By Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud
Four aspiring artists, one epic club, and a mission to prove that comics are real art.
From the powerhouse team of Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud, both Eisner Award winners, comes The Cartoonists Club, a standalone graphic novel designed for middle-grade readers ages 8 to 12. The story follows four students who find common ground in their passion for comics. Makayla is a writer searching for a start, Howard is an artist in need of ideas, Lynda is a talented but shy sketcher, and Art is a boundless source of creativity. Under the encouraging guidance of their school librarian, Ms. Fatima, the group forms a club. Through friendship, fun creative prompts, and collaborative projects, they learn the craft of making comics as they work toward presenting their work at a local comics convention.
This book is a fantastic resource for supporting emergent readers, English language learners, and students who may be reluctant to pick up a traditional book. The graphic novel format itself provides a huge accessibility boost, as the full-color panels help convey the story and character emotions visually. For a student who has trouble with decoding, the artwork alleviates the challenge. The sentence structures are predominantly simple, making the narrative easy to follow. When new, domain-specific vocabulary is introduced, it’s paired with visual definitions and clear context clues, scaffolding the learning process directly on the page. Furthermore, the very limited use of idioms removes a common barrier for English learners. With its blend of an engaging story about overcoming self-doubt and practical, diagram-driven lessons on creating comics, this book is an excellent choice for educators looking to inspire creativity and build reading confidence.
