It's Podtastic!

The next few days I'll be posting about 10 graphic novels.  I'm already a fan of the format, and here I've discovered a few new favorites.  Starting with the super cute Narwhal!



1.       Clanton, B. (2016) Narwhal Unicorn of the Sea!. New York, NY: Scholastic
One day, Narwhal the Narwhal, while out for a swim, finds himself in new waters.  There, He meets Jelly the Jellyfish.  While at first not sure if the other really exists, they soon become “podtastic” best friends!  After that they learn new things about each other and go out on adventures.
                This is a great way to introduce kids into graphic novels.  At times it feels picture bookish, and then other times you have the comic panels.  Narwhal’s constant excitement is paired perfectly with Jelly’s slightly reluctant personality. The humor is simple enough for a child, but still had me constantly laughing as well.


Ball, G& Anderson, B & Anderson, T. (2015) My Little Pony: Adventures in Friendship. San Diego, CA: IDW
This collection contains three comics from the “My Little Pony” series.  The first centers around Princess Celestia and trouble in her school of magic.  A particularly pompous pony starts pushing for the retirement of one of the teachers because of her age.  Princess Celestia then has to remind everyone of just why the teacher got the job in the first place.  The second story is about Spike the dragon being irresponsible with magic while Twilight isn’t around.  The third story brings both Spike and Celestia together in a mountain climbing adventure of their own.
                This is a good book for anyone a fan of the series.  If you aren’t a fan already, maybe this will help introduce you to it.  The book  some real-life lesson connections about like Young people not appreciating their elders, using shortcuts to hard work, and being afraid to jump out of your comfort zone to try new things.  Throw in some humor and adventure and you’ve got a fun read!





 Brown, J. (2013) Star Wars: Jedi Academy. New York, NY: Scholastic
        Roan has always dreamed of going to Pilot Academy and becoming a starship pilot.  So when his application comes back rejected it feels like the end of the world.  He does however, receive an acceptance letter to Jedi Academy, a school he didn’t even apply to!  Feeling it’s a better choice than farm school, he ships out to Coruscant.  Now at Jedi Academy, he’ll need to learn about how to make friends, deal with bullies, and use the force.
        Jedi Academy is just the kind of Science Fiction book I like to read. The story characters deal with the same sort of problems any middle schooler might have to face, but in the setting of the Star Wars universe.  So even with the fantastical elements, any kid could relate to the book.  The story is told in an interesting way as well.  While half of it is comic style, the other half is Roan’s picture diary.  So the two different points of view offer a very fun way to read a story.

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