In the Twitter talk about our June pick, we discussed the prevalence of depressing plotlines in children’s fiction, such as death, disease, and abuse. Many books utilize these themes to give their stories empathetic pull; it’s near impossible to read about a kid dealing with mortality or exploitation without feeling invested. It’s a powerful tool…
Kids Read Comics: A Dang Cool Convention
Kids Read Comics. Holy cow. Where to begin. This is the cutest little comic con in the world. Last month KRC held its fifth annual celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library, and it was the best year yet. What makes this kid’s con so cool? See below.
Throwing Popcorn: Justice League
Through the power of Netflix I was recently able to rewatch one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Justice League. The animated DC series—a part of the larger animated universe typically known as the DCAU or DC animated universe—focused on the combined lives of the Justice League members Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Flash, Martian…
August All Ages Comics/Books
Benny and Penny in Lost and Found Geoffrey Hayes (W & A) TOON-Books Release date 8/5 Those two adorable mouse ragamuffins are back at it. This time they get lost! How will they find their way home? This is from TOON-Books, and everything those people touch is guaranteed awesomeness.
Know What’s Better than SDCC? Crafts!
Are you going to the San Diego Comic-Con? No? Pray tell, why not? Because it costs a ton, you hate waiting in line for 45 minutes to take a piss, and you think it’s a tad overrated? Me too. Let’s do crafts instead. Wait, did I hear you right? You’re not super into crafts and…
Interview with Dani Jones
Dani Jones is a graphic artist and writer with a gorgeous portfolio. Her book publications include Monsters vs. Kittens, My Sister the Freak, and Zombie Bunny. Jones’ work maintains a consistent theme of scary things mashing up with cute things, with an end result of everyone ending up adorable. The world needs more instances of…
Review: The Fourteenth Goldfish
The Fourteenth Goldfish Jennifer L. Holm Random House Books for Young Readers I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. The Fourteenth Goldfish is about valuing the natural order of life. Youth, puberty, young adulthood, regular adulthood, and old age are each equally as valuable (and awkward) as the rest….
Interview with Trevor Mueller from Reading With Pictures: Comics That Make Kids Smarter
Kids love comic books. Kids love to learn. Introducing comic books to the classroom is a sure-fire way to hold students’ interest and help them retain the information being taught. There are so many ways to incorporate comics into education, and Reading With Pictures is an organization devoted to tackling this idea. Their main focus is…
Interview: Courtney Hahn, Co-Creator of Podunk
Courtney Hahn is doing excellent work in all age comics. She’s been webcomicing, drawing, and guest-posting like a boss. Her illustrations are bright, happy, and clever. Even the ideas behind the comics make me smile. Like Uni-puppy. It’s a puppy unicorn. There is everything to love about that. I met Courtney at last weekend’s Kids…
Moose Kid Comics: Interview With Jamie Smart
Last week Moose Kid Comics caused quite a stir in all age comic circles with the release of their first issue: a collection of super sweet kid-friendly comics from over forty artists. The big deal? They were all good.
July All Ages Comics/Books
Here are the cool books hitting the shelves for the young and young at heart this July. Scooby Doo Team Up #5 Sholly Fisch (W) Dario Brizuela (A) DC Comics Release Date 7/2 Daphne and Velma must complete their Amazon training to help protect Wonder Woman’s homeland from spooky monsters. Zoinks! Squish #6: Fear the…
All Ages Summer Book Club — July Pick
Our first selection for the All Ages Summer Book Club was Neil Gaiman’s The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, which was re-released last week with artwork by Eddie Campbell. We had our first Twitter discussion on our summer reading pick as well, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We even decided on our next…