Nightmare Escape


Greg Grunberg - 2016
    When he sleeps he dreams, and when he dreams, they're all nightmares! But he can also jump into other people's dreams. So when his friends start falling victim to an evil dream-monster that prevents them from waking, Ben knows he has to help them. Easier said than done when dreams can shift and the monster knows his way around the ever-changing landscape of the mind! With help from a talking rabbit-companion who has a mysterious past, Ben might just be able to defeat the monster and save his friends . . . if he can figure out how to use the power within him against his enemies.

Share Your Smile: Raina's Guide to Telling Your Own Story


Raina Telgemeier - 2019
    Have you ever thought about creating your own comics? If the answer is yes, this fun, colorful, and interactive journal is for you! With guidance from Raina, brainstorm ideas and use your imagination to create your own stories.Includes bonus and behind-the-scenes material from Raina and her own comics-making adventures!

Snapdragon


Kat Leyh - 2020
    But in reality, Jacks is just a Crocs-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online. It’s creepy, sure, but Snap thinks it's kind of cool, too. Snap needs a favor from this old woman, though, so she begins helping Jacks with her strange work. Snap gets to know her and realizes that Jacks may in fact have real magic—and an unlikely connection to Snap’s family’s past.

Beneath the Trees: The Autumn of Mister Grumph


Dav - 2021
    All the animals but one: grumpy badger Mr Grumpf just can't finish sweeping the dead leaves off his doorstep with everyone coming by to disturb him! Grumpf!This new series paints a tender and colorful portrait of everyday Life, showing that behind every flaw or weakness can lie charm and strength. Readers will recognize their own neighbors, friends, and family members in the endearing animal characters within this forest community. In this first volume, we meet a very busy badger, who may admittedly be a little slow, but who never refuses to lend a paw to help his neighbors. In time, his generosity will be rewarded!The stories in this four-book series take place in the same forest over the course of four seasons. Each can be read independently, exploring the complexity and richness of relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. As both writer and illustrator, the author doesn't rely on text to convey emotions, oscillating between a clever dose of dialogue and wordless passages to makes these stories accessible to young readers starting as young as 5 years old.Presenting a graphic universe somewhere between Michel Plessix's adaptations of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS and the cartoons of Walt Disney (in particular those created by Don Bluth, such as THE RESCUERS and ROBIN HOOD), Dav gently conveys each season through a changing palette of colors and rounded designs.

We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe


Merrill Markoe - 2020
    Wielding her layered and comically absurd style, Markoe takes readers back through her time as a Girl Scout, where she learned that “scouting” was really more about learning housewifery skills, to her earliest crushes on uniquely awful boys and her growing obsession with television. Much has changed in our world since Markoe wrote in her diaries, or has it? Climate change wasn’t yet a rallying call, but the growing hole in the ozone preoccupied Markoe’s young mind. No one was flocking to the desert for Burning Man, but Markoe readily partook in the Ken Kesey Acid Test. As she charts the divide between her adolescence and adulthood, Markoe questions and berates her younger self, revealing how much is opaque to us in those young years. Perfect for fans of Roz Chast, Allie Brosh, and Lynda Barry, We Saw Scenery is a laugh-out-loud story of a girl growing up, told from the perspective of the woman she became, and it will speak to all who wanted to understand themselves in the midst of their own maturing.

What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky


Kelsey Oseid - 2017
     Combining art, mythology, and science, What We See in the Stars gives readers a tour of the night sky through more than 100 magical pieces of original art, all accompanied by text that weaves related legends and lore with scientific facts. This beautifully packaged book covers the night sky's most brilliant features--such as the constellations, the moon, the bright stars, and the visible planets--as well as less familiar celestial phenomena like the outer planets, nebulae, and deep space. Adults seeking to recapture the magic of youthful stargazing, younger readers interested in learning about natural history and outer space, and those who appreciate beautiful, hand-painted art will all delight in this charming book.

Beastly Puzzles: A Brain-Boggling Animal Guessing Game


Rachel Poliquin - 2019
    But solving the puzzles in this book is deviously, outrageously, almost impossibly tricky! Though the thirteen animals included are easily recognizable --- such as polar bear, snail, ostrich, pufferfish --- the clues are unexpected. For example: ?3 billiard balls,? ?dinosaur feet? and ?five feather dusters.? And to further complicate matters, the clues are presented in scenarios unrelated to the animals --- the ostrich is composed of items in a ?gentlemen's den? and the pufferfish clues are items in a spy submarine. Once readers make a guess (or if they get stumped!), they can open the gatefold to reveal the animal, with each clue explained and lots of additional fascinating facts.Author Rachel Poliquin's concept for this intriguing, one-of-a-kind book is a spin on early natural histories, which introduced new animals by describing them as a hodgepodge of parts taken from familiar creatures. A beaver, for example, was described as being composed of a flounder, an otter, goose feet, squirrel paws and a rabbit's front teeth. The back matter includes a note explaining this, accompanied by visual references. Artfully and intricately illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler, this innovative book offers an engaging mix of art and information that's sure to pique readers' curiosity. It works perfectly to enhance a broad range of life sciences curriculum topics, including animal adaptations, characteristics, evolution, ecology, habitats, ecosystems, biodiversity and food webs. The guessing-game format encourages inquiry-based learning --- and plenty of fun!

Dinosaurs Before Dark


Jenny Laird - 2021
    Mystery. Time-travel. Get whisked back in time in the magic tree house with Jack and Annie!Where did the tree house come from?Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark...or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?For the first time in graphic novel--live the adventure again in the very first Magic Tree House book, with new art from comic artists Kelly and Nichole Matthews!

The Jungle Book


Stacy King - 2017
    Book One of The Jungle Book(s) includes Mowgli s Brothers, the story of Mowgli, the abandoned man-cub who was raised by animals in the Indian jungle, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the heroic mongoose, and Toomai of the Elephants, the tale of a young elephant-handler, and in The White Seal, we meet Kotick, a rare white-furred northern fur seal as he searches for a home where his family will not be hunted by humans. Originally published as a series of short stories for magazines in the late 1800s, the Nobel Prize-winning Rudyard Kipling would eventually publish the classic The Jungle Book in 1894."

Cici's Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-In-Training


Joris Chamblain - 2017
    Her favorite subject: people, especially adults. She’s been watching them and taking notes. Everybody has one special secret, Cici figures, and if you want to write about people, you need to understand what’s hiding inside them. But now she’s discovered something truly strange: an old man who disappears into the forest every Sunday with huge pots of paint in all sorts of colors. What is he up to? Why does he look so sad when he comes back?In a graphic novel interwoven with journal notes, scrapbook pieces, and doodles, Cici assembles clues about the odd and wonderful people she’s uncovered, even as she struggles to understand the mundane: her family and friends.

Red's Planet


Eddie Pittman - 2016
    But when a UFO mistakenly kidnaps her, Red finds herself farther away than she could have possibly imagined—across the galaxy and aboard an enormous spaceship owned by the Aquilari, an ancient creature with a taste for rare and unusual treasures. Before Red can be discovered as a stowaway, the great ship crashes on a small deserted planet, leaving her marooned with a menagerie of misfit aliens. With her newfound friend, a small gray alien named Tawee, Red must find a way to survive the hostile castaways, evade the ravenous wildlife, and contend with Goose, the planet’s grumpy, felinoid custodian. Surely this can’t be the paradise she’s looking for.

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr


Laura Lee Gulledge - 2020
    She’s sweet, geeky, and creative, but it’s hard for her to make friends and connect with other people. She’s like a lot of sensitive teenagers—but in the hands of graphic novelist Laura Lee Gulledge, Mona’s struggle with depression takes on a vivid, concrete form. Mona calls it her Matter. The Matter gets everywhere, telling Mona she’s not good enough, and that everyone around her wishes she would go away. But through therapy, art, writing, and the persistence of a few good friends, Mona starts to understand her Matter, and how she—and readers—can turn their fears into strengths. Heartfelt, emotionally vulnerable, and visually stunning, The Dark Matter of Mona Starr is a story that takes the inner life of a teenager seriously, while giving readers a new way to look at the universal quest for meaning and connection.

Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists


Chris DuffyCraig Thompson - 2013
    Seventeen fairy tales are wonderfully adapted and illustrated in comics format by seventeen different cartoonists, including Raina Telgemeier, Brett Helquist, Cherise Harper, and more. Edited by Nursery Rhyme Comics' Chris Duffy, this jacketed hardcover is a beautiful gift and an instant classic.

Look Up!: Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard


Annette LeBlanc Cate - 2010
    Quirky full-color illustrations portray dozens of birds chatting about their distinctive characteristics, including color, shape, plumage, and beak and foot types, while tongue-in-cheek cartoons feature banter between birds, characters, and the reader ("Here I am, the noble spruce grouse. In a spruce grove. Eatin’ some spruce. Yep."). Interactive and enjoyable tips bring an age-old hobby to new life for the next generation of bird-watchers.

Yummy: A History of Desserts


Victoria Grace Elliott - 2021
    After all, sweets--and their stories--are always better when they're shared!