The Arrival by Shaun Tan

This is a stunningly beautiful book! It is a wordless graphic novel that depicts the life of an immigrant in a foreign land.

A man leaves his wife and child so he can improve their lives. It is perfect that this is wordless as it helps the reader understand and relate to the character in how hard it is to understand a foreign language and land. The artwork is beautiful and depicts a very alien city and landscape. Cultures all over the world vary in their beliefs and traditions, this book holds the same concept, only taking it to a new level. The reader can interpret so many things for themselves, but in the end, I feel that all readers will understand that a picture (or pictures in this case) is worth a thousand words.

I loved this book and I highly recommend this book to all ages!

Also check out Shaun Tan's Website for some awesome artwork! He is a truly an amazing artist!

http://www.shauntan.net/

Inside Out: Portrait of an eating disorder written and illustrated by Nadia Shivack

This book offers a powerful and disturbing look into the mind and thoughts of Nadia Shivack and her struggles with Bulimia Nervosa. Shivack includes hand drawn images of how she feels with this disease. It is a very stark and blunt book that makes you truly feel for the author. It is a very short graphic read, but really touched me and made me really think of how this disease can affect people emotionally.

The book also has little facts printed on multiple pages about eating disorders and statistics in today’s society, as well as more printed information at the back of the book. I think teen girls will really get a very true in-sight into this woman’s life and how hard it was and still is for her. I hope it would give girls the strength to realize they wouldn’t want their life to be ruled and overpowered by this disease and learn to love themselves the way they are! At the end of the book in the afterword, the authors lets the reader know that she still has a problem with this disease and has been in the hospital because of this problem since the publication of the book.

This would be a great book not only for girls but boys as well, she points out in the facts in the books that one million men in the United States suffer from an eating disorder. Used in class, this book would educate students about eating disorders and maybe let them see from her experiences that this is something that can really consume an individual and can even cause death!

This book would be good for a lot of age groups, middle school and high school, even younger kids in 4th or 5th grades, especially if a teacher felt that a student may have a similar issue with their self-image. Shivack mentions on the very first page she remembers having a problem with food at the age of six!!! I think the younger they are when they are educated about this topic the better.

Stinky by Eleanor Davis

This is similar to an "I can read" book for beginning readers, only in graphic novel/comic format. The illustrations are so cute and endearing I absolutely fell in love with this book after I read it. I am hoping Eleanor Davis is concocting a series of Stinky books!

Stinky is a monster of the swamp who loves everything gross, including his pet toad, Wartbelly! He loathes children and is beside himself when a kid actually builds a treehouse in his swamp!! He thinks of "gross" things to do to the boy to make him scared of the swamp, and in the end is surprised by a wonderful friendship! An adorable book!

A Theodore Seuss GeiselAward Honoree of 2008

Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer by Andy Runton

This is the first of five volumes based on the character Owly by Andy Runton! They are all wordless graphic novels and absolutely adorable! I have include a few images below from the novel itself.

Owly is a lovable owl who is lonely and is seeking friendship and acceptance. He saves a small worm, whom he becomes the best of friends with (a very unlikely friendship indeed)!!! :) A great read for any age!!! Especially for English Lanuguage students, since any of the volumes can be adapted to any language! Even children who are barely learning to read will feel a sense of accomplishment to read this 156 page book based on images, symbols, and expressions.

I haven't read volumes 2 to 5 yet, but they are on my list!