Browse our Year Group Booklists

Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Home

Topic: Graphic Novels

best graphic novels for primary school children

Best Graphic Novels for Primary School Children

Booklist: Best Graphic Novels for Primary School Children

Updated for 2026

Graphic novels are powerful tools for building visual literacy in primary school children. Whether you are looking for books to support reluctant readers or high-quality texts for KS1 and KS2 literacy lessons, this curated list offers expert-recommended graphic novels for every age group

Graphic novels are longer stories written and illustrated in the style of a comic, combining a sequence of engaging visual elements that drive the plot, coupled with short pockets of text in the form of captions and dialogue. Our expert team of teachers and librarians has witnessed this format seeing a burst in popularity in recent years, and these books are seeing an increasing demand in primary schools. We’ve handpicked a list of the most brilliant graphic novels for primary school

Scroll down to find more purchasing options and additional guidance, or click on each book cover to find out more.

best-graphic-novels-ks1

Graphic Novels for KS1

Graphic novel

Best Graphic Novels for KS1 (Ages 5-7)

Graphic novels are longer stories written and illustrated in a comic style, combining a sequence of engaging visual elements that drive the plot, coupled with short pockets of text in the form of captions and dialogue. The format has seen a burst in popularity in recent years, and these books are seeing an increasing demand in primary schools.

Up until recently, most of the graphic novels available have been aimed at older children, but a newer demand for graphic novels suitable for younger readers in KS1 is now emerging. Whether you are looking for simple adventures like Max and Chaffy or comic tales of animal friends like Peanut Butter and Crackers, we’ve compiled a short list of the best graphic novels where the story content, length and text level are suited to children aged 5-7 in Years 1 and 2.

This list is aimed at readers in KS1. If you are looking for recommendations for graphic novels for older children, be sure to check out our Graphic Novels for Lower KS2 and Graphic Novels for Upper KS2.

corspe talk ground breaking explorers

Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Explorers

Graphic novel

Meet the most exceptional explorers of all time!

Which Viking voyager outclassed Columbus by 500 years?

Who cut Ferdinand Magellan’s round-the-world trip in half?

What got Amelia Earhart’s passion for piloting off to a flying start?

Uncover all this and more in Corpse Talk, the hilarious and mind-expanding chat show that brings the dead famous to life!

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Best graphic novels for ages 7-9

Graphic Novels for Lower KS2

Graphic novel

Booklist: Best Graphic Novels Suitable for Years 3 and Year 4 (Ages 7-9)

Graphic novels are longer stories written and illustrated in the style of a comic, combining a sequence of engaging visual elements that drive the plot, coupled with short pockets of text in the form of captions and dialogue. The format has seen a burst in popularity in recent years, and these books are seeing an increasing demand in primary schools. We’ve picked out a list of brilliant graphic novels that are most suitable for children aged 7-9….

Scroll down to find more purchasing options and additional guidance, or click on each book cover to find out more.

Best graphic novels for ages 9-11

Graphic Novels for Children in Upper KS2

Graphic novel

Booklist: Best Graphic Novels for Children Aged 9-11

Graphic novels are longer stories written and illustrated in the style of a comic, combining a sequence of engaging visual elements that drive the plot, coupled with short pockets of text in the form of captions and dialogue. The format has seen a burst in popularity in recent years, and these books are seeing an increasing demand in primary schools. We’ve picked out a list of brilliant graphic novels that are most suitable for children aged 9-11…

The Witches: The Graphic Novel

&
Graphic novel

The Witches, now available as a graphic novel from Eisner Award-winning artist Penelope Bagieu!

Witches are real, and they are very, very dangerous.

They wear ordinary clothes and have ordinary jobs, living in ordinary towns all across the world – and there’s nothing they despise more than children.

When an eight-year-old boy and his grandmother come face-to-face with the Grand High Witch herself, they may be the only ones who can stop the witches’ latest plot to stamp out every last child in the country!

This full-colour graphic novel edition of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, adapted and illustrated by Eisner Award-winner Penelope Bagieu, is the first-ever Dahl story to appear in this format.

Graphic novel readers and Roald Dahl fans alike will relish this dynamic new take on a uniquely funny tale.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Percy Jackson graphic novel

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel

&
Graphic novel

Percy Jackson – now in stunning graphic novel form!

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That’s when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive.

This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I’ve stolen his lightning bolt – and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea.

Can Percy find the lightning bolt before a fully-fledged war of the Gods erupts?

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
corpse talk scientists

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!

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
Children Who Changed The World

Children Who Changed the World

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.

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop
copycat science

Copycat Science

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?

Buy from Amazon
Buy from Bookshop

Subscribe to our newsletter

Your Review

Stone Girl Bone Girl

review

Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:

Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?

Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?

yes

Curriculum links (if relevant)

Curriculum links (if relevant)

Any other comments

Any other comments