Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Format: Graphic novel

Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists

Graphic novel

The first awesome thematic Corpse Talk book – all about the most amazing scientists from history ever! Adam Murphy interviews the dead famous scientists who changed the world – getting their stories straight from the corpses’ mouths!

Reading Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists is like having history injected into your brain! It guarantees laughs, surprises, and a whole host of the most astonishing achievements you’ll ever discover.

Don’t miss out on the biggest thing to hit history since Horrible Histories!

Children Who Changed the World

Marcia Williams

Graphic novel

From the heroes familiar to everyone, such as Malala Yousafzai, to the amazing activists you might not have heard of, like Baruani Ndume, the teenager who gave a voice to fellow refugee children in Tanzania, discover the incredible true stories of child activists. An inspirational and moving book from beloved author-illustrator Marcia Williams, providing the perfect introduction to an important subject and marking 30 years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed by the United Nations General Assembly.

Copycat Science

Mike Barfield

Graphic novel

Science is entertaining… science is funny… science is downright ridiculous!
Explore the wacky world of STEM in this comic book of exciting experiments .
Defy gravity with air pressure!
Extract DNA from a living thing!
Learn the science of SLIME!
Create a lightning bolt in the dark!
Prove theories about light with Newton’s wheel!
…and much more! Discover STEM topics through the lives of over 40 scientists and their amazing discoveries. Read the comic strips then have a go at each STEM experiment yourself. Featuring a diverse range of scientists throughout history this book will inspire you to give science a go! Are you ready?

Planet Stan

Chris Judge & Elaine Wickson

Graphic novel

We highly recommend this fun and accessible story, which is perfect for fans on Tom Gates and Wimpy Kid. The doodle-diary style story charts the ups and downs of Stan’s life. Stan loves to use pie charts and Venn diagrams to show how he feels, which adds a super fun element to the book.

There are heaps of humorous moments to laugh at during Stan’s adventures, and also heartwarming parts where Stan and his brother learn to pool their resources and work as a team.

Children who love a visual element to their reading books will enjoy this easy to read story, which is perfect for independent reading in KS2.

Evil Emperor Penguin: Antics in Antarctica

Laura Ellen Anderson

Graphic novel

This is such a fun, silly book! I loved Evil Emperor Penguin (“EEP”) and his bumbling sidekicks Mister 8 and Eugene and his minions. Their never-ending antics are hilarious. Poor EEP desperately wants to take over the world but is thwarted at every turn by his employees. They never seem to get things right, much to his dismay.

However, Evil Emperor Penguin never gives up. His resilience is heroic: he won’t give up no matter what. He reminds me a lot of Dick Dastardly chasing the pigeon. I really liked how the book is a collection of small stories that are related. It keeps you engaged. The format of a graphic novel is brilliant and adds to the enjoyment. The illustrations are bright, colourful and perfect for the stories. I think kids (and adults) will go crazy for this book and that it will appeal to even the most reluctant of readers.

Bunny vs Monkey

Jamie Smart

Graphic novel

The Bunny Vs Monkey series by Jamie Smart has become a popular favourite with children. The stories started as part of the Phoenix Comic and have now been made into a book series of their own. Teachers are seeing what a big hit these funny graphic novels have been in the classroom and the books have also seen success in bestseller lists and book award shortlists.

The stories follow the wacky tales of Bunny and his friends Weenie the Squirrel, Pig (the pig), Action Beaver and Skunky the Inventor, who all lived a peaceful life in the forest until Monkey’s rocket crash-landed and he decided to take over. What follows is a riot of chaotic adventures and mayhem that unfolds through a funny comic strip format.

If you enjoy this series, check out our list of more books for fans of Bunny vs Monkey.

Looshkin

Jamie Smart

Graphic novel

Looshkin is the maddest cat in the world!

You may think that your cat is mad, but they’ve got nothing on Looshkin. Leave him for just a moment and you’ll find that your house has flooded, a steam train has smashed into your living room and a portal to another dimension has opened in your loft. And everything is covered in bees. And there are sirens.

Looshkin, what have you done?!

Super Dweeb and the Pencil of Destiny

Jess Bradley

Graphic novel

Andy wishes that he had *awesome powers*, like the heroes of his homemade comic stories. But instead, he’s stuck in the real world, where he has an annoying little brother, a super-weird teacher … and everyone says he’s a total dweeb.

Then one day, he discovers an oversized, glowing pencil on a school trip to the local toxic waste dump. He starts sketching and finds that he can redraw reality.

Now, thanks to the power of doodling, Andy can bring to life anything that he can imagine, erase his problems, and doodle his way of sticky situations. He’s not just a dweeb … he’s a SUPER DWEEB! Even Mona, the ice-cool new girl at school, seems impressed.

But there’s a twist in the tale.. because everything goes very wrong when little brother Oscar does some doodling of his own. Now there’s a scribble monster on the loose! Run for it, Andy!

The first of the hilarious new Super Dweeb series, this unpredictable, anarchic adventure story will have kids rolling on the floor. Featuring comic-strip-style storytelling in full-colour, this short book is perfect for readers aged 7-9.

Dog Man

Dav Pilkey

Graphic novel

The Dog Man books form a wildly popular children’s book series written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey. The series features a half-dog, half-human police officer who fights crime and saves the day in the city.

Written in a graphic novel format with comic-style illustrations and speech bubbles, these books are popular with children aged 6-9. The series has become known for hooking children into reading through visual humour and wacky storylines. Each story in the Dog Man series is told through several short chapters, and the books can be read in any order.

Readers who enjoy Dog Man might also like to explore our Branching Out list of more books like Dog Man.

Mr Wolf’s Class

Aron Nels Steinke

Graphic novel

We love this good-natured graphic novel series!

Brand new teacher Mr Wolf starts his first day at Hazelwood school, teaching a Year 5 class. The fun of animal characters in an instantly familiar classroom setting is an instant appeal, with the warmth of the regular routines of the school day coupled with the funny and surprises that crop up in normal classrooms too. Fans of Pamela Butchart’s Wigglesbottom Primary series will enjoy moving on to these school-based tales next.

These comic-style books are warm and humorous, and an enormous hit with children around 7-10. Primary children looking for graphic novels sometimes need to navigate their choices to avoid books originally aimed at older children (because of the publishing history of the format, which was popular with teens before gradually becoming more accessible to a younger audience, much to our delight!).

We highly recommend Mr Wolf’s Class as a safe, enjoyable and entertaining choice for KS2 children.