Books and Media: Graphic Novels - Fantastic additions to any collection!

Graphic Novels have a come a long way from their distant cousin the comic book. Today's graphic novels are not limited by genre or format. The only consistency is the combination of words and images.The categories are vast and wide! My graphic novel shelf has non-fiction, myths, manga, middle grade, YA, historical fiction and more keep popping up.

Why Graphic Novels (Aka: Comic Books)

Comic books average 53.5 rare words per thousand, while children’s books average 30.9, adult books average 52.7, expert witness testimony averages 28.4, and the conversations of college graduates with friends average 17.3.

—“Big Ideas in Beginning Reading: Vocabulary.” University of Oregon Center on Teaching and Learning. http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/voc/voc_what.php

Allergic and Measuring Up are two graphic novels I read recently. In thinking about reviewing them, I pondered why I liked them so much. My answer: They have unique story lines and represent diverse characters. Each demonstrates the strength of the characters overcoming a challenge and concludes with wonderful lessons for children to learn. The artwork is pretty great too!

Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyed & Michelle Mee Nutter (Goodreads summary)

At home, Maggie is the odd one out. Her parents are preoccupied with getting ready for a new baby, and her younger brothers are twins and always in their own world. Maggie loves animals and thinks a new puppy to call her own is the answer, but when she goes to select one on her birthday, she breaks out in hives and rashes. She's severely allergic to anything with fur!

Can Maggie outsmart her allergies and find the perfect pet? With illustrations by Michelle Mee Nutter, Megan Wagner Lloyd uses inspiration from her own experiences with allergies to tell a heartfelt story of family, friendship, and finding a place to belong.

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte & Ann Xu (Goodreads summary)

Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.

Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.

And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?

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In exploring Graphic Novels, I cam across an amazing author/illustrator with a website chock-full of resources for parents and students (and teachers).

Jarett Lerner

By going to Jarett Lerner's Home page, you will meet the author:

"Hi, and thanks for stopping by my website! My name is Jarrett, and I write and illustrate books about farting robots, superheroic taco ingredients, and other very serious matters. On this site you can find information about me, my books, what I’m up to now, and where I’ll be headed next. You can also find a ton of fun activity pages and a whole bunch of free art. You can also drop me a line — and please do. I love to hear from readers!

There are a couple of other places you can find me on the internet, too. If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, look for me at @Jarrett_Lerner. I also spend a lot of time hanging out at the MG Book Village, of which I am a proud co-founder. I hope you’ll visit!"

His "Activities" page is pretty amazing too!