A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics by Scott Robins and Snow Wildsmith, 254 pp

For the facts on A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics, scroll down a ways. What follows below is a brief primer on graphic novels and why they are a valid form of reading material for your children.
Right about the time I started getting really interested in graphic novels, the bookstore where I work did away with the section for graphic novels, choosing to stick them in with the "Young Readers" section. Graphic novels, or, more accurately manga (like Pokémon, Legends of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog) get some decent shelf space. Let me pause here for a brief definition of terms that will be used in this review, adapted from a concise breakdown at Rhapsody in Books.
Graphic Novel: A book in which the narrative is conveyed with sequential art and, frequently although not always, text. Also, graphic novels are frequently, but not always, illustrated in color. Graphic novels can be any length as well as stand-alone stories or part of a series, but they all tell a complete story in each volume.
Comic Book: A staple bound book or magazine that rarely exceeds thirty pages and is frequently part of a series that comes out on a monthly basis. The stories in each comic book are often serialized to that the reader has to read the next issue to find out what happens in the story.
Manga: Manga is the Japanese word for "random or whimsical pictures" and are usually read from top to bottom, right to left, as this is the traditional reading pattern of the Japanese written language. Most mangas are completely black and white (except for the cover art) and feature two-dimensional drawings and characters with large eyes and big hair. Emotions are most often shown by using symbols (like drops of sweat for worry) rather than words. Manga refers to books where as anime pertains to Japanese animated movies.
Jeff Smith's Bone series, Kazu Kibuishi's gorgeous Amulet series, Jennifer and Matthew Holm's Babymouse and spinoff Squish series are always well stocked and on the shelves while Jared Krosoczka's Lunch Lady series is represented, but only by the most recent issue. Compared to the hundreds of traditional middle grade novels that make up the bulk of the "Young Readers" section, that's pretty small potatoes. Obviously the company made these changes because the kid's graphic novel section was not selling (the adult section continues to sell well.) But why wasn't it selling? My own personal theory is that parents have preconceived notions about what graphic novels are and the potential hazards of reading them. I got a chance to test this theory when I was allowed to set up a hand-picked display of kid's graphic novels. I crammed over 30 titles on the little endcap, as well as A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics and watched them fly (mostly) off the shelves. During this time, I had one parent who worked in the field of education publishing ask me if these were books for "kids who couldn't read very well," implying that the stories inside these beautifully illustrated books were simplistic and simplified for the purpose of helping struggling readers. I set him straight. However, more often I encountered parents who willingly, happily (some parents DO complain about the price, but as I like to tell them, "You are really buying your child a work of art with this book!") buy these books for their kids, with or without them in tow. In an email, I discussed this attitudinal phenomena with Snow Wildsmith who, as a librarian, had a different take on the graphic novel. When I shared my experience as bookseller with parents who were wary or unwilling to make the investment in a graphic novel (which can run anywhere from $6.99 to $14.99 or $19.99 even for the gorgeous hardcover The Arrival by Shaun Tan, which is worth every penny) Snow had this gratifying response:
For the most part, in my work, I've found that parents are excited about graphic novels, because they get their kids excited about reading, but that they don't know much about them. Parents are worried that "graphic" means that the books will have inappropriate content. (I always tell them that it just means "with pictures," not that it means "with dirty pictures.") Yes, the price can be daunting, so I know a lot of people who save graphic novel buying for special occasions, such as holidays. I always get friends wanting suggestions for good gn purchases so they can be the "cool aunt" or "cool uncle" at Christmas! But friends who have bought gns for their kids tell me that they find their kids re-read comics just as much as they re-read other books, sometimes more, which does help parents get more bang for their buck. And I know that adding graphic novels to a classroom library can make the teacher's collection even more popular. I pass many of my review copies along to my best friend. She teaches fifth grade and she said that as soon as she added graphic novels to her collection, the circulation of the collection as a whole went up! And it wasn't just her reluctant readers. All of her kids were reading more.
And, if my input and Snow's doesn't quite allay your concerns, Robins and Wildsmith invited Jeff Smith and his wife Vijaya Iyer, both of whom learned to read with the funny pages, to provide the foreword to the book, which is very persuasive. Especially this line that appears near the end that I just love and find ultimately true, "Finally, we need to note that, when we were kids, the ones who read comics were the smart ones. They were the eggheads." While you may think your kid is whipping through a book with a lot of pictures, you may not realize the different skills needed to read a graphic novel. As Smith and Iyer note,
Ironically, one of the questions we're most asked about involves the fact that comics seem to work for reluctant readers. We're fine with that. We're glad and we suppose we understand it, because there's fun, the characters have humor and there's a lot of appeal to the form, the drawings. But we both resist the idea that comics are some kind of gateway, a "dumbed-down book" for reluctant readers. Comics are such a good way to read that even reluctant readers like them!
Hallelujah!! I hope that, with my reviews and enthusiasm and the extensive knowledge and experience that Robins and Wildsmith bring to the genre, we can convince you (if you need convincing) that graphic novels can be both an art form and a wonderful literary endeavor and you owe it to your kids to give them this experience.
A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics has a fantastic layout, lots of color images and, best of all, a great "What's Next . . ." feature that provides several recommendations based on interest in any given title. While my son went through this book and picked out graphic novels he was interested in, Robins and Wildsmith really have written this book for parents to use as a resource and it is set up that way. After the forward, acknowledgements, author info and introduction, there is a very important chapter titled, "HOW TO USE THIS BOOK." Then, the book is broken into four grade appropriate sections. The title information at the end of the book is exceptional, listing all the books in a series along with prices. Finally, the superb "For Parents, Teachers and Librarians" chapter at the very end of the book provides resources for going further, finding more resources and expanding knowledge as well as a great section that lists books of comic strips that kids reading graphic novels might enjoy. For those of you who are skilled at mining the internet for book recommendations, I still suggest you buy this book. I read and refer to blogs and book review websites all the time and have even listed several graphic novel review websites here. However, in all my research, I have yet to find a website that organizes information in the straightforward, thoughtful, thorough way that A Parent's Guide to the Best Kids' Comics, does.
Finally, as a long, longtime bookseller, I began to notice certain book publishers and the quality of the books they published and have come to have a handful of favorites. As my enjoyment and appreciation of graphic novels has grown over the last few years, I have also come to have a few favorite publishers. Below are their names, links to their websites and what I love about what they do.


For the fourth grade and under crowd, don't miss: Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists, Giants Beware, Bake Sale, Zita the Spacegirl and Robot Dreams. Look for reviews of Legends of Zita and Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity. Look for reviews of The Unsinkable Walker Bean and Little Vampire, Volume 1.
For the middle school gang, check out:
Friends with Boys, which, despite the title (it's a reference to the three older brothers of main character Maggie) is a ghost story and appropriate for a mature fourth grader or fifth grader. Although set in a high school, this book is ultimately about connections and friendships. Americus is an amazing book about book banning and intolerance set in a small town in middle America. Look for my review of Broxo and American Born Chinese.
For Teens: Level Up, Anya's Ghost. Look for reviews of Sailor Twain, Bloody Chester and Marathon and Baby's in Black.

Finally, while the production quality isn't quite as luxurious, Scholastic's Graphix imprint has some pretty great people creating books for them. From Raina Telgemeier's SMILE to Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet series, Doug TenNapel's three books Ghostopolis and Bad Island as well as his new book, Cardboard, Jeff Smith's BONE, Jake Parker's Missle Mouse and, published by Scholastic under the Arthur A Levine imprint, Dan Santat's amazing Sidekicks, the sequel to which is in the works, according to Dan.
Besides the titles mentioned about, these are a few books my son and I were intrigued by that you will be seeing reviews of in the coming weeks!
Source: Review Copy