Graphic novels are ideal for building up fun reading experiences for kids. The art provides context for words and draws in readers who may find a page full of words intimidating. Though they are ideal for any reader who likes good stories!
Join Cucumber bunny as he’s forced onto a quest to save the Dreamside kingdoms from the Nightmare Knight, even though all he wants to do is leave the adventuring to his sword-wielding sister Almond and go to magic school.
The zombie apocalypse has happened and as usual the adults are useless, so it’s up to a group of kids to rescue their friend June. For anyone who like monsters, emotional intelligence, and gross-out humor!
Princess Amira, astride a unicorn and sporting a mohawk and military jacket, helps Princess Sadie decide to leave behind her tower and her self-doubts about her big body as they go off on adventures, encountering flustered princes, difficult older sisters, and, finally, a happily ever after.
Adapted from the popular Wings of Fire fantasy series, the five dragonets of The Dragonet Prophecy have been hidden underground for their whole lives and emerge to find their world overrun with violence and treachery. Plug your dragon-lover in here.
Ever popular with kids who have a taste for things that are slightly dark and creepy, this graphic novel series follows siblings Emily and Navin as they set out to rescue their mom from a world below the ground filled with freaky monsters and strange allies.
If you are looking for a book with Calvin and Hobbs vibes, look no further! Whimsical Phoebe and her snarky unicorn bff, Marigold Heavenly Nostrils make everyday experiences charming and silly in a clean and colorful art-style.
Similar to Princess Princess Ever After, but with a longer story arc and deeper exploration of the characters. Princess Adrienne gets tired of being in her tower so she runs off with the dragon guarding her to rescue her sisters locked away in their own towers. A great example of how many ways one idea can be explored!
Navigating friendships is hard and no one captures it quite like Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Hale tells the story of her own struggles to find a healthy friendship throughout elementary school, taking us from her first day of Kindergarten through to Sixth Grade. Pham’s art is beautiful as ever and parents may want a hankie while reading.
Your graphic novel reader will be charmed by self-assured Zita, who accidentally transports herself and her diffident best friend Joseph to a planet in turmoil.
Cat and her sister Maya move with their family to Northern California because of Maya’s poor health. Everything gets more interesting when they find out there are ghosts in their new town, and Cat finds that the ghosts can be more than just outside of you. Wildly popular Telgemeier is always a hit with kids.
Nickelodeon’s fantastic cartoon series serves as the jumping off point for these comic which continue the adventures of Aang and Co. after the end of the series. Kids who love Aang and Korra will gobble these books up!
Master storyteller Hatke gives a twist to Jack and the Beanstalk. This Jack, his sister Maddy, and his friend Lilly grow a magical garden, battling to keep it under control, all while his mom works two jobs.
Stately Academy is rife with mysteries and coding puzzles with Hopper and Eni finding sidewalk cleaning robots and bully-neutralizing inventions. Readers will learn the basics of coding through thoughtful illustrations and bright art.
Ling and Ting are twin sisters, but they are not exactly the same. Quick stories told in a few pages, Ling and Ting enjoy gentle silliness, each story ending with a little twist.
Kate and her talking horse Cocoa look out for each other in this sweet early chapter book paired with beautiful watercolor art.
Arnold Lobel knows how to create the perfect little story for young readers. They are sweet and silly and affirming, with a twist that delights adults as well as children. Easy to read and rewarding to finish.
What do you get when you combine a princess and a superhero? The Princess in Black, a superhero working hard to save the goats from the monsters who want to eat them AND to keep her alter-ego, Princess Marigold, meeting all the social conventions a princess is expected to meet!
Mercy Watson is a pig who lives with her doting owners, Mr. and Mrs. Watson. She loves hot buttered toast and finds herself in silly situations. Prep your own hot buttered toast before reading!
Mermaid best friends Shelly, Echo, Kiki, and Pearl take the familiar friendship stories of elementary school readers undersea. The friends learn social skills like inclusion and how to get along with friends and siblings, which is just want young elementary kids love to read about. Also everyone is a mermaid, so the fish puns will catch you!
Written by an Olympic soccer player with a gold medal, The Kicks series starts off with ten-year-old Devin moving to Kentville, California, and trying to settle into her new soccer team—who really need some direction!
Geronimo is a mouse journalist who wants a quiet life, but himself on wild adventures in far off lands, sometimes accompanied by his sister, Thea, a detective who has her own spinoff series. This wildly popular series was translated from Italian and offers a multitude of books for kids who get obsessed with the series.
Spin traditional Greek myths on their heads! Zeus made it all up! It’s all lies! Hades sets things straight while introducing kids to fractured versions of Ancient Greek mythology.
Considered some of the best early chapter books for kids reading on their own, the A–Z Mysteries start off with three kid-detectives solving a case for every letter of the alphabet. Firmly in the cozy mystery sphere, rather than scary mysteries, early chapter book readers love this series.
Lola Levine is a soccer-obsessed, word-loving second-grader who has a loving family, a believably affectionate/antagonist relationship with her younger brother, and not as many friends as she’d like. Lola embraces both sides of her Peruvian/white Jewish family and grows and changes in her own lovable way!
Hilarity and wordplay are the themes running through A.J.’s account of his time at his school, Ella Mentry School, where the staff are wacky and the kids have got things figured out.
J.J. is a retired search-and-rescue dog who now spends his days looking after a group of four baby chicks who get themselves into all sorts of trouble, despite his best efforts. Farmyard hilarity!
Scholastic Branches is a collection of books targeted at kids moving between leveled readers and longer chapter books. With illustrations on most pages and six-page chapter, new readers can build up their skills following the stories of a boy who finds that his school is actually a building with malicious intent, a good-natured boy who gets chosen to befriend a dragon, and the diary of an owl girl who has a life very similar to most elementary school kids.
Anna Hibiscus lives in amazing Africa with her extended family and her white Canadian mother. Anna longs to see snow, while having quiet adventures with her family.
Switching from Anna Hibiscus’s privileged world to Oluwalese (or No. 1) who lives in a small village in Nigeria, Atinuke shows another face of childhood. No. 1’s story has the same gentle humor and interconnected storytelling as Anna Hibiscus, as he helps out his family and engages in his favorite pastime, spotting cars that drive by.
Zoey and her cat Sassafras discover they can see the magical creatures who come to their barn for help. Zoey uses her “Thinking Goggles” and her adherence to scientific method to solve the magical mysteries of what is making the plants and animals sick.
Bubbly Ruby Lu loves her life, which she lives at full volume. She gets herself into a few scrapes along the way that Ramona Quimby fans will enjoy, such as introducing herself as a frog when she starts Chinese school, and when her baby brother learns to talk and spills her best magic show secret.
Second grader Alvin is upfront about his anxiety, which leaves him in situations that, while not scary, the book is matter-of-fact about his difficulties. Alvin has a loving family who help him as he suffers through moments of anxiety, and Alvin himself has a strong, endearing character voice. The book doesn’t give him any magical solutions, but he does learn to deal with some of his worries.
Spinning off of his adult series about Botswana’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Smith takes us back to Precious’s childhood with her father when she first develops a taste for solving-mysteries.
Third grader EllRay finds himself on the receiving end of bullying and doesn’t quite know what to do about it. A relevant topic for kids, this book offers solutions without being saccharine about them.
While it’s not stated in the first book in the series, our hero Hank deals with learning disabilities, including dyslexia. Regardless, he does his best to get along in second grade and finds his own way to make his mark. The typeface is specifically designed to help readers with dyslexia, one way this book puts its money where its mouth is.
Friendship and ballerinas take the lead in this book about Alexandrea, who moves to a new ballet school in Harlem and somehow lands the leading part in the recital, even though she’s not the best dancer.
Gentle fantasy adventures ensue as Prince Lucas and his friend Clara, the seamstress’s daughter, strike up a friendship and help the kingdom with any troubles that arise.