Summer Reading for Kids!

Kids’ comic book series my kids love (and their teachers approve!)

Last year my son, then in first grade, was really into a certain comic book. He would bring it to school every day and read it during his free reading period. Later, during a parent-teacher conference, his teacher told me that reading the comic book had really helped his mental growth and his interest in reading. I had thought this series was really silly and would not have thought she would consider it approved literature; however, she told us to keep it up! So I bought more and more of these books, and my daughter started reading them as well. Her love for reading is already out of this world and I literally have to take books away from her to get her out the door for school.

Here is my list of comic book series my kids love. (My children are 7 and 8 years old so this list is geared toward lower elementary school children.)

1. Dog Man by Dav Pilkey – The comic series that started it all! This series is silly. (Dav Pilkey is also the author of Captain Underpants.) There is some use of potty humor in Dog Man, but not as much as Captain Underpants. Dog Man is set around a man with a dog’s head who becomes a police officer.

2. The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey – This series is narrated by the villains of other familiar stories. This is the newest series my kids are into.

3. Babymouse by Jennifer Holm – I was on a quest to find a girly comic series for my 7-year-old daughter who LOVES Dog Man. I finally found it with Babymouse. This is a feel-good comic about the adventures of a girl mouse, her friends, and her vivid imagination.

4. Lunch Lady by Jarrett J. Krosoczka – This is one I will actually sit and read myself! Again, in my quest to find girly comic books, I found this one. This is a story about a woman who is a lunch lady by day and super hero by night. It’s hilarious to me! My daughter really likes it as well.

5. Diary Of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney – We listen to the audiobook editions of this series almost 24/7. My kids also read the books. This book is narrated by middle-schooler Greg Heffley, who tells sarcastic stories about school and his family. This one reads more like a novel, but with stick figure pictures.

6. Comic Squad edited by Jennifer Holm – This is a 3-book collection of different comics, similar to all of the comics mentioned above plus Peanuts, Squish, and others. This is a good starter book to see what comics your kids might be interested in.