Plain Janes is a graphic novel by written Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Jim Rugg. It's about Jane, who after barely surviving a terror attack in Metro City, must readjust to a "safer" life in suburbia. There, Jane decides that instead of sitting with the cool kids (where she used to belong in her previous school), she'd prefer a more interesting group of friends. She finds herself at a table with three other girls named Jane (or Jayne), and encourages them to form an all-girl gang: the P.L.A.I.N. Janes, or People Loving Art in Neighborhoods. This group incorporates Jane the athlete, Jane the artist, Jane the theater geek, and Jayne the science nerd. Through their "sabotage artistique," Main Jane hopes they can save the disaster that is high school while showing her mom that the world's not that scary a place. Read the full post

Inspired by fairy tales but not limited by conventions, The Prince and the Dressmaker, written and illustrated by Jen Wang, is the tale of Prince Sebastian, his best friend Frances, and the secrets and dreams they share with one another. Prince Sebastian is expected by society and family to find his bride by meeting eligible young women. However, his dream is to be able to live and be accepted as his whole self, including his secret identity as the daring and fashionable Lady Crystallia who is quickly becoming the hottest fashion icon in Paris! Read the full post

SideScrollers by Matthew Loux (ONI Press, 2008) is one of those books that are well written but that are not appropriate for all classrooms. And while named one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2008 by the American Library Association, the book was pulled from a ninth grade summer reading list in Connecticut based on a compliant by a person who was not even a parent of a child in the school for "profanity and sexual references." CBLDF sent a letter to Enfield Connecticut School District Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey Schumann asking that it be returned to the summer reading list and "restore freedom of choice to the parents and children in their school." Read the full post

In this autobiographical coming-of-age graphic novel memoir, Raina Telgemeier ruminates with humor and honesty on the tumultuous challenges and perils of her teen years: from the trauma of falling one night on her way home from a Girl Scout meeting severely injuring her front teeth, to dealing with boys, earthquakes and the true meaning of friendship. Read the full post

Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an UNPLEASANT Age, edited by Ariel Schrag, is an anthology of comics by critically acclaimed cartoonists who take a bitingly honest look back at their "awkward" middle-school years, reflecting upon them with sensitivity and some humor. Many of the pieces, however lack resolution, making them unsettling - much like those teenage years themselves. While some may find this format haunting and less kid-friendly, the stories serve as outstanding opportunities to brainstorm and problem solve. Read the full post

This One Summer (First Second, 2014) by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki rocked the publishing, library, and literary world by being the first graphic novel to receive the Caldecott Honor for "Most Distinguished American Picture Book for Children" and the Printz Honor for "Excellence in Literature for Young Adults." Told in warm prose and exquisite monochromatic blue images, This One Summer delicately balances the nostalgic power of summer traditions with the often harsh and intruding lessons of life. It embraces readers of all ages as two tween girls, local townie teens, and one set of parents all tangle in the delicate balances of friendships and relationships, grapple with the pains of growing up, deal with the torments of depression and of wanted and unwanted pregnancies, and cope with the heartbreaks and hopes of life. This One Summer has received outstanding praise and unprecedented honors for its stunning art and thoughtful, sensitive content. Read the full post
We need your help to keep fighting for the right to read! Help support CBLDF's important First Amendment work by visiting the Rewards Zone, making a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!

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Using Graphic Novels in Education is an ongoing feature from CBLDF that is designed to allay confusion around the content of graphic novels and to help parents and teachers raise readers.

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Andrews McMeel Publishing | Kids NEW ROADS TO READING FEATURED BOOKS Donation Requests Need promotional swag or giveaway items for your library and/or literacy-building event? We'd love to help! Get your swag! Activities!

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Chew

Tony Chu is a cop with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why. It's a dirty job, and Tony has to eat terrible things in the name of justice. And if that wasn't bad enough, the government has figured out Tony Chu's secret. They have plans for him, whether he likes it or not. Presenting a twisted new series about cops, crooks, cooks, cannibals and clairvoyants, written by John Layman (Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, House of M: Fantastic Four and Puffed) with mind-blowing art by astonishing comics newcomer Rob Guillory.

Deadly Class

It's 1987. Marcus Lopez hates school. His grades suck. He has no money. The jocks are hassling his friends. He can't focus in class, thanks to his mind constantly drifting to the stunning girl in the front row and the Dag Nasty show he has tickets to. But the jocks are the children of Joseph Stalin's top assassin, the teachers are members of an ancient league of assassins, the class he's failing is "Dismemberment 101," and his crush, a member of the most notorious crime syndicate in Japan, has a double-digit body count.

Welcome to the most brutal high school on Earth, where the world's top crime families send the next generation of assassins to be trained. Murder is an art. Killing is a craft. At Kings Dominion High School for the Deadly Arts, the dagger in your back isn't always metaphorical, nor is your fellow classmates' poison.

Join writer RICK REMENDER with rising star WESLEY CRAIG (Batman) and legendary colorist LEE LOUGHRIDGE (Fear Agent) to reminisce about the mid-1980s underground through the eyes of the most damaged and dangerous teenagers on Earth.

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Chew Tony Chu is a cop with a secret. A weird secret. Tony Chu is cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. It also means he's a hell of a detective, as long as he doesn't mind nibbling on the corpse of a murder victim to figure out whodunit, and why.

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In this humorous talk, former teacher and graphic novelist Gene Yang shares some unexpected insights and urges educators to bring comic books into the classroom. A 2016 MacArthur fellow, Gene Luen Yang began drawing comics in the fifth grade. "American Born Chinese", Yang's first graphic novel, put him on the map.

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As 21st-century citizens, visual media surrounds our students. Visual literacy skills are a critical component of instruction in our classrooms. Comics are an engaging way to build reading comprehension and critical thinking skills while sparking creativity. The perfect medium for teaching any subject, the sequential art and text share storytelling responsibility.

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Papercutz-the Kids Graphic Novel Publisher

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Kids' Graphic Novel Resources for Educators, Librarians and Retailers. On these pages you'll find everything you need to use or promote our books.

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It's with huge regret that we announce the cancelation of 2020's Ann Arbor Comics Arts Festival; and it's with hope for everyone's health and safety that we look ahead to 2021.

Kids Read Comics and the Ann Arbor District Library remain committed to our mission of celebrating the joy of reading and creating comics. So please gather with us to share that joy when next we fill the library with artists and writers and fun and games...and memories you can take with you for a lifetime!

Artists Alley Applications for A2CAF 2020 Now Open!

It's a new year and we're gearing up for a new and exciting Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival June 12-14!

To start the new year right, we're sending out this call for applications to table at our 2020 show.

We're excited (as always!) to assemble:

a wide array of comics creators

working in a range of styles

for a variety of audiences.

Along with our hosts at the Ann Arbor District Library, we love to share our passion for reading and making comics with attendees young and not-so-young at our free, family-friendly event.

Our preconference for educators, librarians and cartoonists will take place on Friday the 12th, and Artists Alley - plus workshops, drawing games and more - will be up and running on Saturday and Sunday.

You can find the table application form at this link.and we hope that all who are interested will consider applying - though sadly, we don't have space for everyone.

The application period ends on February 28 and we will announce our acceptances and wait list by the end of March.

Again, the application page is https://a2caf.com/apply. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us at kidsreadcomics@gmail.com.

The Kids Have Chosen Their Favorites!

On June 16, 2019, the annual Kids' Comics Awards Ceremony was held at the Ann Arbor District Library, hosted by Ben Hatke, Zack Giallongo, and Bruno Hohn. The Ceremony was written and directed by fellow host Kevin Coppa. Nominees were suggested by kids via public ballot in April 2019. Our thanks to Jen Vincent, Sharon Iverson, and Travis Jonker, who selected the final nominees using the initial votes as a guide. Kids attending the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival were able to vote for their favorite books and creators via paper ballot, while the wider world was invited to vote via online form.

The video of the ceremony, featuring puppets, jousting, mermaids, and moat-swimming dinogators, will be posted soon. But until then, here are the books and creators chosen by kids!
Most Epic Adventure
The nominees were:

Amulet: Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi

Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks

The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell

STAR WARS ADVENTURES Jawa story in issue #8 / Otis Frampton

Encounter

Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff

And the kids chose...

Amulet: Supernova, by Kazu Kibuishi

Funniest Comic
The nominees were:

Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey

The Bad Guys in Superbad by Aaron Blabey

Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths by Graham Annable

Phoebe and Her Unicorn in Unicorn Theater by Dana Simpson

Bad Kitty: Kitten Trouble by Nick Bruel

And the kids chose...

Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas, by Dav Pilkey

Favorite Nonfiction/Mythology Comic
The nominees were:

Ocean Renegades! (Earth Before Us, #2) by Abby Howard

Science Comics: Rockets Defying Gravity by Anne and Jerzy Drozd

Secret Coders: Monsters & Modules by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes

Lafayette! (Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales) by Nathan Hale

Snails Are Just My Speed! by Kevin McCloskey

3x4: A TOON Book by Ivan Brunetti

And the kids chose...

Lafayette! by Nathan Hale

Favorite Author

The nominees were:

Hope Larson

Dav Pilkey

Kazu Kibuishi

Sara Varon

Vera Brosgol

Judd Winick

Jarrett Krosoczka

Svetlana Chmakova

And the kids chose...

Kazu Kibuishi

Bravest Hero
The nominees were:

Far Tune: Autumn

New Shoes by Sara Varon

Tiger vs. Nightmare by Emily Tetri

Hilo Book 4: Waking the Monsters by Judd Winick

The Principal Strikes Back (Jedi Academy #6) by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

And the kids chose...

Hilo Book 4: Waking the Monsters, by Judd Winick

The nominees were:

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

Mr. Wolf's Class by Aron Nels Steinke

All Summer Long by Hope Larson

Kristy's Big Day by Ann M. Martin and Gale Galligan

Crush by Svetlana Chmakova

Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Keepin' It Real (for memoir & realistic fiction)
And the kids chose...

Keepin' It Unreal (for scifi and fantasy)
Mr. Wolf's Class, by Aron Nels Steinke

The Hidden Witch by Molly Ostertag

Punk Taco by Adam Wallenta, Makana Wallenta

Monster Mayhem by Chris Eliopoulos

Edison Beaker: Creature Seeker by Frank Cammuso

Sparks! By Ian Boothby and Nina Matsumoto

5 Worlds: The Cobalt Prince by Mark Siegel, Alexis Siegel

Star Scouts: The League of Lasers by Mike Lawrence

The nominees were:

And the kids chose...

Punk Taco, by Adam and Makana Wallenta

Congratulations to the winners! Be sure to cast your vote for your favorite comics of 2019 by checking back here in April of 2020!

THANK YOU! AND PLEASE COME AGAIN!

Thanks to everyone who attended the fabulous tenth anniversary Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival this past weekend-where we had our highest attendance figures ever-AND to our spectacular artist and writer guests AND to the Ann Arbor District Library, whose leadership has devoted so many resources to our shared mission of putting comics (and the tools to make comics) in the hands of kids, teens and adults.

From the preconference panels and discussions through the workshops and Quick Draws and Kids' Comics Awards to the last-minute interactions at Artists Alley tables when attendees were told that Artists Alley was closed but just couldn't tear themselves away from their favorite creator, the weekend was a huge success!

Thanks also to 826michigan, Vault of Midnight, the Ann Arbor Art Center, Green Brain Comics, and the League of Enchantment for their participation.

And don't forget: We do this every year!

So look for information about our 2020 show.

IT'S ONLY HOURS AWAY! A2CAF 2019!

We hope you've made your plans to come out to the Ann Arbor District Library this weekend, where you'll get to meet fantastic comics creators like

Jerry Craft... Lucy Knisley... Raúl the Third...
Wendy & Richard Pini... Joamette Gil... Ben Hatke...
Judd Winick... Raina Telgemeier... Zack Giallongo ...

...And over sixty more artist and writer guests (all of whom are listed on our guest page, so check it out).

Which doesn't even count hands-on workshops, interactive drawing games, panel discussions, portfolio review, and more!

Come out for the terrific, tremendous, thrilling and triumphant tenth anniversary Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival!
We'll be waiting for you!

UNBELIEVABLE! EVEN MORE FANTASTIC A2CAF GUESTS!

Trevor McKee is the creator of the Conspiracy of Birds webcomic and comic book collections.

Corinne Roberts is the creator of the webcomic Out and About and the books Trip to Trekka and Imaginary Sea 1,2,3!

Patrick Lay is the author of the webcomic Screaming Mimi Kids and artist of the ongoing series Multi-.

Ali Alongi
is the author of the graphic novel
Ankle Biters
.

Ed Cho writes and co-created the Little Guardians comic series and plays guitar in The Shake Ups (performing Saturday at 1 pm).

Ellie Moody is a cartoonist who first tabled at A2CAF way back in middle school (she's off to college now, so wish her well!).

Angelica Hatke is a cartoonist and taxidermist from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

YES! YET MORE GREAT A2CAF GUESTS!

Alexandra Filipek is the author of The Oracle, Koekoek and the Last Mammoth, and the upcoming 2000 BC.

Zak Kinsella is a cartoonist for Dark Horse's Pros & Comic Cons, Burn: A Tale of Ilunea, Outré Veil, Spooks in Savannah, with work appearing in The New York Times, Popular Science, and Suspect Press.

Sam Beck is the creator of the ongoing webcomic Verse, and artist for Songs for the Dead.

STILL *MORE* GREAT GUESTS TO MEET AT A2CAF!

Kristin Ousley is the creator of Transplant, Dungeon Level, and the Piper's Mystical Guidance series.

Kristie Good is the author/Illustrator of Epic Cosplay Costumes, SIGNAL, Tangerine Wings, and the TalOS webcomic.

Eric Davies is the creator of The Hero Machine series and app, and the standalone comic Normalville, Supertown.

MEET EVEN *MORE* GREAT GUESTS AT A2CAF!

Megan Kearney is best known for her writing on the Disney Princess series, and for her award-winning adaptation of Beauty and The Beast.

Britt Monday is the creator of Clutches, Red Velvet, and the Something with Knives webcomic.

Andrea Shockling created Subjective Line Weight, an ongoing comics series featuring women sharing the stories of our bodies we're not supposed to tell, as well as other autobio and nonfiction work like Mom Privilege and the all-ages World Book, debuting at A2CAF!

MEET MORE GREAT GUESTS AT A2CAF!

Time is running out to post about all the terrific guests who'll be coming to Artists Alley at A2CAF this weekend, so let's see how many more we can cram in with some quick hits!

Kevin Minor is the creator of Mega Awesome Notebook, No Rest for the Wicked, and A Day in the Life of Peanut and Bosco, and illustrator of Gronk: A Monster's Story.

Christine Kim and Albert Yoon are the creators of the webcomic Meet the Synths.

Phil McAndrew draws the Caveboy Dave series of graphic novels, wrote and drew Crying in Front of Your Dog and Other Stories, and contributes to MAD Magazine, The New Yorker, The Nib, Popula, and many other publications.

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It's with huge regret that we announce the cancelation of 2020's Ann Arbor Comics Arts Festival; and it's with hope for everyone's health and safety that we look ahead to 2021. Kids Read Comics and the Ann Arbor District Library remain committed to our mission of celebrating the joy of reading and creating comics.

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Reading Without Walls Challenge (Gene Luen Yang)

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Reading Without Walls Challenge (Gene Luen Yang)

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So this crazy thing happened this past January. The Library of Congress, Children's Book Council, and Every Child A Reader appointed me the fifth National Ambassador of Young People's Literature!

Every National Ambassador picks a platform. Mine is Reading Without Walls. I want every kid - every reader, really - to explore the world through books. Books have played a vital role in getting me outside of my comfort zone. I believe they can do the same for you.

As National Ambassador, I issue you a challenge! I challenge you to read without walls in one of three ways:

1. Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you.

2. Read a book about a topic you don't know much about.

3. Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun. This might be a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse, a picture book, or a hybrid book.

If you really want to go for the gold star, read a book that fits all three criteria!

When you finish, take a photo of you and the book (or just the book if you're shy) and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadingWithoutWalls. You'll inspire others to do the same!

If you are a teacher, librarian, or bookseller, you can challenge your students, patrons, and customers to read without walls, too! Check out what San Francisco's Live Oak School did this past school year!

Read without walls and see what happens. I bet it'll be something amazing!

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So this crazy thing happened this past January. The Library of Congress, Children's Book Council, and Every Child A Reader appointed me the fifth National Ambassador of Young People's Literature! Every National Ambassador picks a platform. Mine is Reading Without Walls. I want every kid -- every reader,

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Why Comics Belong in Schools (Gene Luen Yang)

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Why Comics Belong in Schools (Gene Luen Yang)

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Gene Luen Yang taught high school science for 17 years while moonlighting as a graphic novelist. Today, both art and education get celebrated in his work. Ten years after his book American Born Chinese became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award, the Library of Congress appointed Yang the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature - which, he says, "was one of the best days of my life."

Yang recently spoke with TED-Ed before heading to Comic-Con International in San Diego. Below, check out his recommended reading lists for kids, his thoughts on writing the Chinese Superman, and his advice for teachers on how to use graphic novels in schools.
What were you like as a kid?
I was pretty much a textbook nerd. I liked all the things that nerds are supposed to like. I liked computers; I started coding when I was in sixth grade. I liked comic books; I started collecting comics when I was in fifth grade. I liked to draw; I was always drawing in class. I liked comics, I didn't like sports. But there were definitely kids who liked both, and I think that artificial divide between athletic activity and nerdy activity is breaking down. I was not an awesome student. I don't think I was terrible, but I also wasn't great. There are certain subjects that I really liked, and I would pay attention during those subjects, and then the other subjects I'd have a hard time with.
When did you realize that you wanted to be a graphic novelist?
When I was really little, I wanted to be in animation - I wanted to be a Disney animator; that was my lifelong goal. And then after I started collecting comics in fifth grade, I slowly switched over. I think it solidified for me when I was in college and I took a summer-long animation class, and during that summer, I produced like two, three minutes of animation total. That's when I realized that animation is so labor-intensive that it's actually very difficult for one person to have control over an entire project. I mean, comics is really labor-intensive as well, but at least it's manageable enough that one person can do it. If you really want to, you can do the whole thing all on your own. So I switched over to wanting to do comics when I was in college. I started self-publishing comics, and then I got involved in a local community of cartoonists who'd hang out all the time, and we'd go to things together.

In the late '90s comics in America were just doing - the industry was not doing well. The conventions had very low attendance. Nowadays Comic-Con is crazy - it sold out in April. But back then, you could walk up day-of to buy tickets to go in, and then on Sundays, which was the last day of the convention, I remember it seemed like there were more exhibitors than there were attendees, it was just really low attendance, nobody was really interested in comics. People were predicting that the comic book industry was about to die. I don't know if you remember this, but Marvel Comics had to declare bankruptcy, and people were - some people - were expecting it to just go out of business completely, and if that happened, they were saying it would take out probably the comic shop system within America, because so many comic shops were reliant on Marvel Comics. It was very apocalyptic, and that's when I was entering comics. People were saying, "You know that comics is going to become this very niche thing in America?" I wasn't expecting to be able to make any money out of it. I remember going with my friends to comic book conventions and feel kind of depressed afterwards, but we decided that we'd keep doing comics, just because we liked it. We wanted to do it, because we liked it.

So I got a job as a teacher, and I was expecting back then that I would always have a full-time job, and I would just make comics on the side. Some people play golf to relax, I would make comics to relax.
What advice do you have for teachers who want to use graphic novels in a classroom?
There are lots of different ways that comic books and graphic novels can be incorporated into a classroom. The easiest way is to use them with reluctant readers. Comic books and graphic novels are really a gateway into just the habit of reading, and I know a lot of teachers have had success using comics with reluctant readers - just getting them into the habit of reading. I do think comics are worthy of study in and of themselves, though, as well.

Comics are also a great way of getting kids to think critically about the visual media that surrounds them. So unlike a lot of these other visual media out there - unlike film, and television, and animation - in comics, the images are static, so you can - in a comic book, past, present and future all sit side-by-side on a single page, and because of that, you can dwell on a moment as long as you want. And you can do that as a class, or you can do that as an individual reader. And I think it allows you, if you want, to think and read a little bit more critically than is maybe possible with film or animation or television. If a teacher knows what she's doing, I think she can use comics to teach visual literacy, to teach kids to be critical about the images that surround them. I think we have a tendency to always believe what we see; as a species I think that's true. We have a tendency to just believe what we see. And I think in today's world of sophisticated imagery, that doesn't always serve the student to do that. So comics can be a way of breaking that, of making kids think, not just about the words that they hear but also the images that they see.

As the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, I created Reading Without Walls to encourage kids to explore the world through books. I want them to read diversity, and I want them to read diversity in three very specific ways. Number one is I want them to read books about characters that look or live like them. And I especially want them to pick books with covers that feature characters of color. I think there's this really weird discussion within publishing right now about - I've had more than one author of color tell me that their publisher encouraged them not to put a character of color on their books, because they felt like it damage sales. So I want kids to pick books with characters that are of color on the covers.

Second, is I want them to pick books about topics that they might find intimidating. And then third is, I want them to pick books that are in formats that they don't normally read for fun. So if they normally only read chapter books, I want them to try graphic novels. If they normally only read graphic novels, I like them to give a chapter book or a book of verse a try.
Do you have an idea where graphic novels are going next?
It seems like pop culture is getting more and more nerdy, so the things that used to be really niche - when I was a kid, if you were a superhero fan, if you read superhero comics, you would just kind of hide it. There was no way you would advertise that. In my junior high, there's no way I would advertise that. And now, even the super popular kids are wearing Spiderman t-shirts and stuff. It seems like we're still on an upward swing with that kind of stuff. So in the broader pop cultural landscape, it seems like people are becoming more and more aware of superhero comics, at least. And also the fact that every librarian knows what a graphic novel is now. I don't think you could say that in the mid-'90s.

It also seems like comics are becoming more diverse in America - so for a really long time, comics in America were dominated by superheroes, and now there are just so many options out there. Memoir has become a real force in comics - Raina Telgemeier's stuff, I think she's probably the best-selling American cartoonist right now, which again, in the '90s, I just don't think she would've been able to predict. That trend towards diversity in every sense of the word, I think that is just going to continue as well.
What can you tell us about the latest Superman installment?
The diversity conversation is happening everywhere, and it's in superhero comics right now. Superheroes are just so American. They're created in America, they became popular in America. Now people all over the world are - you can find superhero fans anywhere in the world. But they still embody this very American ethos, and I think the diversity conversation as applied to superheroes is really about who can be American. And I think the reason there's this push for seeing heroes of every identity, period - is really, we kind of want to see a visual representation that anybody can be an American.

The Chinese Superman, in particular - that wasn't my idea, that was actually the idea of Jim Lee, who's one of the co-publishers at DC comics - he's kind of like my boss now; it's kind of crazy because when I was a teenager, I was reading his comics. He was a fan-favorite artist, and he was working for Marvel back then, and now he's the big cheese at DC, and he wanted to see an Asian superhero. So the Chinese Superman is not American; he's a Chinese citizen, he's not a Chinese-American. But what we want is to take the things in this deeply American genre and see how many of these values translate into another culture - see how much of this stuff is universal, and see how it translates into another culture.
Let's talk about the future of education and storytelling. What do you think we can expect from the future, as you see it?
First, I think that diversity - in every sense of the word - is going to be a big thing, and different people of different identities and different cultural backgrounds are going to get more and more of a voice - not just on the American stage, but on the global stage. Second, stories are also getting more diverse. I think what's happening in comics, with the genre diversity within comics, is happening within storytelling in general. We'll see more and more stories that defy genres, we're seeing genres break up into multiple sub-genres, and that's just going to continue to happen.

Within education, I think education is going to become more customized, so it'll become more individualized. Teachers will have the technologies to serve their students better as individuals, or as an entire class. And I think all that is really awesome. And as the writer of Chinese Superman, I do think that a lot of what we're going to see within the next two decades, at least, is going to be defined by that relationship between America and China. It's going to be interesting to see how that develops.
What advice would you give to students, especially those looking for creative ways to turn their life experiences into artistic mediums, as you have done with your graphic novels?
In a lot of ways, I feel very jealous of students today, because I think there are a lot of tools available to them that just weren't available to me and my generation. If I were just starting today, what I would do is I would make my comic and I would put it out as a web comic series, and I think that there are a lot of kids that are actually doing that right now, and a lot of high school kids are creating webcomics and putting it out there for the world to see. There are a lot of professional comic book artists now that started off in webcomics. Webcomics, when I was starting out, were not really anything - it didn't come around until a few years later. But I think the internet in general is just such an effective way for a creator to connect with an audience, and if I were starting off, I would take advantage of that.

In addition, when you're just starting off, it's really important to get in the habit of creation. The habit is almost more important than the work itself. I tell students who are interested in making anything creative to set up a time regularly to work on their creative work, and to make sure - to think of that time as sacred, to keep it sacred. And then I will say, just never to let perfection get in the way. If you are too obsessed with making things perfect, you'll never finish - and the feeling of finishing something is so important to have, it has to feel very familiar - finishing a project, seeing a project all the way through. Finishing is more important than perfection.
Love superheroes? Watch the Superhero Science TED-Ed Lesson series here >>

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Why comics belong in schools...and more ideas from graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang

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Gene Luen Yang taught high school science for 17 years while moonlighting as a graphic novelist. Today, both art and education get celebrated in his work. Ten years after his book American Born Chinese became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award, the Library of Congress appointed Yang the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature - which, he says, "was one of the best days of my life."

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Good Comics for Kids - A School Library Journal Blog

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What is a minicomic?

The word "minicomic" does not mean "small comic". The "mini" in minicomics is a reference to a relatively small print run, and also how much personal labor on the part of the artist and friends is involved. A professionally-printed comic with a print-run of 3000 that is 4" X 5" is not a minicomic. A photocopied comic with a hand-printed cover that's been folded and stapled by the artist his or herself and that is 8.5" X 11" is a minicomic.

Why make minicomics?

The first and most important reason to make minicomics is that comics are essentially a form of printed multiple. That means, the comic is the printed thing of which there are many, NOT the original drawn page. A comic, in some ways, is not a comic until it is printed. Everything you do on your original art needs to be done with the printed final comic in mind. In this way, comics are similar to etchings or silkscreens. The original is the print, not the plate or screen you print it from. With that in mind, in order to start to understand how your comics look and read to an outside reader, you must get distance on the work, and you must see it in its intended form, and that means you have to print it. And, you need to print it in book form so you can see how the pages look juxtaposed to each other, and feel what it's like to turn your pages. Plus which, the first time you see your comics in a book form, you'll be shocked, and amazed, and proud. It's a great thing to do.

Secondly, with a minicomic, you have your work in a neat package that you can give to editors as a portfolio (they will always want to see your work in mutiple-page sections, not just pinups in your sketchbook), to artists you admire for possible feedback (sometimes they'll write you back) or just to let them know you like their work, and to friends, family, and fellow cartoonists. You can also sell them to people you know or, sometimes, through your local comics or record store. Ask if they'll do consignment. It's essential, as a cartoonist, to get people to be aware of you and your work. That's how you eventually get published by someone other than yourself.

What should you put into your minicomics?

That part is very much up to you. You can put a short story or several in there, drawings and pin-ups, or a serialized part of a longer story. You can even put prose stories, essays, or pictures of yourself in there. Whatever. However, it bears remembering that most people who get your comic may only ever get one issue. That's just how it often works out. If you put a serialized part of your magnum opus in there, your readers may have no idea what's going on, and thus not be interested in it. Just keep that in mind. Also, anthology editors who see a short story they like in the mini you give them might just offer to reprint it in their book. You never know, it could happen!

Basic formats

Minicomics can be any size, shape, number of pages, and format you want, limited by a few factors: Money, paper size, time, paper shape, and money.

Let's get to basics first: any piece of paper, any size and shape, obviously, has two sides. Grab a sheet of scrap paper and try this: if you fold it in half, it will have...let's say it all together...
FOUR sides. And if we fold it a second time? Count them if need be.

Eight sides. You can even fold it a third time, though this is pretty much the limit. Three folds will create...

Sixteen sides. You can see already how the folded paper looks something like a booklet. You can also see how the size of the paper you originally folded will be reflected in the final shape and size of your booklet-to-be.

If you fold standard photocopy paper (in the USA, we're talking 8.5" X 11") in half the long way, you get a booklet of...

5.5" x 8.5". This is the most common and cheapest format for a minicomic, and it's called "DIGEST SIZE" (Cheapest because the paper is cheap and photocopies on it are usually the cheapest available at any copy place). If you fold it again the long way, you get a booklet that's...

5.5" X 4.25". This is possibly the second most common size, and it's called "MINICOMIC SIZE" Take note that for this book to open and read, you will have to trim one edge after you staple it. And the final fold, the long way, will create a tiny book that's

2.25" X 4.5". This is called "MICRO SIZE". In this format, you have to cut two edges off after it's stapled.

Remember...

Without getting too monotonous about it, keep in mind that beginning with a different size sheet of paper will create different size minicomics. If your original paper size was "legal size" (which is 8.5″ x 14″), the folded-once-the-long-way version would be 8.5″ x 7″, and the folded-once-the-long-way version of "tabloid size" paper, which is 11″ X 17″ would be 8.5″ X 11″. And so on.

Another consideration:

All that's well and good, but what if you take your standard office-size photocopy paper (8.5″ X 11″), and fold it the SHORT way first? Here's what you get:

It's 4.25″ X 11″. It could be great for a comic about tall buildings, or one bound calendar-style of daily comic strips. Then what if you fold it again, this time the long way?

You get a book that's the exact same size as "minicomic size" (above). but ITS "SPINE" IS ON THE SHORT SIDE, which makes it a horizontal book.

Other Formats

Format doesn't stop there. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Your minicomic can be folded up like an accordian or a roadmap and it's still a minicomic.

Now let's start talking about YOUR minicomic, instead of in generalities.

Keeping in mind the possibilities discussed above, the first thing you have to do when you are considering making a minicomic is decide what size and shape it will be. You can do this one of two ways:

Option 1:

Look at the work you want to print, and decide what size and shape of book will fit it best.
To do this, you should measure the pages you want to publish, and figure out what shape and size page would fit it best. Are your pages close to a 2 x 3 proportion, like traditional American comics pages? Then you may want to stick with the standard "digest size" mini. It's a bit tall and skinny, like your art. Are your pages more squarish, like European comics pages? In that case, a legal-size folded in half or maybe a "minicomics size" book would fit better, since they are more square-shaped. Once you know your ideal mini format, use your proportion wheel to figure out how much to reduce your pages and continue from there (see below, step 2 for more on that).

Option 2:

Decide on a shape and size for your mini and draw new work to fit.
This is the best choice if you want to do a mini in an unusual format, or a really small one, or something. Your pages that you draw at 10" x 15" won't look good reprinted in a "micro size" mini.
To do this, figure out the page size of your mini by making a mock-up blank book to figure out the format, then measure the pages to see what your final size should be. then use your proportion wheel to size those measurements up 125% - 200% (see step 2), and draw the comics at that size.

The proportion wheel is a tool used to figure out how much bigger you need to draw art, or how much smaller you have to make art to print it. It has three main parts.

You can set a proportion wheel in one of two ways.

1) You know the final print size, but not the original size.

Let's use a print size of 4″ x 5″ as an example.
Find one of the final dimensions on the inner ring. Say 5″. Set the number in the window to the proportion you want to use (in the picture, it's set to 150-that's 150%)
Match up the number on the inner ring with the number on the outer ring to find 5" at 150%. It's 7.5″.

So that's one of the dimensions. Now, without moving the rings (because both dimensions are being sized up 150%), find the other dimension on the inner ring (4″) and then match it up with the outer ring. It matches up to 6″. so you need to draw your original at 6″ x 7.5″. If you're metric, the same principle holds, of course.

2) You know what size your art is, and what size the final print size is, but you don't know the reduction.

For example, let's say the original art is 10″ x 15″ (a standard size to draw comics originals) and the final print size is to be 4.75″ x 7.75″ (which is the size of the print area in a digest-size minicomic).

In this method, you line up the length of the original art (on the outer ring) with the length of the print size (on the inner wheel) and look in the window to see what number is at the pointer.

Then, you do the same again, but with the width of the original, and the width of the print size.

Why do you do this twice? Well, You saw that you came up with two different numbers. If the art and the printed page are not exactly the same proportion (and they rarely are) you will get different numbers for the length and the width proportion. You have to choose the smaller of the two.

Why is that? If you use the bigger proportion, so your art turns out bigger, it will run off the edges of the page when printed. Try it, you'll see. So that means that for this exercise, you should reduce your art at 47%.

A few other considerations:

Remember that photocopiers can't copy all the way to the edge of a page. They always leave some white space. The "print size" of a standard digest size mini, therefore, is not the full size of the booklet (8.5: x 5.5″), but is at least 3/8 of an inch smaller on all sides. In other words, your print size for a digest mini would be, at the maximum, 7.75″ x 4.75″ You can go smaller, but you can't go bigger, because your art won't fit on the page.

If you want to use a "bleed", i.e., images that run off the edge of the page, you will have to hand-trim your mini after you've bound it, which is a lot of work.

OK, so now you know what shape your mini will be, and what will go in it, either a collection of finished work or all new work. Now you need to decide HOW MUCH work you'll put in there.

Remember:

If you are using the DIGEST format, meaning paper folded once, no matter what size it is, you will have to fill pages in multiples of four, since each sheet of paper folded in half has four pages.

If you are using the MINICOMIC format, you will have pages in multiples of eight.

If you are using the MICRO format, you will have pages in multiples of 16.

Make a list of what you want to put in your comic, and count them to make sure you have the right number. Add and subtract pages until it comes out right. Make sure you are adding a front cover (FC), back cover (BC), inside front cover (IFC), and inside back cover (IBC) into your page count.

Make sure you are planning to print an indicia of some kind. An indicia is the basic legal and personal information you want to have in your book. At the minimum, you want your email address and a copyright notice of some kind. You might also have your street address, information about your stories, thank yous, whatever. This information is commonly found on the IFC or BC.

Keep in mind contents pages, empty pages, title pages, ads, or anything else you might want to add.

Now look at your list and think about order. Remember some basics about the reading experience: in the Western tradition, people expect to start new stories on a right-hand page (also known as "recto"), which are always odd-numbered, and end them on a left hand page (AKA "verso"), which are always even-numbered. If you can respect that tradition, your readers will thank you. (Obviously, that expectation is reversed in Asian tradition, and in any culture where books are read by opening the left edge of the book.)

Work out the final order of stories (it will probably take a few tries of re-ordering them), and you're ready to go.

Now that you've made the big decisions about shape, size, and content, it's time to think about presentation. It goes without saying (but it's not a bad idea to say it anyway) that the cover is the part of your book people will see first. If your cover does not attract their attention, your art on the inside will not have a chance to do so...your potential reader will be long gone.

There are an incredible number of options available to you to make your mini stand out from the crowd. They are limited only by your imagination, budget, and the time available. But these are not idle concerns. If you design a cover that takes you 20 minutes to prepare, you are going to get very tired of putting your books together, very fast. As a result, you may end up making only a few copies of your mini, when you might have intended to make a huge pile. Similarly, if you design a cover that involves expensive materials, you may not be able to afford to make many of them, or you may need to charge so much money for them that they're hard to sell, or you may find it difficult to make yourself give them away. You have to strike a balance between these factors.

Above are some examples of creative minicomics design.

In his 24-hour comic, "Puppy", Jensen used two simple ways to decorate the cover for Puppy. First, he photocopied a drawing of a puppy onto a different paper stock, and glued it on his cover, then he used a kind of Asian semi-transparent rice paper as an over-cover. Bishakh Som also used an overlay to jazz up his cover for his mini comic "Angel". He photocopied the swooping angel in the image onto colored vellum (tracing paper), and the rest of the image onto plain white paper. When you lift the outer, orange cover, the angel disappears, implying that it exists in another level of reality.

In "Dumb Cluck" by John Kerschbaum, the cover is very simple. It's blank except for a round hole punched out so that the little illustration underneath can peek out. The back cover was given the same treatment for balance. Hole punchers like the one Kerschbaum used come in different sizes and shapes and can be found in craft stores.

The Tompkinses created their cover for "And I Saw Edgar Allen Poe" by airbrushing or spray-painting a stencil of a raven over the cover, which is a sheet of opaque fancy paper.
In "The Origami Pet" by Dan Moynihan The words of the title were first hand drawn and colored. Later Moynihan scanned that art and inkjet-printed it on colored card stock. After binding the minicomic together, to add onto the origami theme, a strip of Japanese origami paper was glued onto the book's spine which also conceals the staples, giving the book a more professional look.

Photocopying is an art, not a science. However, there are a few unyielding truths about it. First of all, the cheapest copies are black and white. They call it that, "black and white" for a reason, and that reason is that there is no gray. There are black plastic bits melted onto white paper, and that's it. If you try to copy lovely subtle washes, they will get blotchy and washed out, or overly dark, because the machine is struggling to decide whether a given area is closer to black or white. Which is the second hard truth about photocopying. Because of that need to decide whether an area is black or white, copies always go lighter in the light areas and darker in the dark areas. In other words, stay away from tone: washes, pencil, even screen tones (zipatone) can get muddy and messed up, especially as you copy your copies and get several generations from your original. The blotchy exaggerations that still look OK in the first generation will get exaggerated again in the second generation, and even more so in the third. Train yourself to think and DRAW FOR REPRODUCTION. Comics are not the drawings you make in your sketchbook or even the original pages you slave over. They are the reproductions you distribute for people to read. That's what you're working for, so keep it in mind.

Also remember that all photocopiers are not created equal, and, even if they were, they're sure not equal once a bunch of idiots in a copy store get a hold of them. MOVE AROUND the copy store, try the different machines, and use the best one, even if you have to wait for it. Self-serve machines are the cheapest, but they are also the most messed up, so you're sure to find some really bad ones. If you need help, Ask one of the nice workers to teach you how to make double sided copies . Ask them to demonstrate if you are still confused. Bring more money than you need because you will screw up somehow.

You can pay the people behind the counter to do your copies for you, but remember that you're paying a surcharge for that, and that they may not understand what you want them to do, or they may just be dumb, and so you may have to fight with them about it if they screw up the job (happens more than you'd think). Mostly, at this stage you will want to make the copes yourself, so you have control over how the masters come out. But when it comes to reproducing the whole book (step 8 below), if you can afford it, it's the easiest and most relaxing way to make comics.

And on that note, if you have access to a public photocopier (at your office or school) USE IT! I'm not going to be the one to tell you to steal copies, but making minis can be quite expensive, so if you happen to have a friend who has a friend...

I cannot say strongly enough: this is a VITAL step. You MUST make a mockup of your minicomic if you don't want to make a screw-up.

A mockup is a deceptively simple thing. Start with your list from Step 3. Let's say that you've decided to make a 20-page digest-sized minicomic, including 16 pages of comics, a FC, a BC, a blank IFC, and the indicia on the IBC.

20 pages in a digest-sized mini...how many sheets is that? There are four sides to each folded-once sheet, so that makes five sheets.

Take five sheets of scrap paper, fold them in half the long way, and you've got the basis of your mockup.

The next step is to refer to your list once again and to label each of the pages in a bold, visible way with both page number and what goes on that page. Make sure that you underline the "6" and the "9", for accurate future ID, since they are inverted versions of the same shape. Also underline any number that could be read the same way upside down, like the "1" and the "8". Make sure your notation system is something you'll understand after you put this away and come back to it. That's it! (see right)

Using the mockup is a bit more complicated. first, you unfold it, and lay it flat. Pick up the top sheet of paper, what was the center of the book. Notice that is has pages 10 and 11 written on top.

Now, flip just the top sheet over. Pages 9 and 12 are next to each other.

It's very confusing, really almost impossible in all but the simplest books, to try to figure out these juxtapositions without the help of a mockup. particularly if you're making a comic that requires more than one fold. Above you can see what an 8-page mini-sized imposition guide looks like.

You can see that the pages aren't even all facing the same direction.

Traditional paste-up

What you'll need: your imposition guide, your photocopied-to-size artwork, as many clean sheets of paper as you planned for your minicomic (and, of course, the same size as you planned), a black pen or marker, white-out, scissors, and tape or paste. A ruler wouldn't hurt, either.

First of all, set your imposition guide out in front of you, open it to the center, and get a clean sheet of paper. Following the numbering on the imposition guide, carefully trim and neatly paste or tape down the corresponding pages of your artwork.

Then, flip the master page over and also flip the imposition guide page over, and paste the pages of your art that correspond to that side of your imposition guide onto your master copy. Use a ruler, keep it neat.

Proceed thus through your entire imposition guide, so that when you finish, you have a stack of pasted-up master copies that correspond exactly to the order you figured out with the imposition guide. Gently fold the master sheets (without creasing them) and page through the "book", double and triple-checking that everything is in the right order. THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST PLACES WHERE MISTAKES HAPPEN. CHECK THREE TIMES!

Now, go through the master copy, whiteout blobs and marks, and blacken-in grayish bits. Remember that everything that is on these pages will be on your final mini. Be picky about it.

"Paste-up" on the computer

If you know how to use InDesign, or Photoshop (or whatever) and have access to a good scanner and printer, you can "paste up" your master copy on the computer. Basically it's the exact same process; you still need an imposition guide on paper in front of you, you just don't need to cut and paste physically.

Note: make sure your scans are good enough for print. they should be at least 600 dpi for grayscale, and 1200 dpi for linework (bitmap). If you want to use graytones, try to stick to three values at the most (i.e 30% , 60% and 90%), since a photocopier will exaggerate them, making darks darker and lights lighter.

You are not immune from triple-checking just because you are using a computer. Just the opposite, probably. Print everything out using high-res settings, stack it like the imposition guide, and gently fold it into "book" shape, without creasing the pages. flip through it and make sure it all looks OK. If you like, you can use paper clips to remind you which sides should be back to back.

Printing from the master

You can either print your mini directly from this copy, or you can make a two-sided photocopy of each page and use that. The advantage of the first choice is that your final mini will be one generation closer to your original art, and the disadvantage is that it's more delicate, which means you can't use the automatic paper handler on the photocopier (which means more opportunity for messing up the copy order and orientation). The advantage of the second method is that you can run that master through the automatic paper handler in the photocopier, and let it do the double-sided thing for you, and collating, too. If you use the second method, be sure to check for shadows or dark lines on the second-generation master made by the edges of the pasted-up pages, and cover them up with whiteout.

Computer paste-up people have the same question as for the Olde Fashioned paste-up people, above. Either make copies directly from the prints you made, or make one set of double-sided photocopies, and use those as the master.

Last chance before you spend the big money to check your master!!

Step 8: Photocopy your mini

Refer back to Step 5 for notes about photocopying, but remember this also:

The biggest problem you will run into at this stage is copying the wrong pages onto each other, or in the wrong orientation to each other (i.e. one is upside down). Now is not the time to quit checking your work! Check and triple-check that you have the right pages backed with the right pages, the right way around. Use your imposition guide to check the copies against.

When you get your copies, often they will be in separate stacks of all the same pages, instead of collated sets. Here is a method for collating in an organized manner.

1. First, arrange the pages into piles that form an assembly line. Clear the space of a table or a clean spot on the floor for this. Lay out your imposition guide in the same way to make sure they are all right side up and in the right order. Your center page should be on the right, center spread of pages facing up, then the next page out, and so on.

2. Place the stack of covers on the right of the order.

3. Pick up a center page, lay it on the next page, and pick one of those up, and then the next, until you pick up a cover on the bottom of your little pile.

4. Stack the complete pile horizontally and then stack the next one vertically to keep them separated and make picking up the piles for folding and binding easier.

OK, OK, you all know how to fold paper. But there are better and worse ways to do it, and if you want a professional-looking publication, it's wise to use good folding technique. It's also faster and easier.

First off, you should get yourself a bone folder. It's a simple, inexpensive tool that will save your little fingers a lot of pain and misery. And yes, it is really made of bone. You vegans can get a plastic version, though.

Bone Folder

Step 1:
Hold your paper or stack of papers so that the inside is upwards and the future spine is facing you. Pinch it on both sides and bend the closer edge upward.

Step 2:
With your index fingers on top and your other fingers inside the book, fold the near edge over the far edge. DO NOT CREASE IT YET. Looking down on the fore edge (the part where the book will open, top of picture 2), line up the corners as accurately as possible.

Step 3:
Using your non-dominant hand (I'm a rightie, so it's my left hand) press down on the fore edge and clamp it in place, so the corners can't move out of alignment. Then, use the tip of your bone folder (or your finger, or a (closed) pen), put it on the rolled paper, and pull it towards you, drawing down the center of the fold, and crease just that center point.

Step 4:
Using the edge of your bone folder-and now is when you start to be really happy that you got one-put it down in that little crease in the center, and draw it out towards the corner, as well as towards you, in a sweeping motion. Remember to keep your other hand clamped down hard on the paper so it doesn't shift.

Step 5:
Starting from the center again, crease the other side with the same kind of sweeping out-and-down motion. Voila! perfect fold.

One more thing:

If you are going to fold the paper again, there is another bone-folder trick that will come in handy.

When you are at the "sweeping" stage, go ahead and crease the corner where the pages are open, but stop your motion when you're working in the other direction before you get to to the corner where you are folding the already-folded edge. When you get there, you'll see that the paper has a tendency to want to bunch up there, and wrinkle, and mess up your nice alignment (this is especially true when you're doing a third fold). So. Put the point of your bone folder just inside the corner, press it gently into the crease, and draw it out towards you. This will help straighten out the wrinkles.

Now proceed with creasing the spine.

If the spine still doesn't want to straighten out, before you crease it all the way you can pull it out a little and crease a little and then pull it out again, working it into the fold bit by bit. With just one sheet folded twice, or thin paper, you may not need to use this technique, but it's very useful as the stack gets thicker.

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The word "minicomic" does not mean "small comic". The "mini" in minicomics is a reference to a relatively small print run, and also how much personal labor on the part of the artist and friends is involved. A professionally-printed comic with a print-run of 3000 that is 4" X 5" is not a minicomic.

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Imagine the Incredible Hulk fell in a swamp and started sprouting plants, and you've got the perfect image of Gogor, the title character in the comic written, illustrated, colored, and lettered by Ken Garing. However, instead of alternating between a mild-mannered...

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Graphic Novels in the Library (Diamond) 

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Graphic Novels in the Library (Diamond) 

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In this section of the Bookshelf, you will find informative articles on how to add Graphic Novels to your collections as well as how those and similar items can provide librarians with a valuable and effective tool for teaching a broad range of important skills.

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In this section of the Bookshelf, you will find informative articles on how to add Graphic Novels to your collections as well as how those and similar items can provide librarians with a valuable and effective tool for teaching a broad range of important skills.

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Understanding and Exploring the Middle Grade Graphic Novel: Using Graphic Novels in your Classroom, from created by  Dr. Katie Monnin for First Second 

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Understanding and Exploring the Middle Grade Graphic Novel: Using Graphic Novels in your Classroom, from created by  Dr. Katie Monnin for First Second 

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A Guide to Using Graphic Novels With Children and Teens (Scholastic)

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A Guide to Using Graphic Novels With Children and Teens (Scholastic)

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Students absolutely love graphic novels, which makes it all the more important to incorporate them into your current curriculum. With graphic novels, you'll not only engage your reluctant readers and help build important reading skills, but you'll provide advanced readers with a wonderful opportunity to think critically about a new form of storytelling-one that combines the most important elements of traditional novels, picture books, poetry, and even film in new and captivating ways!

When building graphic novels into your current curriculum, there are a few things you should keep in mind. This guide to teaching graphic novels is a wonderful resource if you're just getting started and will help you choose the best titles to introduce in your classroom. Whether you're hoping to improve your students' reading development, build vocabulary, or use graphic novels across subjects, here are four tips to make adding graphic novels to your teaching toolbox even more effective.

When introducing graphic novels to your students for the first time, encourage readers to focus on the format and how all the visual elements come together to help tell the story. They should consider the size and shape of the panels and how they fit together; how dialogue is used and shared; sound effects and how they're layered through the story; and of course, the overall visual style of the graphic novel. Is the art realistic? How does the illustrator use color to show emotion?

Just like their literary cousins, graphic novels often feature the same important themes other traditional works of literature employ. Graphic novels are also a great lead-in or follow-up to teaching classics and contemporary novels, especially for students who have trouble engaging with more traditional forms of literature. For example, I Survived and The Baby-Sitters Club series are available in graphic novel format as a compliment to their longform editions. Other titles like by Raina Telgemeier captivate young readers by exploring themes of belonging and fitting in-themes made popular by contemporary classics like Wonder and Fast Break.

The old writing adage, "Show, don't tell," is definitely on display in graphic novels-that's why series like Dog Man and The Bad Guys are such great books to read before students dive into creative writing projects. Whether you ask students to craft new endings for their favorite graphic novels or develop new characters or dialogue for existing stories they love, graphic novels are a great way to fuel your students' creative writing instincts.

For younger readers, graphic novels are perfect for helping students transition from picture books to chapter books. They teach important reading skills and give students a wonderful opportunity to reflect on common literary themes and empathize with characters. Graphic novels also shouldn't be limited to English and language arts. Science, social studies, and art instruction are areas where graphic novels can help introduce students to new subject matter and provide an introduction to important lessons from history, STEM, and more!

Adored by students of all ages, graphic novels are a tool every teacher should use to help develop the next generation of readers. They not only motivate students to read, they support learning in your classroom and help your students develop the skills they need to read and comprehend even more challenging works of literature.

Shop the best graphic novels for your classroom library below! You can shop all graphic novels and much more at The Teacher Store.

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How to Use Graphic Novels In Your Curriculum | Scholastic

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By adding graphic novels to your teaching toolbox, youÃ¢ ll help your students develop important reading and critical-thinking skills.

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How to Read Comics with Kids (Toon Books)

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How to Read Comics with Kids (Toon Books)

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"Comics are a gateway drug to literacy."
--Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus and TOON Books Series Advisor

Kids LOVE comics. The details in the pictures make them want to read the words. Comics beg for repeated readings and let both emerging and reluctant readers enjoy stories with a rich vocabulary. TOON Books, the first high-quality comics designed for children ages four and up, are vetted by educators and leveled to be just right for beginning readers. Pick up a Level One, Level Two, or Level Three book today. Here are the top ten tips for reading comics with kids...

There are many comics and graphic novels out there, but not all are appropriate for every age. Look for titles made especially for children. It's best to choose a story that fits the child's age and interests.

TIP: The TOON Books collection is designed for the beginning or early reader.

Keep your fingertip below the character that is speaking, so kids can follow along with the story even if they can't yet read the words.

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Tips for Mom & Dad | TOON Books - Just for Kids

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"Comics are a gateway drug to literacy." --Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus and TOON Books Series Advisor Kids LOVE comics. The details in the pictures make them want to read the words. Comics beg for repeated readings and let both emerging and reluctant readers enjoy stories with a rich vocabulary.

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Welcome to the TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB, where the graphic novels listed are perfect for everyone of ALL AGES! Within in this section we have the fantastic all-ages series KORGI by Christian Slade, JOHNNY BOO by James Kochalka, and DRAGON PUNCHER by James Kochalka; as well as OKIE DOKIE DONUTS, PIRATE PENGUIN VS. NINJA CHICKEN, UPSIDE DOWN: A VAMPIRE'S TALE, MONSTER ON THE HILL, MADDY KETTLE and more.

by Frédéric Maupomé and Dawid

"Skill, insight, and grace... [make] Supers look, read, and feel more like literature than your average superhero comic... it's both promising and intriguing." - School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids

"A great adventure that will delight young and old alike." - Bande à ...

by Rob Harrell

An ALA Notable Children's Book!
One of YALSA's Great Graphic Novels for Teens!
One of YALSA's Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers!
Featured on ALSC's Graphic Novel Core Reading List (Grades 3-5)!

"Really fun, goofy, extremely silly fantasy for readers of all ages, crying out for reviewers and ...

by Eric Orchard

Nominated for the Joe Shuster Award!
A Junior Library Guild selection!

"Maddy Kettle... looks fantastic: every panel exudes quirky, gorgeous atmosphere. " -- Glen Weldon, NPR

"Quirky, beautifully illustrated, and frankly looks like it's going to be an instant classic. Don't miss it." -- ...

by Bobby Curnow and Brenda Hickey

Praise for Bobby Curnow & Brenda Hickey:
"A modern myth that evokes the agelessness of the best folktales but is a completely new invention." - Newsarama
"Hickey's artwork is outstanding." - Comic Wow!
"Depth of characters and story are what really drive this book to be one of ...

by Christian Slade

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Christian Slade's heartwarming Korgi series!

Korgi: Short Tails is a 48-page comic book collecting all seven Korgi stories from Free Comic Book Day, together with a brand-new adventure called "Cloud Cat." A robot loses its head, finger-puppets battle, a ...

$4.99 (US)

ISBN UPC 827714013139 - Diamond: MAY170531 (regular cover), MAY170532 (variant cover)

by James Kochalka

Johnny Boo zooms to the moon on a star-powered skateboard, where he meets a spunky little girl ghost named Susie Boom. She has BOOM power, which is pretty darn loud. Luckily, the moon has ice cream. But oh no! It also has an ice cream monster, just like back on Earth. This book fulfills the ...

by James Kochalka

Winner of the Eisner Award - Best Publication for Early Readers!
Featured on the 2019 Texas Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List!

"Fun for kids of all ages. It's AWESOME!" - DJ Lance Rock, host of Nick Jr's Yo Gabba Gabba!

"Perfect for beginning readers." - Publishers ...

by James Kochalka

Nominated for the Eisner Award!
Now in a new edition, with a new cover!

"Kochalka's work makes me feel like I did when I was six years old. He brings the joy back to comics." -- Frank Miller, creator of Sin City, 300, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

"Oh, lord, did Pinky & Stinky make me ...

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Welcome to the TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB, where the graphic novels listed are perfect for everyone of ALL AGES! Within in this section we have the fantastic all-ages series KORGI by Christian Slade, JOHNNY BOO by James Kochalka, and DRAGON PUNCHER by James Kochalka; as well as OKIE DOKIE DONUTS, PIRATE PENGUIN VS.

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Comics Are Picture Books: A (Graphic) Novel Ideaby Elisa and Patrick Gall (Horn Book)

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Comics Are Picture Books: A (Graphic) Novel Ideaby Elisa and Patrick Gall (Horn Book)

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Comic books are everywhere. Customers are purchasing them, readers of all ages are devouring them, teachers are using more and more of them in their classrooms, and they're winning awards like crazy. Some people have applauded recent book-award committees' open-mindedness to the comics format, while others remain conflicted. The recurrent question of whether ALA should sponsor a graphic novel award has taken up energies and attentions, with extra considerations to the Caldecott criteria and how a picture book is defined. Many claim that comic books and picture books have strong differences at their cores, and that the kidlit world needs to keep the two separate in order to protect and uphold that which distinguishes each from the other. We don't see it this way. We believe that comic books and graphic novels (which we'll refer to as "comics" from here on out) are picture books, and that there are many types of picture books, from those for the earliest readers to those intended for young adults and beyond.

The Caldecott criteria define a children's picture book in part as "one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience." In Children's Picturebooks: The Art of Visual Storytelling, Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles write that a picture book is "defined by its particular use of sequential imagery, usually in tandem with a small number of words, to convey meaning." According to comics theorist Scott McCloud (inspired by the work of comics legend Will Eisner), comics have a similar definition: they are "sequential art." Definitions aside, picture books (including comics) share characteristics: they use the momentum of the page-turn, they have moments where text and image are interdependent (if there is text at all), and they afford readers the opportunity to construct meaning when words and images clash.

Picture books (including comics) come in various sizes, genres, styles, page lengths, color palettes, and intended audience age ranges. A single title can fall into multiple categories. Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant's Geisel-winning You Are (Not) Small is both a picture book and an easy reader in the same way that Eleanor Davis's Stinky, which was a Geisel honor book and an Eisner Award nominee, is both an easy reader and a comic. A book's nominal literary format doesn't limit its ability to succeed in another.

Picture books (including comics) are worthy of serious analysis. Whether they're full-fledged graphic novels or thirty-two-pagers, whether they're for teens or toddlers, rendered digitally or hand drawn, we evaluate comics using the same questions we ask when critiquing all picture books. We don't ignore the pictures or read the text in a vacuum. We look at the styles used by the artists and question if they feel appropriate to the stories' themes. We consider how each book does its job given its audience, genre, and format.

And so it surprises us when picture book-loving colleagues say that reading comics feels like foreign territory. We've thought long and hard about what conventions might feel exclusive to comics-and perhaps intimidating to picture book traditionalists - and have arrived at two: paneled layouts and visual text features (the latter including word balloons, thought bubbles, and the like). By spotlighting how these conventions are used successfully in a variety of books (including true-blue comics and picture books not classified as such), we hope to show that through close reading they can be recognized and understood by even the most reluctant comics reader.

Paneled Layouts

A panel often represents one moment in time, defined by a border. The sizes, shapes, and relationship of panels within a page and the relationship of that page to what came before and comes after are all part of layout. Panels can guide the reader through a story so subtly that they go unnoticed, while others are intended to be seen, emphasizing setting, characterization, and more. To illustrate this point, we will highlight compelling panel use in three picture books: a comic, a wordless picture book, and an easy reader.

In Nadja Spiegelman and Sergio García Sánchez's comic, Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure, innovative page layouts inform readers about the characters' roundabout paths, the city, and its subway. In a scene featuring narrow vertical panels running the length of the page, the two main characters, en route to the Empire State Building, hold on to the tall, skinny gutters as if they were subway poles. In moments of the story when the characters are in the midst of the chaos of New York City, time and movement are not expressed through numerous panels or page-turns; instead, the story advances via multiple images of the same characters thinking, talking, and moving about within one double-page spread. This complex, winding layout reinforces the kinetic energy of the setting as well as the characters' experience of being overwhelmed by it.

A mixture of panels and full-page illustrations are used in JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith's wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers. As a child picks wildflowers, shares them with others, and brings color to a black-and-white urban landscape, information is relayed through the ebb and flow of color between panels. This is especially effective in a scene featuring three panels stacked from top-to-bottom across a page. A distant house in the middle of the center panel (peach-colored, it is the first use of color on a building) cues readers that more color will be forthcoming after new flowers are picked; predictions are confirmed in the bottom frame by a sidewalk speckled with blues, reds, and oranges. The use of many panels within a single page allows for subtle shifts in color to be recognized immediately, as images can be compared simultaneously. In this instance, the paneled layout focuses readers' attentions on a shift that might have gone unseen over the course of several page-turns.

In Mo Willems's Elephant & Piggie easy readers, whole pages function the way panels in a comic do. In I Will Take a Nap!, for example, the page-turns and gutters imply passage of time in an immediately connected sequence. In a scene in which Piggie reveals to Gerald that the two are actually in a dream ("if you are not napping, how can I be floating?"), her statement - divided between two connected word balloons - crosses the gutter, bridging the gap between two separate moments as she begins floating away. Because the size of the pages is consistent, the passage of time between pages can be intuitively understood. This predictable, linear, left-to-right reading experience is akin to reading a newspaper comic strip, and it frames the brisk pace and page-turning dynamic that emergent readers crave.

Visual Text Features

Many think of visual text features - including word balloons, captions, thought bubbles, and sound effects - as the meat and potatoes of comics. Visual text features can elevate dialogue and establish atmosphere - pulling readers further into the narrative. The following three books - a young adult comic, a nonfiction picture book, and a traditional picture story book - include visual text features that achieve this effect.

In the YA comic March: Book Two by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, word balloons and sound effects don't merely communicate what is said or overheard; they also enhance meaning through their physicality. In moments of duress, word balloons become buzz saw-edged, while cold dismissals received by civil rights workers appear frozen over, like icicles. When Aretha Franklin sings "America" during the 2009 presidential inauguration, the lyrics dominate the double-page spread, contained within curvy, robust, heavy-lined word balloons that convey her emotive performance. Powell runs the "BRRRIIINNNNG" of a ringing telephone and the "VRROOMM" of a speeding pickup truck off the page, representing sounds that carry. When fire hoses are used against civil rights protesters, it is not the streams of water or the protesters that are reflected in Bull Connor's glasses; it is letters in the sound ("FFSSHHHHHHHH...") of the water. The sound effect no longer just supports the action; instead, it is an integral part of the action. How a sound effect is illustrated can carry as much meaning as the letters or words chosen to express the sound.

Borderless word balloons, with color-coded stems connecting text to each character, carry moments of dialogue in Mara Rockliff and Iacopo Bruno's nonfiction picture book, Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery That Baffled All of France. The absence of attributives (such as "he said" and "she said") throughout the book allows for seamless transitions between conversation and exposition in the true tale of how the scientific method was used to debunk Dr. Franz Mesmer's pseudoscience. On a twisting and turning banner that weaves through a double-page spread, behind a character's leg and out over a bridge, the murmurings of a crowd are featured ("HA HA HA MESMER HA HA HA BZZ BZZ BZZ"); part of the banner is blocked, evoking moments when one hears only bits and pieces of what is being said in a large group. When Franklin's "blind"-test methodology is explained, the process is described within labels on old-timey medicinal jars and tubes. This presentation not only communicates the facts but also adds context and brings the historic setting to life.

In Audrey Vernick and Matthew Cordell's picture book, First Grade Dropout, thought bubbles house the young protagonist's memories, including the embarrassing moment when he accidentally called his teacher "Mommy." While these memories are communicated mostly through pictures (and are sometimes enhanced by word balloons and sound effects of their own), the present-tense narration occurs in the form of traditional expository text. This approach clearly separates past and present, and it allows readers to interpret all that the boy remembers, thinks, and does. When a chorus of obtrusive "HA! HA! HA!"s spread across the page in multiple colors and sizes, the sound effects reinforce the boy's inescapable shame. The "HA!"s break free from their thought-bubble boundary: the boy's feelings of humiliation cannot be contained. Here, visual text features provide added insight into the character's state of mind.

Comics might be where paneled layouts and visual text features are most commonly found, but these features are not unique to comics. The conventions (and definitions) of picture books and comics overlap greatly because they are part of the same whole. That's why it is hard for us to separate comics from the rest of the picture book world. As Charlotte Zolotow wrote in the March/April 1998 Horn Book Magazine, "There are all sorts of picture books. There is a place for them all." Zolotow was writing about diversity in content rather than format, but we like to think that the spirit is the same. The picture book umbrella is broad. That's a good thing, because even though they may not know it, those who evaluate picture books have the skillset to read comics critically. They only need to recognize the value of their experiences, approach every work with an open mind, and think outside the panels once in a while.

From the November/December 2015 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

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Comics Are Picture Books: A (Graphic) Novel Idea

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Comic books are everywhere. Customers are purchasing them, readers of all ages are devouring them, teachers are using more and more of them in their classrooms, and they're winning awards like crazy. Some people have applauded recent book-award committees' open-mindedness to the comics format, while others remain conflicted.

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How I use comic books as a learning tool in my social studies classroom by Tim Smyth (PBS)

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How I use comic books as a learning tool in my social studies classroom by Tim Smyth (PBS)

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Editor's Note: Comic books have a long history of tackling social issues. In recent years, criticism has centered on the characters themselves; some readers blamed publishers for creating diverse characters in order to be politically correct. But Marvel's Sana Amanat who co-created Ms. Marvel's Kamala Khan, Marvel's first major Muslim superhero, recently said in a Women's History Month celebration at the White House, "We seek to share stories of heroes that showcase what the world actually looks like - because diversity is not a trend, it is simply, life." Tim Smyth, a social studies teacher at Wissahickon High School in Ambler, Pennsylvania, has read comic books since he was a young boy. While he has taught for 15 years, it was only in the last two years that Smyth decided to integrate his passion for comic books into his classes. But now he says comic books and graphic novels are powerful vehicles to engage students in both history and current events.
A couple of years ago, I decided to share a Spider-Man comic with a young African-American teen with whom I was struggling to connect. In that issue, Peter Parker was replaced with Miles Morales - a character who looked like my student. He asked if he could borrow the comic which gave us a something to talk about together. I began to regularly share each new issue and his engagement, both in the class and with me, changed dramatically. I began to see how comic books could not only convey historical topics, but also help students to see themselves in our lessons.

Later, as I completed my master's program in reading, class discussions often focused on expert claims that boys don't read. Having been a boy myself, I remember often not wanting to read the assigned books. It wasn't until I was inspired by the words of Pulitzer Prize author, Art Spiegelman, writer of the graphic novels "Maus," who said, "Comics are a gateway drug to literacy" that I started to think how I could teach social studies using comics.

While I do not use comic books in every lesson, my classes are surrounded by images of diverse comic book characters which allows my students to see themselves in these titles. Many students learn to see past the idea that comics are about superheroes in tights and learn instead to recognize the current issues the stories seek to explore.

My students might see themselves in a female Thor (who is also fighting breast cancer), a black Captain America, a gay Iceman, a strong (and now fully dressed) Wonder Woman and Batgirl, a Korean-American Hulk or in the more traditional Caucasian characters as well. One of my students is currently researching a thesis paper based on how society's changing views of the LGBTQ community has been mirrored in current comics.

"I began to see how comic books could not only convey historical topics, but also help students to see themselves in our lessons." - Tim Smyth, teacher

Students can easily borrow comic books and are encouraged to write literary and historical reviews of them. My personal favorite comic in which the lead character is a female includes the new "Spider-Woman" title. Spider-Woman's storyline focuses on her pregnancy and whether she will need to abandon her superhero role. It brings up the point that male superheroes never have to struggle with the question - can I have a career and a family?
Wonder Woman and Batgirl, who have always been strong characters, now wear uniforms that are far less sexualized and resemble more those worn by their male counterparts. There is also a new comic addressing the issue of positive body image titled, "Faith," which follows the adventures of a strong female superhero who is overweight.

Comics serve as a time capsule for society and my students are encouraged to look at changes over time and analyze what they see. During Black History Month, I put out a variety of materials on topics such as the Harlem Hellfighters, Tuskegee Airmen, and even one on Senator John Lewis (March), which both students and teachers borrowed.

For Women's History Month, I am excited now as my classroom showcase shifts to highlight titles celebrating women's achievements and the many valuable discussions that will come from evaluating the changing images of women in comics. For example, recent titles like DC's "Bombshells" coincide with our study of World War II and might inspire students to research the real life Night Witches, a female Russian Air Force unit who carried out thousands of bombing missions against Germany during WW II. "A-force" is a Marvel title that has an all-female superhero team that is similar to the Avengers. "Ms. Marvel" is not only a strong female superhero with her own title, but she is also a Pakistani-American and a Muslim who often reflects on her culture.

The reactions from students stem from true excitement and personal connection to consternation that such beloved characters might be changed to suit current political or societal viewpoints. We have had in-depth discussions of this very adult topic of "political correctness" and all that it brings. The subject is hotly debated in the world of comics today and very much gives insight into contemporary politics as well.

One recent class debate involved the March issue of "Spider-Man" in which the superhero grapples with what diversity means to him and others around him, including a female admirer who was thrilled with the idea of more diverse superheroes. The class remained divided on the subject. During these discussions, students often remark at how quickly the class time flies by and how much they have learned.

As a final thought, I believe in rigor and helping students to develop critical reading and writing skills - comics will never replace the textbook or more traditional books. However, they certainly hook students by tapping into an extremely popular genre that is all around us.

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How I use comic books as a learning tool in my social studies classroom

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Editor's Note: Comic books have a long history of tackling social issues. In recent years, criticism has centered on the characters themselves; some readers blamed publishers for creating diverse characters in order to be politically correct.

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This is a collection of resources created for Lincolnwood Library's Comics Fest in June 2020 to support patrons in reading comics, making comics, teaching with comics, learning about Graphic Medicine, and exploring this medium for storytelling, creativity, self-expression. Please let us know if any links are broken or if you have any questions. You can find links below to register for Comics Fest programs.