The Cartoonists Club: A graphic novel Paperback – 10 April 2025

This is a delight and my aspiring cartoonist (age 12) devoured it. Funny, empowering, lots for young creatives to identify with and spark ideas off. She's a Raina Telgemeier fan already but this would be a great intro for new fans as well.

This was recommended to me.and did not disappoint. I'm recently loving graphic novels and this is so informative. A must for all.

What a terrific meta-funny information comic with a delightful bunch of characters (as one would expect from a Raina Telgemeier book). This simple idea, so brilliantly executed, is sure to please both Raina fans, as well as the massive cohort of youngsters who love comics and dream of making their own.The premise is simple - some children, encouraged by their school librarian, set up a cartoonists/comic book club at lunch time to make and share their comics. Each character has their own talents, and some of the characters have their own background stories - with issues or troubles or inspiration that shines through in the comics they make.But the clever part is that while the librarian is showing them how to make a comic - from thinking of ideas and understanding how faces and bodies show emotion all the way through to design of panels and execution - the book breaches the fourth wall and becomes a how-to guide for the reader too - demonstrated by the characters. It’s meta and clever and supremely well thought-out.The authors don’t let up on the story though - making sure the reader feels the humour and the pathos of the situation - and understands the difficulties that some children face, as well as showing how to fail and how to succeed.It’s colourful, engaging, and split into chapters for easy accessible reading, and works as a brilliant way into graphic novels, or an explanation for how to create, or simply works as a good read and a stepping stone to other comics.With thanks to the publisher for the ARC