Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles into Comics

Not quite a how-to book, as the cover might suggest, this is rather a stupendous new high for children's graphic novels, spearheaded by comics maestro Sturm (Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, 2007). Ostensibly, this is the adventure of an eager knight, a sweet-toothed horse, and a magic elf hunting down a gum-chewing dragon, and those reading for the adventure itself will not be disappointed, filled as it is with humor, action, and a great girl-empowering twist. But along the way, lessons in the language of sequential art are woven seamlessly into the narrative, explaining the basics of how elements such as panels and word balloons work, while concluding bonus features offer specifics on terminology (like gutters and stems) and common symbols (like speed lines). Newcomers Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost, using varying page compositions to keep the sizable volume visually captivating, have constructed a tale that works just as well as a read-aloud for the very young as it does a lesson for everyone from fans of the form to the wholly uninitiated. As an examination of the medium, it's a supremely worthy spiritual legacy to Scott McCloud's seminal Understanding Comics (1993). As a straight-up graphic adventure, it may be the best of the year. --Booklist

James Sturm is the author of award-winning graphic novels for children and adults, including James Sturm's America, Market Day, The Golem's Mighty Swing and Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow. He is the founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies. He lives in White River Junction, Vermont.Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost are graduates of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Arnold lives in New York and works in publishing. Frederick-Frost lives outside of Boston and works at a library.