Geo-Graphics by Regina Giménez. Translated by Alex Gomay and Valerie Block. Levine Querido, 2022. 9781646141302. 96pp. This book starts big — with inspiring images (alongside text) that try to express the size of the universe and the intensity big bang — and then settles into more earth science and geography-centric graphics showing things like the layers of atmosphere and the Earth, the relative sizes of things like continents, islands, mountains, deserts and lakes. It has a great visual explanations of tides, the moon’s phases, and more. Giménez beautiful paintings and collages make every page worth revisiting. (Some pages are text- and fact-heavy while others look straight out of a picture book. I don’t think you could go wrong giving it to adults with kids interested in science or kids with adults interesting in science — they’ll have a good time talking about it.) Time Is A Flower by Julie Morstad. Tundra Books, 2021. 9780735267541. 56pp. This poetic, philosophical picture book about time is full of real-life examples like flowers and trees and baking, some of which, like the pages about a spider’s web, seem to point to time’s deeper scientific nature. There’s a cat, a beach, and several illustrations of kids dancing plus one of a family reading together — this book is full of images you’ll love.

Batman and Robin and Howard by Jeffrey Brown. DC Graphic Novels for Kids, 2021. 9781401297688. 160pp. This is my favorite of this new line of branded DC Graphic Novels for Kids. It features one of the more recent Robins, and the youngest — Damian Wayne, Batman’s son. After Damian punches the wrong guy while on patrol, his dad makes him take a break and go to a new school. There he meets Howard, a cool kid with whom Damian has a low-stakes conflict as they become friends, fall out a bit, and then become even better friends. The kids’ awkwardness is exaggerated by Brown’s art, which emphasizes the same quality in his version of Batman and Bruce Wayne as a dad. There’s a lot of soccer in the book, and a lot of content about different kinds of cells, and a very cool idea for a science project that will excite many kids (and give them an excuse to eat a lot of candy). Perfect. Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, art by Asiah Fulmore. DC Graphic Novels for Kids, 2021. 9781779501226. 160pp. I’m a huge fan of the Hales’ Rapunzel graphic novel and their Princess in Black series. They do an equally good job with this relaunch of the Amethyst series, which includes beautifully colored, manga-inspired art by Fulmore. Amethyst is a bit younger than in her original incarnation. At the beginning she’s sent to our world, where her magic doesn’t work, as punishment. But she and her babysitter are stuck here, and without magic they gradually lose their memories of home. That only lasts until Amethyst is pulled through a magic portal back to Gemworld, which she has to save. Her family has disappeared. An impossibly powerful evil is rampaging through the land. Amethyst is the only hope. (It’s a pretty standard story structure, but it’s more fun and lighthearted than that sounds.) If it catches on at your library, expect to see lots of very young girls with purple hair in addition to your purple-haired library folk.  

bubble written by Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan, adapted by Tony Cliff, Jordan Morris and Sarah Morgan. First Second, 2021. 9781250245557. 272pp. This is an adult science fiction graphic novel set in a world 99% like our own (they even have Trader Joe’s). The difference: it’s a city on an alien world surrounded by a bubble that’s supposed to keep its citizens safe. The problem: it doesn’t — alien monsters are constantly getting in and attacking. The solution: Huntr, an app that pays freelancers to exterminate monsters. At the center of it all is Morgan, who was born in the Bush and likes to kill monsters, and her roommate Annie who makes recreational drugs from monster remains. There are also a few other friends who round out their hipster friend group. What’s important is it’s entertaining, filled with violence and cleverness, social media hype, and the creepiest book club ever. Plus it has just the right amount of realistic swearing. A lovely, smart B-movie of a book drawn (I think) by the amazing Tony Cliff of Delilah Dirk fame. (If you haven’t read all of his other books go do so now, they’re so much fun.) Bonus: it’s based on a scripted podcast from Maximum Fun of the same name that I must now listen to.

Marshmallow & Jordan by Alina Chau. First Second, 2021. 9781250300607. 384pp. This is another entry in an amazing field of graphic novels from First Second about basketball. This one belongs right up there with Gene Yang’s Hoops and Sloan Leong’s A Map To The Sun, though it’s for a younger audience. After an accident, Jordan isn’t able to play on her school’s basketball team anymore, but she’s still a part of it and even helps out with coaching. One day on the way home from practice she helps an injured white elephant and takes it home. When her friends meet Marshmallow they love it, and it even learns to play basketball. (There’s a supernatural element to the elephant that ties into a local drought, all of which becomes clearer at the end of the book.) The story’s conflict involves Jordan joining the school’s water polo team where some of the players aren’t excited to have her (they think she can’t swim fast enough, though they’re clearly wrong); as she gets more involved with water polo her basketball playing friends feel a bit abandoned. I believe the book takes place in Indonesia. (Though the setting is very strong, I don’t think it’s ever stated directly.) Chau’s art and particularly the colors give the neighborhood and characters a brightness that makes it all feel very friendly.

Paranorthern And The Chaos Bunny A-Hop-Calypse written by Stephanie Cooke, art by Mari Costa. Etch, 2021. 9780358168997. 240pp. And there’s a recipe for a matcha latte after the story. Abby helps her mom at the Witch’s Brew, where they serve coffee and potions to North Haven residents. Abby knows her magic has been acting up lately, but she’s not clear about the crisis she’s caused until her friends Silas (a pumpkinhead), Hanna (a ghost), and Gita (a wolf girl) help her clean up one night. That’s when they find the first of many chaos bunnies who’ve come through the dimensional portal Abby accidentally created. It’s a recipe for chaos (of course) as the friends try to help Abby figure out how to close the portal. Each of the friends has their moment in the story, but my favorite is when Gita is at home with her parents, and they start talking to her about the urges she’s going to experience as a woman. (Gita rightfully bails on the conversation in favor of skateboarding.) Overall this is an enjoyable book with just the right sense of adventure and a friendly friend group.

Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story by Ed Brisson & Lisandro Estherren. Linney Incorporated / New Reliable Press, 2021. 9780973807981. 72pp. Dev and his friend Alex drive out to the country from Halifax take a look at a used car that seems to be a great deal — the owner says he’s moving to work in the oil fields and can’t take it with him. When Dev tries to pay with a bank draft instead of cash as specified in the ad, that’s when trouble starts. Estherren’s art really adds to this short, straightforward crime story — it looks like it’s all pencils with a bit of digital enhancement, and he uses the gray lines to expertly express character and create atmosphere in a way that kept me engaged throughout. This is the most recent in Brisson’s Murder Book series, and now I’ve got to find the previous books, too. (This book was published with funding through Kickstarter.)

When They Purr: Inspirational Interiors And The Cats Who Call Them Home by Paul Barbera with Queenie Chan. Thames & Hudson, 2022. 9781760762285. 240pp. 200 color illustrations. 28 interiors inhabited by 34 cats! This is my favorite coffee table book in a while. And it’s not because I’m a huge fan of interior design. (I mean, I get it, but I can’t really understand folks who don’t fill every nook and cranny of their space with bookshelves and everything that goes on them.) That said, there’s lots to love in this book — nice wall textures, hairy chairs, beautiful views… but I read it for the cats. Most live alone. A few live in pairs. In the best book design choice ever, I want to note that there’s a cat photo on almost every page, and that the text that accompanies the photos focuses more on the cats than the furniture. Each entry ends with a tasteful cat portrait and a Q&A. My favorites: Carol, a beautiful grey Abyssinian, and her buddy Luther, who seems to think he’s a dog. That’s them in the accompanying photo, running up the beautiful steps of their owners’ converted terrace house. Also: great table of contents, which features a photo of each cat. I really wish this one showed where the litter boxes are in each of these elegant interiors. I hope they’re cleverly hidden, or at least that they’re just out of sight behind those beautiful couches. But this does give me an idea for a sequel of sorts about the same elegant spaces: Where They Poop.