We’ve always got new additions to our juvenile literature collection – and this includes comic books and graphic novels!
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, Ben Clanton, 2016
Younger readers will enjoy the adventures of Narwhal and his friend Jelly the jellyfish. This book contains simple, charming stories about friendship and imagination. Balanced by Jelly’s skepticism, Narwhal’s optimism and enthusiasm for life is catching – and involves everything from the excitement of making new friends to the small joys of eating waffles.
Princess Princess Ever After, Kate O’Neill, 2016
Most of us are familiar with the traditional tale of the story of the princess kidnapped by a witch and locked in a dragon-guarded tower, only to be rescued by her prince and live happily ever after… right? Not always! This book features the engaging tale of two very different princesses and their friends, who all get to their happily ever afters in sometimes unexpected ways. In addition to subverting many of the traditional fairy tale tropes, the adventures of Princess Amira and Princess Sadie include lessons about kindness, bravery, and dealing with people’s expectations for your life.
Cave In, Brian Ralph, 2012
Follow the exciting adventures of one individual living in a labyrinthine underground world as he encounters monsters and mystery! This book exhibits a sophisticated mastery of storytelling: both story and emotion are clearly conveyed to the reader through images alone – it is entirely wordless in execution. The tale in this book is told through several story arcs, which are both allowed to flow into one another and yet are clearly defined through use of colour.
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty, G. Neri and Randy DuBurke, 2010
More mature readers may be interested in this compelling story about a tragic murder that happened in Chicago in 1994. This book follows a fictional narrator named Roger, a young boy trying to understand what caused eleven-year-old Robert “Yummy” Sandifer to murder fourteen-year-old Shavon Dean. Was Yummy some sort of monster, or just a kid in over his head? This book explores the realities of youth gang life and forces the reader to think critically about truth and question their own understandings of good and bad.
Akissi: Histoires pimentées, Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin, 2014
The OISE Library also has a number of non-English children’s books. This book is a collected edition of the first three volumes of Akissi, a French-language comic. The stories in this book tell the tales of Akissi’s everyday adventures growing up in Africa – adventures such as trying to retrieve a ball from a neighbour’s yard, sneaking into the movies with her friends, finding a mouse in the house, and going on summer holidays with her siblings.
You can find these books and other new additions to the library’s collections on the “New Arrivals” shelf, located near the reference desk on the ground floor of the OISE Library.
