Graphic novels | Daddy Mojo

A Fishboy Named…Sashimi, starts a beautiful, early graphic novel friendship

Dan Santat is an author whom elementary-aged students know. Dan Santat is an illustrator whom elementary-age students know. By the time kids enter elementary school, they’ve read at least two illustrated books from Dan Santat and one of his graphic novels. * His name is as ubiquitous in children’s literature as Michael Connelly or James Patterson are for adult readers of a certain type. A Fishboy Named…Sashimi is an early reader graphic novel from Dan Santat that does what his fans expect and continues in a strange, new, wonderful direction.

A Fishboy Named…Sashimi is by children’s author rockstar Dan Satat and continues his knack for knowing what early readers want in a graphic novel.

Add another one to the must-read fire for elementary ages

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is why kids read

There’s a 1 on the spine of Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him. Jake Spooky is a punk rock ghost. He’s got the surly soul of today’s teens and throws up wolves, at least in this first book does that. Jake lives with Brand-O, a cool, flip-flop-wearing human with an old-school television as his head and an upright walking cat who doesn’t speak much, named Quincy. Elementary school graphic novel readers-Are you not entertained? If a graphic novel were a character in a movie, then Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him is Maximus Decimus. Its absurd, playful content gleefully runs circles around other early reader, graphic novels. Amidst all of this running, it still has the bandwidth to ask an obvious question, and yes, we are.

Jake Spooky and the Wolves Within Him has the gross-out, absurd, LOL goods that can turn reluctant elementary school readers re-think their ways.

Yes, yes we are, part deux

SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery, pun, silly fun for elementary

Elementary school-age children may not know Sherlock Holmes. They certainly haven’t read the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Those young ages might’ve seen A Hard Day’s Knight, Season 1, Episode 10 of Phineas and Ferb that paid homage to The Hound of Baskervilles, but they probably didn’t catch the reference. Slightly older audiences will know Enola Holmes, which will hopefully lead them to the BBC series Sherlock, among others. But I digress…SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery is an early reader graphic novel that’s firmly locked into its core audience.

SquirrelLock Holmes: The Pet Rock Mystery is a chapter book with graphic novel sensibilities, or vice versa, and provides the silly stamina to keep up with early elementary school boys.

Look what you first and second-grade readers found…

Weirdo, uses real-life against a graphic novel setting with heart and fun

Middle school has the potential to suck. Countless variables determine if you find your people early or meander through three years of school and life. By eighth grade you’re certainly ready for high school, but is it because you hit the wall or you’re ready a bigger, more appropriate challenge? There is a lot of that in Weirdo. I also feel a lot of ‘reviewer’s remorse’ now because Weirdo has been silently judging me from my book queue for a while.

Weirdo is a ‘real’ look at changes kids have through middle school, but done with life’s learned lessons, humor, geek stuff and great art.

Heroes are weird/We are all heroes

A Blurmp in Time, continues the Catwad must-read graphic novel streak for elementary ages

A Blurmp in Time (Catwad’s Friend Blurmp #1) is kind of like Catwad, but with more fart jokes. No, that’s not it. A Blurmp in Time is about everything and nothing, and succeeds on both fronts. That’s not it either.A Blurmp in Time is not entirely devoted of fart jokes. There is one moment where Blurmp saves his friend’s bacon by passing gas; but enough about breakfast meat. Let’s back up for just a moment. Blurmp is Catwad’s best friend, inasmuch as a grumpy cat who doesn’t like anything can have something it likes.

A Blurmp in Time unhinges Catwad’s friend in a time-traveling graphic novel (that kids will want to read) for ages seven and up.

Blurmp, take home and lose me forever

Gird your loins for The Gland Factory, you’ll wish it was twice as long

Have you seen Inside Out or Inside Out 2? Both of those movies did a fabulous job in explaining emotions. They were especially effective with those complicated ones, like anxiety and jealousy. The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices and Hormones is the literary sibling by another mother to those movies. This is a book that’s funny, legitimately LOL funny on so many levels that you’ll begrudgingly find yourself learning something in-between a chuckle, grin, guffaw or laugh. Author Rachel Poliquin proves that she knows her audience because The Gland Factory is sufficiently gross enough to attract upper-elementary through middle school readers.

The Gland Factory straddles the line between reference book and graphic novel in a funny, LOL, and educational way that kids will want to experience.

You’ll want to go back to your 10 YO self and read this

The Five Wolves, a graphic novel that you’ll love or won’t understand.

The Five Wolves by Peter McCarty is unlike any book we’ve seen before. It’s a wordless book, but presented at a very high level and is 285 pages long, so it’s not for the very young. The narrative is grand and has more in common with Beowulf or The Odyssey, than a graphic novel. However, one could categorize The Five Wolves as a graphic novel, albeit one that’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen. It’s also not entirely a wordless book. There are pages with words on them, but they’re pages with only words, hundreds of words, symbols or numbers with the phrases that are relevant to the story that are bolded. I tried to read The Five Wolves one time and got too frustrated with it. And while that’s not a good first impression for a book, I rebounded, took my time with The Five Wolves, looked over all of it and have a better impression.

The Five Wolves is a graphic novel that’s heavy on art an interpretation and very light on words.

You’ll love it/you’ll be confused by it

The Avengers in The Veracity Trap, a great self-aware, multi-verse story

This is a great comic book that I forgot I had read before, it’s what you might be thinking as you’re digging into The Avengers in The Veracity Trap!. The heroes on the book’s cover have their classic 60’s era appearance. Hulk’s pants are a deep-hued purple. Captain America has his wings on his cowl, evident for everyone to see. Iron Man’s mask is obvious, not melding into his suit and its colors are a very pure yellow and red. But the book’s format is larger than most graphic novels and the story breaks the fourth wall. This is an original graphic novel that old-school comic fans will embrace. It will also give next-generation fans a glimpse at seeing why these comics were so awesome, without worrying about damaging those golden age gems.

The Avengers in The Veracity Trap is a new graphic novel with a multi-verse tale and one you will want to read.

IT’s a throwback spirit in a modern day package, built to love to read