Today I am absolutely delighted to support the blog tour celebrating the release of Bumble & Snug and the Angry Pirates by Mark Bradley (Hodder Children’s Books), a new graphic novel series about two adorable best friends. Bumble and Snug are Bugpops, little monsters with big feelings. When they decide to go on a picnic, …
graphic novels
When Stars Are Scattered – the power of graphic novels in building empathy
Victoria Jamieson (story & art), Omar Mohamed (story), Iman Geddy (colour)(Faber Children’s Books) It is my pleasure to kick off the blog tour that celebrates the release of When Stars Are Scattered, a graphic memoir by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, telling Omar and his brother Hassan’s life as Somali refugees in a huge Kenyan …
Will Eisner Week: Graphic Novels in the Curriculum
As well as being World Book Day week, the first week of March is also a time to celebrate Will Eisner Week. Will Eisner Week is a Worldwide Celebration of Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, Free Speech and Will Eisner’s Legacy. As part of this celebration, organisers encourage people to read a graphic novel. …
Wordless Picturebooks: “A Voice for the Voiceless” Part 1
“A Voice for the Voiceless”. This is how Shaun Tan describes his picturebooks, and more particularly The Arrival in his article for the October 2011 edition of Bookbird “The Accidental Graphic Novelist” ( you can also access it for free here, and I urge you to read it). He continues by saying that graphic novelists (citing artists …
Encouraging girls to take on comic reading
I am a girl, and I read comics. Sadly for a lot of people, still, this statement is an oxymoron. Unfortunately a lot of my students think so too. The problem? People still think that reading comics means you are either a superhero or sci-fi fan. I am neither. People think comics are pulp fiction, trash, over-violent, …
A Wrinkle in Time, or the virtues of graphic novel adaptations
I am putting it out there straight away: I am no fan of science-fiction. Spaceships, other planets, aliens etc … apart from in a dystopian setting (in small doses) , they don’t do much for me. But Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time has been calling me for a while. Firstly because it is a crucial to …
Jane, the Fox & Me
Fanny Britt (text) & Isabelle Arsenault (illustrations) translated from French by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou (Walker Books) Hélène has a tough time at school, secluded and taunted by her former friends about her weight. At home, her mother is exhausted and overworked. She finds comfort in reading Jane Eyre, identifying with the heroine’s hardships …
FOCUS ON: Some comics and graphic novels for children
Azzi in Between Sarah Garland (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) Endorsed by Amnesty International and winner of the inaugural Little Rebels Awards, Azzi in Between is a moving picture book, told in comic format, about a family’s journey from oppression in their native land to Britain where they take refuge. Azzi lives with her parents and grandmother in a faraway country …
Gum Girl: Catastrophe Calling
Andi Watson(Walker) Grace Gibson is moving to a new town, where her father is to be the headteacher of her primary school. The town is called Catastrophe, and it certainly lives up to its name: with its volcano and giant robots roaming the town, this is hardly the welcoming party Grace was expecting. After some …