Reviews of Picture Books That Are Actually Comics

Posted on November 3, 2022 at 7:06 am by Gene Ambaum

How To Party Like A Snail by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier. Owlkids Books, 2022. 9781771474177.

Snail “loves the quiet things about parties.” When things get too loud, he retreats into his shell but still has fun. When folks stop inviting him to parties, he throws his own. Collier’s illustrations are perfect for this adorable story, as are the comics elements like word balloons and borderless panels.

Super Pizza & Kid Kale by Phaea Crede, illustrated by Zach Smith. Viking, 2022. 9780593403709.

Brought to life and given superpowers by a freak cafeteria accident, Super Pizza and Kid Kale become best friends and decide to be heroes together. Everyone loves Super Pizza! But they’re not very excited about Kid Kale, no matter what he does. (Mid-book there is, of course, a food fight.)

This incredibly goofy story with silly illustrations is perfect.

Snappy The Alligator (Did Not Ask To Be In This Book) by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Tim Miller. Viking, 2016. 9780451469458.

Snappy the Alligator is super annoyed with his book’s narrator, who starts out merely describing what’s in the illustrations and then just gets worse as Snappy goes about his day. Then Snappy throws a party and a most unexpected guest shows up.

The simple drawings in this book remind me of Jon Agee’s, and the writing is absolutely top notch and hilarious, too.