This week ALIA Graphic has been celebrating Children’s Book Week and International School Library Day.
International School Library Day is a campaign run by ALIA that focuses on promoting all the ways in which school libraries contribute to their communities. We have been promoting some fabulous books that would fit into any school library collection. Graphic novels and comic books within school libraries are a valuable resource and they are fast becoming the most borrowed collection.
While there is no specific category for Graphic Novels in the CBCA awards (yet), the ALIA Graphic group wanted to share with you some of our favourites and a selection of some of the books and series that are most popular with young readers in our libraries.
Young readers
Australian titles
- Action Tank 1 and 2 by Mike Barry
- The Adventures of Anders by Gregory Mackay (Allen & Unwin)
- Bad Guys (Series) - Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Australia)
- Landing with Wings by Trace Balla (Allen & Unwin)
- Mini Mel and Timid Tom - Ben Hutchings (Squishface Studio)
- Rivertime by Trace Balla (Allen & Unwin)
- Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery - Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin)
- Super Sidekicks: Trial of Heroes by Gavin Aung Than (Penguin)
- Word Smith Books 1 & 2 (Series) - Stephen Kok & P.R. Dedelis (TL Creative)
International
- Beetle and the hollow bones by Aliza Layne
- Catwad by Jim Benton (Scholastic)
- Chi’s Sweet Home by Kanata Konami
- Hocus Pocus by Manuro
- Making Friends by Kristen Gudsnuk
- The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner
- Positively Izzy by Terri Libenson
- The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
- Time Museum by Matthew Loux
- Witch Boy series by Molly Ostertag
Authors and series
- Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi
- Babysitters Club series
- Everything by Ben Hatke
- Berrybrook Middle School series by Svetlana Chmakova
- Catstronauts by Drew Brockington
- The Click series by Kayla Miller
- Hilda series by Luke Pearson
- Percy Jackson comics
- Phoebe and her Unicorn series by Dana Simpson
- Everything by Raina Telgemeier
- Wings of Fire series
Older readers
Australian
- Arrival, The - Shaun Tan (Hachette Australia)
- Evermore - Isobelle Carmody & Daniel Reed (Windy Hollow Books)
- Fence (Series) - C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, Joana La Fuente (Boom! Box)
- Home Time Books 1 and 2 (Series) - Campbell Whyte (Top Shelf Productions)
- Rose (Series) - Cameron Davis (Cameron Davis)
- Terralympus Books 1 and 2 (Series) - Stephen Kok, Von Randal, Shaun Keenan (TL Creative)
- Ubby’s Underdogs Books 1-3 (Series) - Brenton E. McKenna (Magabala Books)
- Witchy - Ariel Slamet Ries (Lion Forge)
International
- Bloodlust and Bonnets by Emily McGovern
- Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
- Mariko Tamaki in general
- Ms Marvel by G Willow Wilson and Saladin Ahmed
- The Old Guard by Greg Rucka
- Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang
- The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
- Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki
- The Umbrella academy by Gerard Way
- Watchmen by Alan Moore
- Witch Hat Atelier - Kamome Shirahama
So why not add a few of these excellent books to your collection today, and remember to encourage reading in all forms. Sometimes even the best of us struggle to get through a wordy classic. You might be surprised at how many have been adapted to graphic novels - check out this great list by Long Island Librarian Amanda Borgia.