Graphic Novels and Beginning Readers

  

Kibuishi, Kazu. Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper. Graphix, 2008. Tr. $12.99, ISBN 978-0-439-84681-3.

Two years ago Emily was in a car accident along with her mother and father. Only her and her mother lived. Tight on cash, Emily along with her mother and her brother, Navin, move to her eccentric grandfather's abandoned house. While cleaning she finds a magical amulet which begins speaking to her after her mother is kidnapped by a monster and leads her to a place known as Alledia. She meets her (presumed dead) grandfather and goes on a quest to save her mother. 

Kibuishi does a remarkable job of crafting a narrative that, while from the perspective of a child, ultimately feels timeless. The death, danger, and dubious intentions of much of the cast gives the narrative a, for lack of a better word, "real" factor for younger audiences. It's not guaranteed that everyone will make it out okay in the end, for example Emily's mother, who ends the book poisoned despite the promise of the amulet that she would be saved.

The illustrations do much to convey the world and emotions of the characters. For example: 

 

Here there is a visual parallel, the example on the left from the beginning of the book, showing Emily's mother loosing her grip while trying to keep her husband from falling on the cliff in the car. On the right, Emily loosing her grip on her mother's hand while trying to save her. It conveys much of the emotional stakes to the reader in just two short frames. The action scenes are also well conveyed:

 

However, time and space are also given when needed to let the reader take in the world:

 

Amulet is remarkable example of the intensity that can be reached with visual novels, and as such deserves a place in every collection. 

 

  

Fenske, Jonathan. A Pig, a Fox, and a Box. Penguin Young Readers, 2015. Tr. $14.99, ISBN 978-0-448-48511-9

With it's comic styling and slapstick humor, A Pig, A Fox, and a Box is sure to delight beginning readers. The book tells the story of two friends, Pig and Fox, the latter of which is attempting to play a tricks on the former, only to have it backfire. For example, Fox hides in a box, calls Pig over, and Pig sits on the box when he can't find Fox.  

This book works well as a level 2 reader as well as an introduction to graphic novels. Fenske uses the 5 words per line maximum well, even using it to introduce a rhyme scheme which can assist in decoding words. An example:  

“The box went BOOM!  

And I went PLOP! 

Hee-hee.  

I think I broke the box. 

The box is flat 

Fox: And so is Fox.”  

This also assists the humor of the text, with the final line from Fox happening after a page turn, setting up anticipation.  

The illustrations also play a large role in storytelling, given that this is told in the style of a graphic novel. Each “panel” takes up no more than a half page with one exception (see below) where the panels are numbered to teach the reader how to read graphic novels. Speech bubbles help contain the text in a natural way, leaving plenty of space for the illustrations.  

 

The cartoon art style is expressive, approachable , and matches the tone of the story. Fenske cleverly decided to only illustrate the character and objects they are interacting with but still changing the color of the otherwise flat background. This leaves plenty of space to rest the eye without being dull. Ultimately, this is a fantastic early reader and should be a part of any collection.