Children's Book Suggestions | Graphic Novel Hybrids

What do you do with a kid who loves graphic novels but struggles with the transition to text-based chapter books? Try some graphic novel hybrids! These books use a mix of traditional text passages and comic-style illustrations. This helps kids build up their stamina for longer passages of text and harnesses the power of sequential art in reading comprehension.

Graphic novel hybrids aren't the only strategies for engaging readers who struggle with long blocks of text. Additional strategies include:

  • Novels in verse pair plenty of white space with age-appropriate topics, making complex stories with rich vocabularies more accessible to striving readers.
  • Digital audiobooks from Libby can be paired with print books (with narration slowed to match the reader's speed if necessary) or with fidgets, crafts, or coloring for kids whose concentration benefits from a kinetic focus.
  • For readers who thrive with the support of dyslexia-friendly fonts, our Libby e-books can be read with OpenDyslexic.
Updated May 18, 2024
LINCC (Libraries in Clackamas County)Oregon City Public Library
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The last kids on Earth
Brallier, Max
Paper Book
Forty-two days ago I was an ordinary kid, living an uneventful life. But now it's TOTAL MONSTER ZOMBIE CHAOS and I'm battling beasts on a daily basis. Crazy, right? But I know exactly how to make it through the zombie apocalypse.    Jack Sullivan's ULTIMATE FEATS OF...

A group of middle schoolers team up to fight monsters after the zombie apocalypse hits their town in this horror-comedy for young readers who like fast-paced action and cool fight scenes. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Bad Kitty gets a bath
Bruel, Nick
Paper Book
Pet owners beware Bad Kitty smells and she really needs a bath. The following are some items you will need for Kitty's bath: one bathtub, plenty of water, dry towels, a suit of armour, a letter to your loved ones, an ambulance in your driveway with the engine running, and, oh, yeah, you'll also need...

Bad Kitty makes her chapter book debut in this humorous "instructional guide" for bathing your cat. (Bridging Fiction Grades 2-4)

Eva's treetop festival
Elliott, Rebecca
Paper Book
This full-colour, highly illustrated diary series is perfect for young readers who love friendship stories starring animal characters! Eva Wingdale gets in over her head when she offers to organize a spring festival at school. Even with her best friend Lucy's help, there is NO way she will get...
A young owl keeps a diary full of doodles and comics recounting her efforts to plan a festival for her treetop community. All of the Scholastic Branches series are fantastic for engaging newly independent readers with a mixture of text and colorful illustration. (Bridging Fiction Grades 2-4)
The strange case of Origami Yoda
Angleberger, Tom
Paper Book
In this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren't strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient....

When a quirky classmate's origami Yoda finger puppet begins dispensing surprisingly good advice, a group of middle schoolers keep an illustrated casebook as they investigate whether or not Yoda's spirit is speaking through Dwight's finger. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

The 13-story treehouse
Griffiths, Andy
Paper Book
The 13-Storey Treehouse is the first bestselling book in Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton's wacky treehouse adventures, packed full of comic book style illustrations! Perfect for fans of Dog Man and Bunny vs. Monkey, this book will make you laugh-out-loud on every page....

Shenanigans ensue when Andy and Terry, who live in the world's most amazing treehouse, brainstorm a variety of a wacky plot threads they could use for their book. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Diary of a wimpy kid : Greg Heffley's journal
Kinney, Jeff
Paper Book
THE ONE WHERE IT ALL BEGINS! The first book in the global phenomenon from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney - 250 million copies of the series sold worldwide! 'Let me get something straight: this is a JOURNAL not a...

The O.G. graphic novel hybrid that proved this format was a winning formula for engaging young readers! Greg Heffley chronicles his sixth grade year in this mix of text and cartoon illustrations about the highs and many, many lows of middle school. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Accidental trouble magnet
Mian, Zanib
Paper Book
Welcome, readers, to the imaginative brain of Omar! You might not know me yet, but once you open the pages of this book you'll laugh so hard that snot will come out of your nose (plus you might meet a dragon and a zombie - what more could you want?). My parents decided it would...

This British import features spunky Omar, who struggles with bullying and fitting in when his Muslim family moves to a new town. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Dork diaries : tales from a not-so-fabulous life
Russell, Rachel Renee.
Paper Book
Nikki Maxwell is not popular, in fact Nikki Maxwell is the opposite of popular; she's a total dork! But Nikki's hoping that by moving to a new school she might just stand a chance of making some friends and leaving her old lame-ways in the past. But life is never that simple! Follow...

An art-loving middle schooler keeps a diary chronicling her transition to a new school at the start of eighth grade. A great choice for girls struggling to navigate middle school drama and other confusing social dynamics. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Locker hero
Russell, Rachel Renée.
Paper Book
A brand-new series from #1 NYT bestselling Dork Diaries author Rachel Renee Russell! Introducing Max Crumbly, the new Dork on the block... Max is about to face the scariest place he's ever been - South Ridge Middle School! He has been home-schooled by...

A formerly homeschooled middle schooler uses his favorite superheroes as inspiration while dealing with bullying and other challenges during his first year of public school. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)


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