The World of Shredderman

Students who are ready to crossover from graphic novels to chapter books should take a look at the Shredderman series by Wendelin Van Draanen. Shedderman is a cyber superhero for ages 7 to 10. The series includes four titles, Secret Identity, Attack of the Tagger, Meet the Gecho, and Enemy Spy. There are a few graphics in black and white which give off similar vibes as graphic novels, but these are definitely chapter books. The series is published by Random House and has a very cool website for introducing the characters. The website also includes resources and activities for teachers.

New Recommended books: School library Journal

Rise of the Toa Nuva Book #1 by Greg Farshtey grades 3-6. 2008.
A graphic novel series based on the LEGO toy line. Art is vivid, attention grabbing, and the story line is exciting and action packed. A great purchase for comics and graphic novel collections. Reviewed by Tracie Glass, Eugene Public Library, Or.

The Legend of Old Salty: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny by Matthew Louz. grades 3-6. (Salt Water Taffy Series) 2008.
Brothers Benny and Jack solve a mystery after learning of the legend of Old Salty a monstrous sea creature. Strong art and nicely paced action. Review by Lauren Anduri, Brooklyn Public Library, NY.

Unfortunately both these selections are paperback which makes them hard to use in a school library setting, but not impossible.

The Americanized Versions

American comics or graphic novels have plenty of action. Some are even award winners. The graphic novel cover shown at the beginning of this post Bone: Out From Boneville is a good example. This is the first of a series of 8 by Jeff Smith most appropriate for 4th and 5th graders, but a high reading 3rd grader might enjoy it too. Those reluctant reader boys with a show me attitude enjoy it. The graphics are a little dark and scary. Reading a scary book is a way to show they are tough. The text is not easy, but it's funny too. There are many inferences in both in the text and graphics. For the older reluctant reader it is not identified as baby book as they call easy readers or picture books, so the student feels cool and part of the group when he or she leaves the library. Bone books are in paperback and hardcover and published by Scholastic.

Last year when I introduced graphic novels the girls said, "Only the boys read those." So I introduced our girls to some wonderful comics/graphic novels for girls, for example: To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegal and Amelia Rules: Superheros by Jimmy Gownley. To Dance is a Sibert Honor Book. Baby Mouse: Our Hero by Jennifer and Mathew Holm is the first of a series of 8. The reluctant girl readers loved the series and asked for more. A favorite was also the Yotsuba@! series (manga) for the 4th and 5th graders. If you are seriously looking for titles for your collection checkout the Graphic Novel Titles links on the sidebar.

What is a Graphic Novel?

A graphic novel is a basically a long comic book. Many of us are familiar with the comic book format we read as a child such as Spiderman, Batman, and Superman. These are still a favorite today. Look at the mirad of superhero movies that make the big bucks. However, our children today have the option to read this genre in a much longer book with a varied range of settings and topics.

Much of the format for today's graphic novels comes from other countries, mainly Japan, where the graphic novel is read by children, teens, and adults. The Japanese comics are called manga and are read from back to front. Manga's usually are in paperback and are usually black and white. Stories may contain love relationships, including lesbian or androgenous relationships, violence, "bad" often call mature language, and nudity. There is lots of Whiz, Bam, Pow just like American comics. English versions of Japanese graphic novels can't just be purchased and used in American classrooms. Basically they need to be checked for language, nudity, and excessive or graphic violence before using them in our schools. The cover shown here is Yotsuba@! Vol 4 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Yotsuba@! is wholesome and suitable for elementary students. It has 8 volumes. On this web site I will list the sites I found for graphic novels or comics for students in grades 1-5.

Graphic Novels In Grades 1-5

In the last year I have been experimenting with graphic novels in my library. I come to this with little or no background in comics so I had no idea where to begin or where this would lead. However, I discovered many kids are mad about the graphic novel/comic book format. Students who were not very interested in reading were so excited about the format and the new reading material that if I had allowed it some would have fought for some books. A far cry from the year before when I had to enforce the "get a least one book rule" for the reluctant reader. Often the reluctant reader is a boy but some are girls. If introduced to the right book girls will go for graphic novels also. Publishers are beginning to come out with graphic novels books that meet girls needs.

This blog is an attempt to get all the information I have gathered in one place for me and anyone else who is interested. There are many sites with information but many of the sites are not for elementary students. I am hoping that next year I will have monies in my budget to purchase more of the these books for students. I never seem to have enough.