If you didn’t hear it before, I LOVE COMICS! I think comics are a great way to get some kids to read! Today I have TWO cool Graphic Novels to tell you about!
Earthling!
Written AND Illustrated by Mark Fearing
248 pages – ages 8+
Published by Chronicle Books on June 20, 2012
Bud got on the wrong bus. Not a big deal right? Right. That is, if that bus doesn’t go into deep space to a school that is full of aliens that hate Earthlings! Bud got on that kind of bus. The kind with the aliens. He meets Gort McGortgort, another kid/an alien, who becomes his guide. Gort tells Bud that he can’t tell ANYONE he is an Earthling because Earthlings are feared and despised (apparently all the aliens think Earthlings want to kidnap them). Gort and Bud become friends even though Bud is an Earthling. Gort does his best to get Bud home, but bad (and somehow completely funny) things keep happening! Will Bud ever get home?
I have been waiting and waiting for this book to come out! I first read about it on Mr. Fearing’s blog, (click HERE). I really like Mr. Fearing’s illustrations and was happy to find out he was writing a graphic novel. I was not disappointed! I really did “laugh out loud” when reading this book! It was really likeable and hilarious! I really liked Bud and Gort. They were both good friends, nice and cool. I thought the plot was hysterical – Earthlings being feared and an Earth boy being trapped as the “new kid” in school. Mr. Fearing’s illustrations and story really make this an awesome graphic novel. I thought “Earthling!” did really well as a graphic novel because it was cool to see how all the aliens looked and the pictures really added to the whole story. I recommend this graphic novel to kids 8+ and young advanced readers because it is a longer graphic novel that actually has a good, long story that you can really get into.
I give “Earthling!” 5 out of 5 bookworms!
To learn more about Mr. Fearing and his books, click HERE.
On to the next comic!
Monster Dinosaur (A Monster Graphic Novel)
Written AND Illustrated by Lewis Trondheim
32 pages – ages 6+
Published by Papercutz on July 3, 2012
The Monster comics are based on this –
“Petey and Jean love to draw pictures of monsters. One day they draw a scary monster that comes alive – it escapes right off the paper and disappears into their home. Well, they certainly have to do something about that so they drew a nice monster, with three legs, four arms, and ten mouths to eat the bad monster. The plan works and Petey and Jean decide to keep the nice monster as a pet… and they name it Kriss.”
In Monster Dinosaur, Petey and Jean want to join a drawing contest where you have to draw a dinosaur and bring it to life with “the shiny powder” and it fights another dinosaur in the contest. The kids draw a dinosaur and enter it, while their dad enters his own dino. Somehow, Kriss, gets into the fight instead of their dino! Kriss is having fun beating all the dinos but the competition starts to get rough. luckily, Kriss gets disqualified because he runs out of the arena! Jean and Petey’s Dad’s dinosaur, Mortalosaurus wins the tournament but then goes on a rampage destroying everything in its path! Now it’s up to Petey, Jean, their Dad… and Kriss to stop Mortalosaurus!
This is the third book in the “Monster” series. I thought this book was really cute and very funny. I thought Kriss really rocks, he’s a cool monster. I really liked the part of the book where Petey and Jean’s Dad shows how he drew his dino. I thought the format of the book was unique. The characters don’t really have talking bubbles and aren’t saying things, the story is told as captions underneath the pictures told from the kid’s perspective. This is definitely a comic a lot of kids (boys and girls) will like!
5 out of 5 bookworms for Monster Dinosaur!
To learn more about Monster graphic novels visit Papercutz HERE!
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Categories: Age 6-9, Age 9+, Comics / Graphic Novels
I’m not the graphic novel/comic book junkie that you are, but this was a great post. These DO get kids to read, and that’s okay with me. 🙂
Thanks Mrs. Isenhoff! These books are really fun!
These look like great picks, Eric. We are VERY into comic books at our house. We just got two in Capstone’s historical series: Jamestown and the moon launch. Plus, we dug up a few old Asterix and TinTins while on vacation.
There are some great comics that tell about historic events. I have one about the Pony Express that I really like!
Very neat to see Graphic Novels reviewed, and these sound like 2 good ones. Great job Erik. I love great illustrations and will most certainly have to check these out. Best of luck to Mr. Fearing and Mr. Trondheim
Thanks Mr. Hewlett AKA Lionel 🙂 I hope you like them!
I’ve haven’t read many comic books (but liked Archie ones). It seems to me that comics have changed quite a lot over the years. I’m glad they are fun and encourage kids to read. Good reviews, Erik. 🙂
typo correction * I haven’t …
Thank you Ms. Davidson! Archie comics are really good. I think comics are great for all sorts of people!
What fun! I loved comics – had boxes and boxes of them – when I was growing up. I’ve been looking for something fun for my daughter this summer, and Mark Fearings comics and graphic novels sound perfect! Thanks for the great stories, Mark, and thanks for letting me know about them, Erik. Super review!
I think you and your daughter will LOVE “EARTHLING!” Thanks Ms. Marshall.
I ever enjoyed comics books, even as a kid. But, I will admit both your reviews had me chuckling. They were both very clever. Kudos to both authors. Great review Erik!
Thanks Ms. Tilton! Comics are a great thing for kids who are just starting to read or like a lot of pictures with their stories 🙂
Looks like a graphic novel that my own ten year old would love. As you know, she’s deeply into comics like you. 🙂 Will look for this one.
I hope you find it and your daughter likes it! 🙂