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TOON Graphics are comics and visual narratives that bring the text to life in a way that captures young readers’ imaginations and makes them want to read on—and read more. Children also develop their aesthetic sense when they experience the relationship of text to picture in all its communicative power. Vetted by our team of educational experts, TOON Graphics introduce great storytelling traditions from around the world. Making meaning out of reading with the aid of visuals may be the best way to become a lifelong reader, one who knows how to read for pleasure and for information—a reader who loves to read.
The very economy of comic books necessitates the use of a reader’s imaginative powers. In comics, the images often imply rather than tell outright. Readers must learn to make connections between events to complete the narrative, helping them build their ability to |
visualize and to make “mental maps.” A comic book also gives readers a great deal of visual context that can be used to investigate the thinking behind the characters’ choices.
When reading with visual readers, it's important to look carefully at the artwork: it offers a subtext that at first is sensed only on a subliminal level by the reader and encourages rereading. It creates a sense of continuity for the action, and it can tell you about the art, architecture, and clothing of a specific time period. It may present the atmosphere, landscape, and flora and fauna of another time or of another part of the world. TOON Graphics can also present multiple points of view and simultaneous events in a manner not permitted by linear written narration. Facial expressions and body language reveal subtle aspects of characters’ personalities beyond what can be expressed by words. |
Readers can compare comic book artists’ styles and evaluate how different authors get their point across in different ways. In investigating the author’s choices, a young reader begins to gain a sense of how all literary and art forms can be used to convey the author’s central ideas.
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TOON Graphics have won the following awards and distinctions:
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Winner 2018 Aesop Prize
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Award-winning
TOON Graphic Core Collection
The White Snake by Ben Nadler
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The collection covers these
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Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman | A modern take on the classic story
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Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure by Nadja Spiegelman
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The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America by Jaime Hernandez
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Theseus and the Minotaur by Yvan Pommaux
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Castaway on the Letter A: A Philemon Adventure by Fred
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TOON Graphics Award-Winning Core Hardcover Collection | 6 Books |
TWO New TOON Graphics
Spring 2019
Comics: Easy as ABC! by Ivan Brunetti
With two recent TOON hits, Wordplay in 2017 and 3x4 in 2018, Ivan Brunetti demonstrated his ability to bring both sophistication and humor to children’s books. This is harder than it looks but Brunetti’s years of teaching cartooning at Columbia College Chicago made him the perfect candidate to tackle this intuitive and fun guide to a rich topic. In the introduction by Françoise Mouly, Mouly shares her own love of comics and her hopes of inspiring and encouraging young budding cartoonists.
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The White Snake by Ben Nadler
With the success of last year’s breakaway hit The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin Americaby Jaime Hernandez (landing on the coveted Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List!), we’re thrilled to release another TOON Graphic for middle grade readers—this one based on a fairy tale by The Grimm Brothers. As in all our TOON Graphics, the back matter (here by cartoonist and educator Paul Karasik) offers young readers the opportunity to explore the historical and forward-looking aspects of folktales.
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Featured Series:
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Theseus and the Minotaur
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Orpheus and the Underworld
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Oedipus Trapped by Destiny
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Greek Mythology Series by Yvan Pommaux | 3 Books |
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Featured Fantasy Series:
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Cast Away on the Letter A
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The Wild Piano
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The Suspended Castle
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Philemon Series by Fred | 3 Books |
Featured Series:
The Leah and Alan Adventures
The Secret of the Stone Frog
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David Nytra has been drawing since he was old enough to hold a pencil, and has long loved stories full of critters and creatures. His first TOON Graphic, The Secret of the Stone Frog, garnered many honors including the Nutmeg Book Award and was included on the New York Public Library’s Children’s Book List of 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing and SLJ’s Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2012.
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Windmill Dragons
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The Leah and Alan Adventures Series | 2 Books |
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Vetted by our team of educational experts, TOON Graphics introduce great storytelling traditions from around the world. Making meaning out of reading with the aid of visuals may be the best way to become a lifelong reader, one who knows how to read for pleasure and for information—a reader who loves to read.
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A modern take on the classic story
Neil Gaiman, author of Hansel & Gretel
An epic graphic novel
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The Japanese art of Kamishibai
The collection covers these Grades 3+ Curriculum Themes:
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An updated folktale
Folktales from Latin America
The TOON Graphics include supplemental material such as maps, illustrations, bibliography & discussion topics.
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International / Fables & Folktales Collection | 7 Books |
A modern take on the classic take
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Featured Graphics:
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A coming-of-age adventure
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