Gabby & Gator

Title: Gabby & Gator
Author: James Burks
Published By: Yen Press


This book is so funny. Gator is always hungry-trying to eat things like dogs and squirrels.   In the meantime, Gabby is being bullied. Luckily Gator saves her a few times.This story has some good messages about friendship, acceptance, bullying, etc. This is a good book to use for the issues we have in schools today.

The reason I most like this book is that it is a graphic novel that is appropriate for young readers.  I find that our youngest students love the idea of graphic novels, but so many are meant for older readers. I think the format of a graphic novel is perfect for young readers--so much of the meaning comes from the illustrations.  This particular graphic novel gives kids lots to think about but is written in a way that makes it very accessible to younger children.  And, because it is a graphic novel, the book will also appeal to older readers. It is a fun story and the illustrations will draw in readers of many ages.   The book is a bulky book--lots of pages and a larger than usual graphic novel size.  Many of the spreads have  very few, if any words while other spreads contain more dialogue.  

The characters are well developed and the story is a good one. I am thinking this might become a series. I can see Gabby and Gator going on other adventures.  I am hoping that we see more graphic novels like this in the future--graphic novels that are more appropriate for younger readers, but that will still appeal to older elementary kids too.