Comic Squad: Recess!

Title: Comic Squad: Recess!
Editors: Jennifer & Matthew Holm
Illustrators: (see below) 
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Genre/Format: Comic Book
GoodReads Summary: A bust-your-gut-laughing graphic-novel anthology with original contributions from the most beloved names in the genre! * Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm * Jarrett J. Krosoczka * Dav Pilkey * Dan Santat * Raina Telgemeier * Dave Roman * Ursula Vernon * Eric Wight * Gene Yang *
 
Wowza! Calling all kidz! Do you like comics? Do you like laughing till milk comes out of your nose?! Look no further—do we have the book for you! All your favorite comic creators are right here in this handy-dandy hilarious book! This all-star tribute to classic Sunday comics includes eight sidesplitting, action-packed stories about every kid’s favorite subject—RECESS! With popular characters from Babymouse and Lunch Lady and brand-new soon-to-be favorite characters from superstars including Dav Pilkey! Raina Telgemeier! Gene Yang! and many more! Comics Squad also features Pizza Monsters! Secret ninja clubs! Aliens! Talking desserts! Dinozilla! Death-defying escapes! Bad guys! Good guys! Medium guys! Superheroes! Bullies! Mean girls! Epic battles! True love! Outlandish schemes! Evil plans! Fun! Jokes! Terrible puns! And other surprises that will tickle your funny bone! WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY CAUSE EXCESSIVE LAUGHTER AND POSSIBLE SILLINESS. No assembly required. (Pizzatron 2000 not included.)
What I Think: I was so excited when I heard about this amazing collaboration! What a fun idea to do a comic collection like this for kiddos. Both of my kids loved each of the stories and we reread them many times. I especially love that like the summary implies, there are all sorts of fun things going on in each of these stories. I think kids will love having so many different stories in one book. This will get them excited for another book/volume to be out and it's a great way to introduce graphic novel lovers to other authors. 
     I never wrote a full length novel until Teachers Write. I know there is NaNoWriMo Junior and I believe kids should definitely write longer stories but it seems like writing short stories is more the focus in schools (well...and non-fiction. Non-fiction is the rage right now.). I'm guessing kids mostly write short stories because of the time. Whatever the reason, I love that this book can be an example of some short stories students can write. They can show students how they can build a short story and see the arc of a short story as told with comics. There is definitely an art to a short story and I love this graphic novel collection of short stories!
Read Together: Grades 2 - 4
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 6
Read With: Babymouse (series) by Jenni and Matt Holm, Lunchlady (series) by Jarrett Krosoczka, Sidekicks by Dan Santat, Frankie Pickle (series) by Eric Wight, Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman, Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey, Bird and Squirrel by James Burks
Snatch of Text:
In lieu of a snatch of text, please enjoy this book trailer...

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you really wanted to be included in a club or a group. What did you do or not do to be part of the group? Would you do anything differently if you could do it again?
Topics Covered: Friendship, Adversity, Determination, Imagination, Courage

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