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Comic books, graphic novels, sequential art or manga; whatever you call them, illustrated books are a great way to tell a story. I’ve been reading comics for most of life, except for a brief period from age 12 to 16 when I though I was too old for them. Boy was I wrong.
I’ve been reading comics to my kids almost since the day they were born, mixing them in with other storybooks and eventually novels. One of the great things about reading comics is that graphic stories cut out all of the boring "He said" and "She said" stuff. If you combine this with distinctive voices for the different characters, your kids will always know who’s saying what, making stories much easier to keep up with.
Here are a few of their favorites, roughly arranged for age appropriateness from younger to older readers.
1. Owly - Andy Runton
Don’t let the insanely cute art and lack of text fool you: there’s some great story-telling going on in Owly. With the aid of his friends Wormy the Worm, and Scampy the chipmunk, Owly roams about his forest home facing challenges, overcoming obstacles, but always trying to help out. Winner of the 2006 Eisner Award for "Best Publication for a Younger Audience," Owly escapes coming off as saccharin sweet by showing Owly dealing with problems most kids encounter, helping teach them how to persevere and overcome disappointment.
One of my favorite Owly stories has Owly building a birdbath and entering it into a contest. Although he is very disappointed when his does not win, Owly is later delighted to discover that his is the bird bath the birds actually prefer swimming in, rather than the birdbath the judges chose as the "winner." This teaches kids that there are actually more important things than winning a contest.
It may seem odd at first to "read" a book without words, but what I do with my kids is point to panels and talk about what’s going on, explaining some of the pictograms that the author uses in place of speech. Even better is when your kids begin "reading" the stories to you, explaining what they think is happening.
You can purchase the Owly series from Top Shelf Comics in the single issue magazine format or as part of the 5 collected trade paper backs.
2. Tiny Titans – Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani
The only Super-hero comic books I have in this list, Tiny Titans has short vignette stories with characters drawn from the youth of the DC Universe. The stories rarely go on for more than a few page, generally telling a story to get to a punch line at the end. This format makes it easy to read a few stories before bed time or the entire issue as time allows. The jokes are often really bad, but if you love bad jokes (like me and my kids do) they can be really funny, especially if you are a fan of the DC Universe (like me and my kids).
My favorite schtick is having the Monitor (from Crisis on Infinite Earth) as the Hall Monitor (hahahah) who is constantly being thwarted by the The Anti-monitor (bwahahaha), and Lunch Lady Darkside makes the Tiny Titans take their exams early, leading to the Finals Crisis (BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA). There are a lot of inside jokes, but whether your kids have read the DC books or not, there are plenty of great groaners in every issue that they will get.
You can get a free preview online of the monthly Tiny Titans magazine or purchase the two collected trade paperback volumes Welcome to the Treehouse and Adventures in Awesomeness.
3. The Little Endless Story Book - Jill Thompson
Although The Little Endless Storybook might be classified as a story book (thus the title) I’m including it in this list because it uses characters based on one of the best comic series ever: Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
Little Endless uses characters Jill Thompson created as an artist for the original Sandman series—basically cute wide eyed versions of the Endless: Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire, and Delirium. The story revolves around Delirium’s dog Barnibus who loses his mistress one day—not hard to do, since she’s a wee bit scatter brained—and has to visit all of Delirium’s brothers and sisters (the Endless) looking for her.
If you’ve ever read any of The Sandman series you might be asking how this could possibly be a children’s book, especially since it says "Recommended For Mature Readers" on it’s back cover. I can only assume that this warning was because of the original source material. I’ve been reading The Little Endless Storybook to my daughter since she was 6, with no ill effect. Well, she did dress as Delirium one Halloween. But she didn’t get lost. At least not for very long.
The Little Endless Story Book is available in hardback, but it’s only $9.95 (US). What a deal!
4. Magic Trixie - Jill Thompson
Jill Thompson makes the list again with the story of a little witch named Magic Trixie. Trixie whose friends include a Werewolf, a Mummy, a Frankenstien’s Monster, and Twin Vampires—is precocious as she learns the ins and outs of witchcraft from her very cool witch parents and struggles with her monster school lessons.
Magic Trixie is full of energy and a lot of fun to read, but also shows kids as having relationships and interactions, having to learn about the strange habits of other families. For example, when Trixie spends the night, her friend Loupie (yes, she’s a werwolf) her family likes to stay up all night howling at the moon, a bit later than Trixie would like to be up, especially on a school night.
There are three Magic Trixie trade paperbacks available.
5. Here Be Snapdragons - John Kovalic & Liz Rathke
GeekDad’s own cartoonist-in-residence — John Kovalic — makes the cut, but as an author. Along with Liz Rathke taking care of the art duties they have created a wonderful collection of stories about a group of young roll-playing gamers, with the occasional cross over of characters from John’s other series about gamers, Dork Tower.
These are stories about the power of imagination, but always with a little twist when reality stampedes in through the door. My favorite is when the kids goth baby sitter, Gilly, helps the kids pull together last minute Halloween costumes. All is fine and dandy in their imaginations, but the final results leave a bit to be desired.
There is currently only one volume of Snapdragons, but my daughter is hoping for more soon (hint, hint, hint John and Liz).
6. Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures – Various
Based on the cell animation style of the Genndy Tartakovsky series rather than the current 3D animated stories, these books deal with the earliest part of the Clone Wars in the Star Wars universe that happens almost immediately after Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. Although the stories stand alone, they are full of action and adventure, recapturing what was always best about the the Star Wars universe: a sense of the mystery and majesty in a galaxy full of exotic planets and people.
There are nine volumes of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures available in trade paperback.
7. Bone – Jeff Smith
Bone is that rare bread of epic fantasy and light hearted humor that will keep you as interested in the story line as your kids are. The main character is Bone whose appearance is not unlike a cartoon bone from Tom & Jerry. He is accompanied in his adventures by his two similarly cartoonish cousins Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone who, for some reason, my son always insists I do with an Elvis voice. Despite the cartoonish nature of some of the characters, the characterizations are always strong in this book.
The first volume, "Out of Boneland", begins with Bone and his cousins fleeing to the other side of the mountains from their home land—yes, it’s called Boneland— when Phoney is caught in some shady scheme, a reoccurring them in the story. The cousins become trapped in the new land by a sudden snow storm—the entire blizzard falls in a single panel of the book in one great big "WHUMP"—and begin to make friends (Rose and Thorn), enemies (the horrible, but stupid "Rat Creatures"), and some uneasy but important allies (Lucias and The Great Red Dragon).
Bone can be purchased in nine volumes or as a single massive Omnibus edition. I recommend the individual volumes, though, as they are easier to read to your kids in bed.
8. Myth Adventures – Phil Foglio & Robert Lynn Asprin
Although commonly thought of as a multi-book fantasy series, my first exposure with the Myth Adventures stories was when I found the first three issues of the comics at a convention. Although I later grew to love the Robert Lynn Asprin books, it was Phil Foglio’s black and white comic adaptation of the first novel that won me over. I have never laughed as hard in my life as I did at those first few issues, in large part due to his incredibly expressive artwork.
The story revolves around Skeeve, a magicians apprentice whose having a hard time with the basics, until his master, Garkin, is assassinated in the middle of summoning a demon. Hilarity ensues when Skeeve’s new master (the same demon who was being summoned when Garkin is killed) looses his powers and has to rely on Skeeve’s unsteady abilities.
This is one of my daughter’s favorites, but, alas, I could only find a few of my back issues. So, joy of joys the day we found the entire Myth Adventures series collected and colorized in a single trade paperback.
9. Sugar Sugar Rune – Moyoco Anno
There is a lot of great manga on the shelves, but, to be honest, I find it a little difficult to read to my kids. It’s not the whole left–to–right reading thing, but the nature of Japanese sequential art visual language that I find hard enough to follow while I’m reading it, but even harder when I’m reading it out-loud. So when my daughter brought me a copy of Sugar Sugar Rune and insisted I read it to her, I sighed and tried my best. Much to my surprise it turned out to be a great read.
Like Magic Trixie, Sugar Sugar Rune is about witches. However, unlike the aforementioned story, there are multiple witches (Chocolate and Vanilla) who are best friends. There’s only one catch: they are competing to be Queen of the Magic World and only one of them can win.
There are 8 volumes in the series. I recommend starting at the beginning.
10. Girl Genius – Phil & Kaja Foglio
Phil Foglio strikes again, this time with Girl Genius, a steam-punk extravaganza he is creating with his wife Kaja Foglio. This is a fascinatingly detailed world full of clanking technology, floating airships, and early 19th century styles.
The story centers around Agatha Clay and her quest of self discovery, as the ditzy young girl grows to realize that she is a lot smarter than she had thought. Agatha is a "Spark"whose had her intelligence inhibited so as not to reveal her true identity as the heir to a great lineage of thinkers: The Heterodynes. My daughter especially relates to the character of a brainy girl trying to make her way through the awkward phases of growing up.
The Foglios moved Girl Genius online a few years back, forgoing individual printed issues, helping to pioneer online comics. You can read the entire series on the Web Site, with regular updates. But I would highly recommend buying the issues in PDF format, and then reading them on an iPad or laptop. If you are more *ahem* technologically challenged, you can purchase printed versions of any of the nine volumes.
