Graphic novels | Daddy Mojo

It’s About Time!: A Fun Dive into Concepts of Time

Time is a tricky concept because it’s abstract, can be a noun or a verb, and is countable or uncountable. It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this graphic novel series and is almost as audacious as that Egyptian who suggested dividing a day into 12 parts. The ancient Egyptians counted on their three mid-fingers, as well as, their pinky, plus two of the knuckles on their pinky. But time and people needing to record it for one reason or another didn’t start with them. It’s About Time takes the 500-pound confusing gorilla and tackles it head-on. The graphic novel makes an esoteric topic like ‘time’ interesting, makes young readers think and doesn’t pretend to know all of the answers.

It’s About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World is the sixth in this fabulous non-fiction graphic novel series that threads the needle between fun and education.

IT’s a graphic novel that’s smarter than you and it’s OK.

Why Kids Will Love The Mighty Bite: Hog-Rocket Ruckus

I love Phineas & Ferb. I’m convinced that a generation of scientists will reference it as a main inspiration for their endeavors and inventions. I also enjoy Ren & Stimpy. What if the former had a tiny sprinkle of the rudeness and over-the-top insanity of the latter? The Mighty Bite: Hog-Rocket Ruckus is the graphic novel representation of this idea. It’s incredibly smart. It’s also incredibly silly. At times, it’s just a little bit rude and noisy, but never enough to make parents or librarians lower their brows. Hog-Rocket Ruckus is the second book in The Mighty Bite book series that we’ve read, and the third overall. There’s something about Hog-Rocket Ruckus that will speak to some upper-elementary and older readers.

The Mighty Bite: Hot-Rocket Ruckus is slapstick silly, but also very intelligent, in this graphic novel series that speaks to audiences via flying pigs and viral videos.

Unique, awesome, funny, entertaining for mid-elementary up

‘Hi, Earth’: A Fresh Take on Satirical Graphic Novels

What if Team America: World Police had a graphic novel baby with The Far Side. All you’d have to do is give it a British accent, colorize it, sprinkle in more dark humor with climate change references and you’ve got Hi, Earth. It’s a bitingly funny graphic novel that will reward comic strip fans who thought they’d never see another series with revolving characters in disparate situations that are able to make you belly laugh in four panels. That’s a mouthful and if it’s too much then know that Hi, Earth is from the two that brought the very funny webcomics, War and Peas to your inbox.

Hi, Earth is the graphic novel collection of funny webcomics from War and Peas that resembles the child of Team America: World Police and The Far Side.

Ha ha? Ha ha ha!

The Other Side of Tomorrow: A Graphic Novel Review

Are hyper-realistic graphic novels a genre? I don’t think they are, but The Other Side of Tomorrow is a graphic novel that wields a mighty hammer in knocking at the doors of book classification. It’s realistic fiction, but is so realistic, both in the manner in which the illustrations are done, and the taut nature of the story that you’ll pinch yourself in gratitude that it’s not happening to you. This is a graphic novel that entertains via drama, age-appropriate political intrigue, familial love and armchair travel. Moreover, The Other Side of Tomorrow manages to tell its story alongside one of the greatest geographic areas and humanitarian crises that middle school kids never learn about, North Korea.

The Other Side of Tomorrow is a realistic fiction graphic novel whose potentially heavy topic is buoyed by the art, presentation and pacing of the story.

A graphic novel as art, entertainment and discussion

Black Lives: Celebrating Scientists in Graphic Form

Whenever I substitute for a math or music class I run the students through a basic critical thinking question. What are the two universal languages that can be understood anywhere you go? On average one, maybe two students in a class of 28 will respond with music and math. Some might say “science” and while that’s not the desired response, it does illustrate the room’s temperature. Black Lives: Great Minds of Science is a graphic novel highlighting nine scientists from various fields. As a vehicle for information it grabs your attention and speaks to upper-elementary and mglit readers in a way that motivates reluctant ones.

Those reluctant readers, you know, the kids who secretly want to read, but have bought into the group-think, lemming-like fallacy that reading somehow makes you less cool. To those students I would posit this simple question, is it cool to earn more money, or less money? Yeah, money doesn’t make you happy, it’s just a tool, I know that. But if you’re going to fix or build something you need the correct tool and sometimes, if it’s a bigger job, you need more tools or the job becomes infinitely more challenging. Great Minds of Science is created for those reluctant readers.

Black Lives: Great Minds of Science is a non-fiction graphic novel that profiles nine STEM scientists for ages 9-13.

sCIENCE, stem AND GRAPHIC NOVEL PRESENTATION

Bunnybirds fills a graphic novel void that lives in elementary readers

It’s ok to have books geared more toward girls than boys. It’s also ok for boys to have books that mainly appeal to them. There are also some books that cross-over to both groups with varying degrees, but could have elements that interest each camp. Bunnybirds is a graphic novel, whose genre is typically associated with boys. However, this is one of the rare graphic novels that will appeal to girls just a little bit more than boys. There are dragons and action elements in Bunnybirds, but the main characters are bunnies with wings. If you suspect that your young reader could become a fan of the massive mglit juggernaut, Warriors, this graphic novel is the prep material for them.

Bunnybirds successfully fills a graphic novel void that lives in elementary readers. It’s one that mainly connects with girls, but has enough cross-over to not offend some boys that age.

Flying bunnies or hopping rabbits?

The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom slays sophomore curse

The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom takes the absurd happenings of The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, keeps running and picks up speed. The Batman 1966 vibes in this all-age graphic novel series continue in this second book and are more established. By looking at the back cover it baits audiences by telling them that they’ll see First Cat, Moon Queen, and Loz 4000 again, but teases them by showing snippets of the action inside the book, a la, The Wild, Wild West as they went to commercials. This is a graphic novel that wallows in the excitement and giddy energy that mid-elementary through lower middle-school students can bring to a book when it’s one whets their appetite.

The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom is the second in this intelligent and absurd graphic novel series that lays waste to the sophomore slump.

Insert more cat

Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2: a surreal graphic novel mirror

Haruki Murakami is Japan’s best-selling, living author. His books have been translated into over 50 languages, with millions of copies sold worldwide. Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2: The Second Bakery Attack, Samsa in Love, Thailand are a curious itch. The three short stories in graphic novel form are jarring, visceral, in your face and take a moment to be absorbed. This is a graphic novel in the vein of art, with a surreal story that weaves between metaphors, allegory and absurdity without any warning.

Haruki Murakami Manga Stories 2 are the manga form of three classic short stories from the legendary Japanese author.

art is relative, this is manga art