Do you have a kiddo that loves comic books? Or a kiddo that hates chapter books? A reluctant or struggling reader–easily overwhelmed by page after page of text?

I do. I have 2 actually. And I am SO GLAD we discovered a variety of clean, appropriate, quality graphic novels on the market today. Fiction, non-fiction, and even adaptations of classic literature that use Shakespeare’s original text! They’ve been a huge help in keeping our dyslexic and reluctant readers engaged in independent reading–when standard chapter books were failing in a flood of tears and angst. They’re also an easy way to sneak in educational materials in a fun way. I throw them in Christmas stockings, Easter baskets, or Road Trip Activity Cases and there are never any complaints.

Wondering what to choose, or where to find them? Concerned about content? Let me help.

Here’s a list of 15 graphic history and literature series you can check for the upper elementary and middle school age group. And if you’ve got reading challenges, early high school as well!

Graphic History Series by Graphic Library

This series from Graphic Library by Capstone Press is excellent. All the books are written at a 3rd to 4th grade reading level, but the content is aged at 8-14 years old. They cover a wide range of historic events from Jamestown, to the Salem Witch Trials, to the sinking of the Titanic. Each book is between 30-50 pages of exciting, full-color illustrations, and narrative non-fiction. They are a perfect fit for any unit study!

Graphic Biography Series by Graphic Library

An expansion on their excellent History series, these graphic novels by Capstone Press focus on famous people across history. From Bessy Coleman (stunt pilot), to Cesar Chavez (farmworkers rights advocate), to Matthew Henson (artic explorer). This series has some particularly good female biographies, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Earhart, and Eleanor Roosevelt and Elizabeth Blackwell.

Max Axiom Super Scientist by Graphic Science

Yep, Capston Press again. We keep a couple of these little “comic books” in each of the cars, in our road trip activity cases, and stick them in Easter baskets. Also perfect for unit studies. The Max Axiom series adds a distinct character (Max) into the story to narrate science concepts. They lightly cover just about every including Force and Motion, States of Matter, and Ecosystems. THey’ve been a great addition to the kiddos regular school curriculum. There’s also a couple sports-themed ones that were a big hit with our boys, including The Science of Football.

Isabel Soto Archeology Adventures by Graphic Expeditions

Similar to the Max Axiom series, the main character, Izzy Soto is able to travel back and forth through time to investigate interesting archaeological findings, like the Pyramids, Mummies, and Pompeii. I like the way this one introduces the actual field of archelogy as well as the historical point of interest. It also reinforces some concepts such as good research skills, use of primary sources, and having a career that is an adventure, not just a job. This series was a great fit with our Archeology Unit Study. Also a good fit if you add in some episodes of Expedition Unknown from the Travel Channel–just skim the descriptions first. We skip the silly ones about Yetis and UFOs.

Disasters in History Series by Graphic Library

These cover a wide range of historical events, including the Challenger Explosion, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and the 1918 Flu Pandemic. They also have books on the failed Shackleton Expedition to Antartica and the Donner Party disaster on the road to California in 1846. Both of these were stories unknown to me when we found them at the library and we dove into a small unit study on each because we found them so interesting.

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales Series

These are engaging, historically accurate, comic-book style history tales of small events scattered through out American history. I think it’s interesting how they pull a little tidbit out of the bigger picture of a historic event, and dive into it. We were introduced to Nathan Hale with The Big Bad Ironclad, after visiting the Mariners Museum. I also brought Raid of No Return home when we dove into a study on Doolittle’s Raid after watching Pearl Harbor.

Graphic Heroes of the American Revolution by Gareth Stevens Learning Library

This series focuses on the American Revolution and was of particular interest to our boys after watching Sons of Liberty. Each book focuses in on a specific character in the Revolution and what part they played. Samuel Adams is a perpetual favorite around here, but this series also includes Thomas Paine Writes Common Sense, which often gets glossed over compared to writing the Declaration of Independence. I wish there were more of these!

Graphic History of the American West by Gareth Stevens Learning Library

Published by the same group as the American Revolution series, this one focuses on westward expansion and covers topics like the Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark, and the Gold Rush.

Campfire Graphic Novels, the Histories

This series are slightly more advanced than the Graphic Library series. They are longer, in the range of 50-100 pages and have more words per page than most books on this list. But they are still comic book style, and a very condensed version of the story for reluctant readers. Same publisher as the Classic editions listed below, but focused on History. We have the WWI and WWII books. They also cover inventions and technology, including the Industrial Revolution and a very interesting depiction of the inventive intersection of Bell, Tesla, and Edison in They Changed the World. Would fit well with watching the Men Who Built America and/or America the Story of Us (both FREE on Prime Video!)

Saddleback Graphic Biographies

These little graphic-novel biographies are 3-40 pages long, with an easy reading level around 3-4 grade. The words and images are well balanced and the full-color illustrations are a little dated but still engaging. The series covers a wide range of historically important figures, including several presidents, inventors and explorers like Einstein and Curie, and creatives like Walt Disney. This series is a little more focused on relaying facts, and less on narrative story-telling. These little graphic-novel biographies are 3-40 pages long, with an easy reading level around 3-4 grade. The words and images are well balanced and the full-color illustrations are a little dated but still engaging. The series covers a wide range of historically important figures, including several presidents, inventors and explorers like Einstein and Curie, and creatives like Walt Disney. This series is a little more focused on relaying facts, and less on narrative story-telling.

Saddleback Graphic Histories

From the same publisher as the biographies, the history series focuses on key historic events and definitive historical eras, like the Industrial Era from 1865-1915, or the Roaring 20s and the Depression 1920-1940. I believe their biography series is more engaging for the upper and middle school age group. The history series is clearly directed at teachers as supplemental curriculum.

Campfire Graphic Novels, the Classics

This series are slightly more advanced than the Graphic Library series. They are longer, in the range of 50-100 pages and have more words per page than most books on this list. But they are still comic book style, and a very condensed version of the story for reluctant readers. The majority of the Campfire series are adapted Classics, such as Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Jungle Book. They’re a great introduction to the classic stories for kids that are not ready for the full chapter versions. {Apparently from reviews the Kindle versions have some hiccups. We only have the hard copy versions and have had no issues with them!}

The Graphic Novel Series, by Puffin

These classic adaptions are a bit longer and more dedicated to the original text than the Campfire series, including some dialogue and dialect which might be challenging for some readers. They range from 150-200 pages, with illustrations on every page and a good word/image balance to keep the pages turning. We’ve checked out Black Beauty and the Wizard of Oz from our local library. {Please note, some versions are black and white and some are color. We saw one of each. Obviously the full-color versions are much more popular around here.}

Classic Literature Graphic Novels by Gareth Hinds

Gareth Hinds has written several graphic novel adaptions of classic literature, focused on a 10-14 year old age group. These are a bit darker and more serious than most of the history series posted here. But allowing for the fact that classic literature is often dark and difficult without illustrations, I believe Hinds does a good job with the subject matter. His Shakespeare series was a big help for my Ladybug to get through Romeo and Juliet in 9th grade. He does use the classic text, language, and speech patterns from the originals–which I appreciate. She’ll be tackling his versions of the Odyssey and the Illiad this summer.

Classic Fiction (revised Graphic Revolve) Graphic Novels by Stone Arch Books

This series began as “classic fiction” and was later revised to “graphic revolve” and issued to be more directly compliant with Common Core literature lessons. These are considered to be a comfortable 4th grade reading level, but directed at 9-12+ year olds for the subject matter. They are excellent full-color, graphic novel adaptions of a wide range of classic literature pieces from Robin Hood, to King Arthur, to the Hounds of Baskervilles. These books do NOT use the original language. The language is simplified and some narrative added to make it easier. For older kids, I recommend the Gareth Hinds versions. But if you’ve got a relucant reader on your hands and are just trying to cover as much classic story-telling as possible, these are great. Your child will know the basic story line, the characters, and the setting, even if they don’t absorb the full written value.

Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel

I just had to add this one last because it’s a classic and I’m so glad I found it! I’m probably biased, but I LOVED this graphic novel version of Anne of Green Gables! I guess I love all things Anne, but my very own (blond-haired and blue-eye) Anne has reading challenges and no interest in trying to tackle the chapter books. This graphic novel let her read the characters and adventure without all. the. words. getting in the way and learn to love Anne Shirley just like I do! At 230 pages, it seemed like a lot at first, but the word count per page is very low and there are entire pages of illustrations without text. It came out in 2017 and I keep hoping for more.

Are your kiddos fans of comic books and graphic novels?

Do you have any recommendations for this list?

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