In Honor of Banned Books Week

#1 Challenged Book of 2013

The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants #1)
by Dav Pilkey

Pilkey plays with words and pictures, providing great entertainment. The story is immediately engaging - two fourth-grade boys who write comic books and love to pull pranks find themselves in big trouble. Mean Mr. Krupp, their principal, videotapes George and Harold setting up their stunts and threatens to expose them. The boys' luck changes when they send for a 3-D Hypno-Ring and hypnotize Krupp, turning him into Captain Underpants, their own superhero creation. Later, Pilkey includes several pages of flip-o-ramas that animate the action. The simple black-and-white illustrations on every page furnish comic-strip appeal. The cover features Captain Underpants, resplendent in white briefs, on top of a tall building. This book will fly off the shelves.

(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)

I’ve read about half of the Captain Underpants series—out loud to a child—and loved them almost as much, if not more, than he did. The illustrations are a great complement to the story, which in itself is downright hilarious. This series is perfect for reluctant readers. It will show them that reading can be fun while still helping them develop the habit of reading sequentially from left to right with very manageable—and did I mention hilarious?!—text.

This book was challenged not because it was “unsuited for age group” but because Pilkey dared to have the two student protagonist challenge authority and because he portrayed school personnel in the way in which he experienced them himself; detached, indifferent, of often unkind. Teachers have one of the most important jobs in the world, they teach our children, but being over-worked, under-paid and under-appreciated has led many to simply not give a damn anymore. Parents, don’t blame the graphic novel, blame the fractured system. Them stop blaming it and do something about it.

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes

by Kazu Kibuishi  (Editor)

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

Find out in these seven clever stories by eight incredible comics creators!

Under the Floorboards by Emily Carroll
A box, a doll...but it's no ordinary plaything!

Spring Cleaning by Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier
There really is mystery in the back of a messy closet!

The Keeper's Treasure by Jason Caffoe
A treasure inside a labyrinth inside a temple which way to turn now?

The Butter Thief by Rad Sechrist
There's more than one way to trap a house spirit!

The Soldier's Daughter by Stuart Livingston
There are mysteries of life and death--and beyond.

Whatzit by Johane Matte
Oh no, not that box! Watch out, little alien!

The Escape Option by Kazu Kibuishi
A strange, meteoric box and an otherworldly choice.
(retrieved from goodreads.com)

Creative stories and beautiful illustrations. This is a great collection of tales for all ages.

Bluffton

by Matt Phelan

Matt Phelan, graphic novelist extraordinaire, presents a rollicking tribute to vaudeville, small-town dreams, and Buster Keaton as a boy.

In the summer of 1908, in Muskegon, Michigan, a visiting troupe of vaudeville performers is about the most exciting thing since baseball. They’re summering in nearby Bluffton, so Henry has a few months to ogle the elephant and the zebra, the tightrope walkers and — lo and behold — a slapstick actor his own age named Buster Keaton. The show folk say Buster is indestructible; his father throws him around as part of the act and the audience roars, while Buster never cracks a smile. Henry longs to learn to take a fall like Buster, "the human mop," but Buster just wants to play ball with Henry and his friends. With signature nostalgia, Scott O’Dell Award–winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan visualizes a bygone era with lustrous color, dynamic lines, and flawless dramatic pacing.
(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)

Looking after children is really difficult, but it's books like this that make keeping a child entertained both easy and a pleasure. Especially since it is great for the reader as well. The illustrations are stunning and the story has a great combo of themes including history, friendship, childhood summer magic, the circus, and young love.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

by Brian Selznick

Half sketches create a story in pictures too, relevant history. Real last-century French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès collected mechanical robot-like automata, and, impoverished, worked at a toy booth in a Paris railway station. Here, orphan Hugo fixes his late father's automata, and meets Méliès through his god-daughter Isabelle.
(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)

Is it a graphic novel? Is it a "traditional" novel? Yes! It's both! This was a marvelously told story that led the reader on many unexpected and exciting twists and turns. The illustrations pull you into Paris and the story is one that everyone can relate to.

The film adaptation was surprisingly good as well.

Bone, Vol. 1: Out from Boneville

by Jeff Smith

After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert.

One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures...

Humor, mystery, and adventure are spun together in this action-packed, side-splitting saga. Everyone who has ever left home for the first time only to find that the world outside is strange and overwhelming will love Bone.

(Summary retrieved from goodreads.com)

One of the best parts of looking after other people's kids was reading books with illustrations again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it and how much I'd missed after I stopped. This graphic novel has it all and I would recommend it to any child, young adult, or adult-y adult.