I like that you value both graphic novels and, well, non-graphic novels. I think we need both to reach all kinds of readers. My middle grade debut coming out with Charlesbridge, Moon Girl, will be "lightly illustrated," and I'm very excited about that. I hope that helps it to appeal to a wide range of readers.
Re: kids wanting to laugh. A friend gave us a bunch of old kids books, and one of them was Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. It's basically a book of fractured fairytales. My teen daughter started reading them aloud (MOM THIS BOOK HAS SWEARS IN IT) and we have laughed and laughed for days. I had no idea Dahl wrote anything like this, and it's probably the funniest thing ever. I mean, it's kind of twisted and dark (Goldilocks gets eaten by the baby bear because she ate his breakfast, Red Riding Hood pulls out a gun, shoots the wolf, and turns his skin into a cloak, etc.) but it's also soooo funny. I'd love to find more books like that, but I'm afraid that these kind of fractured fairytales would NEVER be written today.
I like that you value both graphic novels and, well, non-graphic novels. I think we need both to reach all kinds of readers. My middle grade debut coming out with Charlesbridge, Moon Girl, will be "lightly illustrated," and I'm very excited about that. I hope that helps it to appeal to a wide range of readers.
I think it will appeal, and I agree we need both.
Re: kids wanting to laugh. A friend gave us a bunch of old kids books, and one of them was Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl. It's basically a book of fractured fairytales. My teen daughter started reading them aloud (MOM THIS BOOK HAS SWEARS IN IT) and we have laughed and laughed for days. I had no idea Dahl wrote anything like this, and it's probably the funniest thing ever. I mean, it's kind of twisted and dark (Goldilocks gets eaten by the baby bear because she ate his breakfast, Red Riding Hood pulls out a gun, shoots the wolf, and turns his skin into a cloak, etc.) but it's also soooo funny. I'd love to find more books like that, but I'm afraid that these kind of fractured fairytales would NEVER be written today.
That sounds both dark and hilarious at the same time 🤣