Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose | Incoming

Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose, the newest title in Dav Pilkey’s newest series, leads our list of upcoming graphic novels for young readers.

Big news from Scholastic’s Graphix imprint: Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose, the third Cat Kid Comic Club title, will go on sale on April 5. Written and illustrated by Dog Man creator Dav Pilkey, the Cat Kid books use a comics class filled with mischievous students to teach readers about creativity and encourage them to try making comics of their own. As can bee seen from the cover, the illustrations use a variety of media in addition to Pilkey’s signature style.

Scholastic will publish Kat Fajardo’s Miss Quinces in both English and Spanish on the same day, a first for the Graphix imprint.

DC’s newest young-readers graphic novel is Batman’s Mystery Casebook, by Sholly Fisch and Christopher Uminga, due out on August 30. Readers learn about clues and deductive reasoning as they help Batman solve a mystery. Fisch is the writer of The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries and the Scooby-Doo Team-Up series. The 144-page paperback is rated for ages 8-12 and priced at $9.99.

One Press will publish a new, deluxe hardcover edition of Maia Kobabe’s Alex Award-winning graphic novel Gender Queer in April.

HarperCollins has become the master trade publisher for the Smurfs in the U.S., and they have plans for board books, I Can Read! titles, and sticker books. They don’t have the license for most comics (apparently that’s still with Papercutz), but they do have plans to publish some I Can Read Comics! Smurfs titles. It looks like the books will also pick up their esthetic from the Nickelodeon TV series, whose first season just ended, rather than from the original comics stylings of Smurfs creator Peyo.

The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) has just released its 2021 Best Graphic Novels for Children Reading List. This is a first for the GNCRT and it is planned to be an annual list, like YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Kids list.

Need more? At The Beat, Nancy Powell has compiled a list of 41 all-ages graphic novels that are coming out in Winter 2022.

The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) is offering a free webinar, Using Comics to Support Teen Mental Health on January 31. The panelists are comics creators Cara Bean, Rachel Lindsay, Lawrence Lindell, and Whit Taylor and social worker Diana Wheatley.

And Booklist and Diamond are sponsoring a free Graphic Novels for All webinar on February 1. Fantagraphics, Diamond, Image, Yen Press/JY, and One Press will be participating.

Filed under: All Ages