Kids' Comics

British Government Urges Young Boys to Read Calvin and Hobbes

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:32:00 +0000

"The British government says young boys should be encouraged to read Calvin and Hobbes and comic-book annuals such as the Dandy and Beano to get them into the reading habit young and help them to keep up with girls' at school."

Read more...

TOON at CNN

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:26:00 +0000

Rosa Williams, age 6, reviews Benny and Penny and Otto's Orange Day for CNN.com.

Comics in the Classroom: Student Activity

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:27:00 +0000

As a follow-up activity to a lesson on Benny and Penny, first and second graders were asked to create a comic strip using the text features they had learned (speech balloons, thought balloons, and captions).

Submitted by Patricia Phillips
Reading Specialist
Phelps Luck Elementary School
Columbia, MD

Response from Maryland Educator

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:45:00 +0000

Thank you so much for giving me this wonderful opportunity to introduce these books to my classroom.

My students loved Benny and Penny in Just Pretend and being able to identify the text features of the comic. They enjoyed finding all the sound effects and saying them out loud. My ELL (English Language Learners) students wanted to read this story over and over again. Their conversations led to talking about their own experiences with their brothers and sisters. After reading this story they asked if they could take the book to their ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) class. The ESOL teacher stopped me in the hall later that day and said, "Where did you get those books? The kids were so excited about reading them to me and told me about speech balloons, and thought balloons, etc. What motivating books!"

I have to agree with her. I've been bringing these TOON Books to class daily. My ELL students run up to me and say, "Did you bring the comic books for us to read!?"

Since I am the Reading Specialist at my school I work with every grade level and with students who are below grade level. Using these books showed an increased improvement in their motivation to read and their knowledge of skills needed to be good readers. I would highly recommend these books for use in the classroom, especially with struggling readers and ESOL students.

Thank you!

Patricia Phillips
Reading Specialist
Phelps Luck Elementary School
Columbia, MD

Rain or Shine

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:03:00 +0000

We had a marvelous rainy afternoon in Madison Square Park for Kids Fest. After a dramatic reading of Benny and Penny, everybody pulled up a yoga mat and huddled under the tent for readings of Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons, Stinky, and an encore presentation of B&P. Special thanks to Samantha Terry at Time Out New York Kids for inviting us to participate in this wonderful event!

TOONS in the Park

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:00:00 +0000

For those of you who will be in New York over the weekend, join us on Saturday for Kids Fest! Time Out New York Kids teams up with the Madison Square Park Conservancy for this annual outdoor fair chock-full of art activities, face painting, live animals, tasty treats (courtesy of Whole Foods) and more.

At 12:30, look for TOON associate Leigh Stein in a Penny princess cap. She will be reading from TOON titles Benny and Penny by Geoffrey Hayes, Silly Lilly by Agnès Rosenstiehl, and the forthcoming Stinky by Eleanor Davis.

TOON Books at BEA

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:11:00 +0000

TOON Books looks forward to attending this weekend's BookExpo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Our books will be on display at Diamond Book Distributors' booth #4700 and TOON Books principles will participate in the event's robust slate of comics-related programming.

On Friday at 2:00 pm, TOON Books Series Advisor Art Spiegelman will sign posters for his upcoming book BREAKDOWNS at the Knopf Booth #1130

The BEA's Graphic Novel Breakfast will take place Saturday morning at 8:00 am. The event, hosted by Jeff Smith, will also include Art Spiegelman, Jeph Loeb and Mike Mignola. Room 403AB.

After the breakfast, BEA attendees are welcome to watch Art Spiegelman's interview with Daniel Pink for his podcast Upfront & Unscripted at 10:00 am in Room 405.

Art will be giving a BREAKDOWNS presentation later that afternoon, at 2:00 pm, in room 410.

TOON Books Editorial Director Françoise Mouly is on the panel for Building a Graphic Novel Section for Kids and Teens, moderated by Janna Morishima, director of Diamond Kids. Ms. Mouly, as well as panelists Kristen McLean, executive direction of the Association of Booksellers for Children, and Eva Volin, director of children's services at Alameda Free Library, CA, will discuss how to expand your GN section. 2:30 pm Saturday, Room 406A

At 4:00, Ms. Mouly will participate in an additional panel titled "The New Literacy: How Graphic Novels, the Web, and Video Games are Changing the Way We Process Information." Other panelists will include John Shableski, Gene Yang, Rex Sorgatz and Dr. Michael Bitz.

And don't miss the Diamond Book Distributor cocktail reception, sponsored by Marvel, DC, Raw Junior, and Dark Horse, among others. 4:00pm at the Diamond Booth #4700.

More on D+Q's John Stanley Reprint Plans

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:44:00 +0000

Drawn and Quarterly has posted follow-up information to indicate that the publisher's previously announced plans to reprint comic book work by John Stanley have expanded to include Stanley's Nancy and Sluggo comic book stories. Tom Devlin writes:

This series will likely begin next summer; it is undetermined at this time just how many volumes there will be in total. These comics came as something as a surprise to me because I just assumed that there was no way they could be as good as the great Bushmiller strips but they really are. Stanley actually expanded the cast of the strip and added a couple of great characters, the Wednesday Addams inspired Oona Goosepimple and Sluggo's nemesis, Mr. McOnion.

Elsewhere, comics scholar Jeet Heer greets the news by arguing that Stanley is a better writer of comics than the acclaimed and more well-known Carl Barks.

Remembering Wacky Packages

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:35:00 +0000

Ex-kids in this blog's audience may recall the Wacky Packages series of stickers produced by Topps. Abrams has recently published a retrospective volume reprinting the first seven series of cards. The book features an introduction by Art Spiegelman, a prime mover behind the project during his years as a creative consultant at Topps. The book includes a "bonus pack of four rare and never-before-printed Wacky Packages stickers.”

Shaun Tan Interviewed

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:29:00 +0000

The Australian runs a new interview with Shaun Tan, who discusses the success of The Arrival and his latest picture book project, Tales From Outer Suburbia.

Tales marks a return by Tan to illustrated prose: The Arrival, an international bestseller and literary prize magnet, was a graphic novel that did not contain a single word.

It caused a stir when it won book of the year -- becoming the first graphic novel to do so -- in last year's NSW Premier's Literary Awards. It provoked consternation when Tan was asked to give a reading at the Sydney Writers Festival. Tan notes that France has taken to his entirely visual narrative with far less ambivalence: The Arrival has sold more than 40,000 copies there and hasn't been narrowly defined as a children's book.

Henry's Letter to TOON Books

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:45:00 +0000

Otto's Orange Day writer Jay Lynch passed along the following letter from a young reader along with a note from his teacher, Tracy Edmunds.

Hello Mr. Lynch,

I teach in a Reading Intervention program and have been using the Toon Books with my small class of struggling readers. Henry is a fourth grade student who came in to our class in January not able to read at all. He has made great strides in the past few months and he was exceedingly proud the other day that he could read Otto's Orange Day on his own. He has written you a letter, no easy feat for him, and asked me to mail it to you. If you could provide a mailing address, I would love to be able to tell Henry that his letter is on its way to you.

Thank you,

Tracy Edmunds

(Please click on image for larger view)

Centre Pompidou acquires Hergé Page

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:50:00 +0000

The Centre Pompidou has acquired a page from Hergé's The Calculus Affair, the Telegraph reports. "The strip’s inclusion was described as revolutionary by curator Laurent Le Bon, the first to point out that the centre’s 60,000 works failed to include a single comic strip, despite France’s flourishing comic art culture. " The Tintin.com website shows a small image of the page acquired by the museum. As the Telegraph piece notes, the Centre mounted an exhibit of Hergé's work in late 2006 to mark the centennial of the artist's birth.

Philip Pullman to Write Comics

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:42:00 +0000

The Times reports that children's fantasy author Philip Pullman will write a new comic strip called "The Adventures of John Blake" for the DFC, a forthcoming weekly subscription-based British comic book for children launched by David Fickling. Pullman, well known as the author of the His Dark Materials series, notes that he was "brought up on comics like the Eagle, Wizard and Beano, though not so much Dandy. This is what I want to bring back to today’s youngsters – good storytelling, but with more adventurous and original illustrations.” The strip will be drawn by John Aggs in a "Japanese-influenced" style.

Although Pullman intends to return to novel writing next year with a children’s story called The Book of Dust, he is likely to retain his interest in the illustrated comic form. “Yes, I might do a graphic novel myself after that,” he said.

Brenda Bowen Talks Comics

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:30:00 +0000

Publishers Weekly interviews Brenda Bowen about plans to publish comics as part of Bowen Books, her new children's book imprint at HarperCollins. Bowen had previously been an editor at Hyperion, where she established a publishing relationship with the Center for Cartoon Studies, among other projects. "Bowen has plans for a graphic novel based on one of the most famous Civil War battles (Jan. 2009), a kids’ picture book by cartoonist Lynn Johnston (summer 2009) and a new graphic novel based on the work of New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr," PW reports. Bowen adds: "I’ve also just signed a novel in comics called Herbert’s Wormhole, written by Peter Nelson and illustrated by Ro Rao. It’s a funny book for children eight to 11 years old, about a kid who creates what Einstein only imagines—a wormhole that bores down to the future."

On Vince Fago's Classics Adaptations

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:23:00 +0000

Sean Kleefeld posts an article about 1940s funny animal cartoonist and comics editor Vince Fago's Pendulum Press, a 1970s Classics Illustrated-style publishing imprint devoted to comics adaptations of canonical Western literature for young audiences. Fago "scripted most of the books himself, adapting and abridging the originals as closely as possible given page limitations, and then got talented 'newcomers' like Nestor Redondo to illustrate them," Kleefeld writes. He further notes that the series was repackaged in the 1990s as a series of "prestige format" comics albums. More recently, work from Fago's series has been folded into the current Graphic Classics series alongside work by contemporary cartoonists including Rick Geary and Richard Sala.

Highlights For Kids: The Timbertoes

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:23:00 +0000

The Highlights for Kids website includes an extensive archive of Timbertoes comic strips from that magazine's pages. Wikipedia details the stip's history:

Created for a 1932 book of the same name (published by The Harter Publishing Company) by writers Edna M. Aldredge and Jessie F. McKee along with illustrator John Gee, The Timbertoes has appeared in Highlights magazine for over 30 years. The first Highlights incarnation was a full-page black and white comic strip featuring line-drawn characters, later switching to digital color in 2003. The Timbertoes family consists of parents Ma and Pa and their children Mabel and Tommy. The characters, including their pet dog Spot and their pet cat Splinter, are depicted as being constructed from wood. Upon Gee's passing, Highlights Senior Editor Marileta Robinson took over writing the strip, with illustrations done by Judith Hunt and Ron Zalme.

June 6: "Post Bang" Symposium at NYU

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:42:00 +0000

The New York Institute for the Humanities announces "Post Bang: Comics Ten Minutes After the Big Bang," an all-day symposium taking place Friday, June 6 at NYU's Cantor Film Center (36 E. 8th Street). The free, public event runs from 11 am through 9:30 pm and is being offered in conjunction with the MoCCA Art Festival. Participants will include Lynda Barry, David Hajdu, Leonard Marcus, Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman, Mo Willems, and Douglas Wolk, among others, and the program will include a panel on children's comics including TOON Books Editorial Director Françoise Mouly. A full event schedule follows:

11 am – 12:15 pm COMICS AND CANON FORMATION will feature John Carlin (Masters of American Comics), Dan Nadel (Art Out of Time), and Rob Storr (Yale and the Venice Biennale).

1:30 – 2:45 pm COMICS AND KID’S LIT will bring together Lisa von Drasek (Bank Street College), Leonard Marcus (Minders of Make Believe), Francoise Mouly (The New Yorker), Mo Willems (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), and Sara Varon (Sweaterweather).

3:00 – 4:15 pm COMICS AND THE LITERARY ESTABLISHMENT, featuring Hillary Chute (Harvard), David Hajdu (The Ten-Cent Plague), Jeet Heer (Walt and Skeezix), and Douglas Wolk (Reading Comics).

5:30 – 6:45 pm COMICS AND THE INTERNET features Sarah Boxer (Ultimate Blogs), Shaenon Garrity (Narbonic), Hope Larson (Gray Horses), Siva Vaidhyanathan (The Anarchist in the Library), and Kent Worcester (The Comics Studies Reader).

7:00 – 8:00 pm Raw magazine cofounder ART SPIEGELMAN (Maus, Breakdowns, In the Shadow of No Towers) in conversation with the “King of Punk Art,” GARY PANTER (Cola Madnes, Jimbo, Pee Wee’s Playhouse).

8:15 – 9:30 pm Harvard scholar Hillary Chute in conversation with one of the country’s foremost alternative cartoonists, LYNDA BARRY (Ernie Pook’s Comeek, The Good Times are Killing Me, What It Is).

Will Elder (1921-2008)

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Cartoonist Will Elder died on Thursday, May 16, according to several sources including the Comics Reporter. Among his many achievements, Elder was the flagship artist of MAD's first incarnation as a satirical comic book for young readers, edited and written by Harvey Kurtzman. Elder distinguished himself with his ability to parodically mimic other cartooning styles and pack his comics panels with dense sight-gags, while hewing to Kurtzman's carefully composed page breakdowns. The Journalista! blog runs a fond reminiscence by Elder's son-in-law, Gary VandenBergh. The New York Observer and the CBC both run obituaries. The "Mad Mumblings" website includes an interview with Elder conducted around the time of the publication of a retrospective book, Will Elder: The Mad Playboy of Art. The artist was 86.

Amazon Spotlights TOON Books

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:16:00 +0000

Amazon.com's blog covers children's comics, focusing on TOON Books.

Silly Lilly is the least kinetic of the three, using a deliberately flat style and even tone to provide a primer on the four seasons. Benny and Penny, on the other hand, features two bickering mice who fight over the reality of a pirate ship. Otto’s Orange Day uses exaggeration and good-natured banter to establish its mood. All three are note-perfect for what they’re doing.

D+Q to Publish John Stanley Comics

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:10:00 +0000

Drawn and Quarterly announces plans to reprint several volumes worth of comics by John Stanley.

We'll be starting off with a three volume set of Stanley's Melvin Monster... While primarily know as a writer, Stanley actually wrote and drew all nine issues of this series...Next up, a three-volume set of the Stanley "Teen" comics--Thirteen going on Eighteen, Around the Block with Dunc and Loo, and Kookie... Thirteen is again almost all Stanley written and drawn and is one of the great "lost" treasures of silver age comics. Dunc and Loo and Kookie feature other artists (notably Bill Williams) finishing Stanley's layouts but still maintaining that manic quality that was a Stanley trademark.

The series will be designed by the cartoonist Seth. The "Stanley Stories" website runs examples of both Melvin Monster and Dunc and Loo.

Dark Horse Comics currently publishes a series of books reprinting Stanley's Little Lulu comics. Elsewhere, "Pappy's Golden Age" has recently posted a Nancy comic book story by Stanley.

Bone Exhibit Opens Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:14:00 +0000

"Bone and Beyond," a major exhibition of work by Jeff Smith, opens at Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts on Saturday, May 10th. The exhibit is presented in conjunction with OSU's Cartoon Research Library, which runs a related exhibit of Smith's student comics titled "Before Bone." Smith's blog displays photographs of the show being mounted. "Bone and Beyond" runs through August 3, 2008. A catalog is being published in conjunction with the show, and the Center will host several related programming events.

Benny and Penny Cover TONY Kids

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:40:00 +0000

The May issue of Time Out New York Kids features an original Geoffrey Hayes drawing of TOON Books characters Benny and Penny on its cover. The magazine previously featured the imprint in its April issue.

Pappy Posts Wolverton's "Scoop Scuttle"

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:25:00 +0000

Pappy's Golden Age posts a four-page "Scoop Scuttle" story by Basil Wolverton, originally published in a 1944 issue of Daredevil Comics.

"Blog of the Week"

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Fri, 09 May 2008 14:17:00 +0000

The Kids' Comics blog is grateful to have been named "Blog of the Week" by Anastasia Suen, a children's books author, consultant and teacher who covers the children's book industry on her blog.

Eleanor Davis: Up and Coming

noreply@blogger.com (TOON Books) — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:40:00 +0000

Eleanor Davis, author of TOON Books' upcoming Stinky, is briefly profiled by Publishers Weekly as part of a survey of notable young cartoonists.

"She was still in school when Mouly approached her to contribute to Toon Books. For Stinky, a story about a pickle-loving monster, she turned to her love of drawing monsters. 'I get bored drawing autobiographical stuff—I tend to like to draw monsters, and there aren't that many monsters in my life,' she quips."