Are there any comic books that a 5-year-old girl would like?

[porkrind]

My daughter is a great little reader, and I was thinking she might like some comic books/novels. Any suggestions? Maybe something with a young female protagonist? She is very artistic, but sensitive, so it has to be fairly non-violent. All the comics I am familiar with are too male-oriented and violent. Thanks.

[robbedvoter]

1. I could think of great picture books fir that age

"Good Night Mr Night" by Dan Yaccarino pops to mind. "Good Night Gorilla" and 10 Minutes to Midnight" - the last one has such drawing detail - you can follow a great number of characters from page to page just like in a comic book.

[porkrind]

5. I didn't know he was the creator of "Oswald"

My girls love that show. I'll check these books out. Thanks!

[Chovexani]

2. You might want to start her on some manga

Manga = Japanese comics. Pretty much every large, mainstream bookstore has a manga section, usually near the fantasy/sci-fi section.

I think Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP (a group of female manga artists) would be perfect for her. It's a great example of the magical girl genre of manga, and has an adorable but strong little girl protagonist. It's not very violent (just some non-bloody battles against fantasy creatures), and has themes of friendship, first love, etc. It's just a fabulous story, the artwork is breathtaking, and it's one of my favorite mangas.

[porkrind]

4. Thanks for the suggestion.

I googled "Cardcaptor Sakura" and it looks like just the thing. Thanks! (At one time I was in Japan and liked one called Hokuto No Ken (Ken of the North). I wonder if they still release it...)

Actually, sci-fi/fantasy are important parts of what I want her to read. I want to start her out early on some sci-fi/fantasy because I think it is a "gateway-drug" to non-conformist, iconoclastic thinking (at least it was for me :) ). I want her to be subversive and question the legitimacy of the power structures she encounters in life. I want to preserve and foster her creativity and individuality, and help her to question, deconstruct, and reformulate the ideas she encounters. Sci-fi/fantasy literature helps this process by providing alternate realities to mentally explore.

[Chovexani]

7. I wish I had you for a parent

When I was that age. :) My mom is one of those people who thinks fantasy is "pagan trash". Ah the joys of being raised by a fundie.

[porkrind]

8. Thanks.

From what I read of your posts, I hope my two daughters turn out just like you. Sorry about your fundie mom, I know what it's like. I was raised a Mormon, in Utah, no less, which is not only a wacko fundie religion, but a full-on cult. It took a long time, but I eventually got educated enough that I could think my way out of it. Now I am the black-sheep apostate pariah of my family and community! :) I would classify myself now as an atheist secular humanist, with a philosophical bent towards non-dogmatic Buddhism, and an unexplainable sympathy for nature worship. I'm rabidly anti-mormon and anti-christian, and delight in yanking the chains of the fundie apologists on this and other websites. IMHO, it really is unbelievable how the beliefs and actions of the fundamentalist radical right are so profoundly dysfunctional and sick.

Anyway, I was not particularly anti-authoritarian as a child, in fact, I was too trusting and subservient. I think reading lots of fantasy and sci-fi as a kid did two things for me: 1) It exposed me to a lot of hypothetical realities from which I could compare to my reality, and 2) It made me different on the inside. Now I know everyone is different to some degree, after all, we are just "special like a snowflake", just like everyone else, right? :) But when you live in a pathologically conformist society, you know it inside yourself when you are different, and you know you will never truly fit in. At some point in my life I finally had to break with my family, my religion, my self, and embark on a few years of transformation and deconstruction. Now I'm at a good place, confident in my beliefs, and a long ways philosophically from where I started. I would love for my kids to not have to be damaged and then have to fix themselves like I did, rather I would like them to understand these things from the outset.

I've always thought readers were the most interesting people, and among readers, I like those that read fantasy/sci-fi the best, because they are the most mentally flexible and intelligent. Anyway, keep up the good fight. BTW, I looked at my local B&N for "Cardcaptor Sakura", but they only had Vol 2. Maybe I'll get it online.

[LWolf]

3. Thinking:

I started to say I didn't know anything about comic books, but that's not true. I grew up with Peanuts, starting at, that's right, about age 5. And I have a collection on the wall behind me; the ultimate, imo: Calvin and Hobbes. I don't know if either of those would interest her, but I still love them both.





I have no clue what more modern stuff might be out there.

As for picture books for a 5 year-old reader, sometimes the best are more sophisticated than you might want for that age, but give these authors a look:

Don & Audrey Wood are great author/illustrators, and have quite a few books published.

Dav Pilkey's "Dragon" books are fun. So are the rest of his books, for that matter.

Patricia Polacco is an incredible author/illustrator. Some of her picture books are more sophisticated, and cover more mature subjects, but some that younger kids would love include "Thundercake," "Just Plain Fancy," "Rechenka's Eggs."

Bill Martin Jr.
Eric Carle
Alexandra Day
Sarah Stewart
Lisa Campbell Ernst

[WildClarySage]

11. The Paper Bag Princess and Princess Smartypants

are two of my faves for that age.

[IdaBriggs]

6. Elfquest -- some violence, but fabulous illustration.

Start with Book 1. Later books have some adult themes she might be too young for, but even Peter Pan has some violence. :) Best, Ida

[semillama]

9. uh, this IS a five year old here...

Give her a couple years for Elfquest. Even Book 1 may be a little too much for younger kids. 8-10, maybe. It would be a good series for discussion of liberal values, though! Like why intolerance is bad, why sex is natural and good when it's between consenting adults (note that I don't say TWO consenting adults), etc. Later Books do have some violent scenes that I imagine may be disturbing to some kids, and even character death as well. So I would hold off on them for a while.

That said, I will admit that I was probably about9-10 when I started reading them, and I loved them. I plan on passing that torch to my own kids, unless they turn out to be complete jerks who are into sports and don't like to read. Then it's off to the chicken farm with them!

[Khephra]

10. I haven't read it yet, but I've heard that BONE is a good

all-ages read. And the entire story is now collected in one big tpb. Let me read it this weekend/next week and I'll get back to you.

[porkrind]

12. BONE ???

Like This? :)

[porkrind]

13. I'm sad. The weekend will never come now for You, Kephra.

I hope you are in a better place.

[Bryan]

14. You might want to try Mark Crilley's "Akiko" series

Available in both comic and illustrated prose form, it's light, goofy, adorably-drawn space opera about a Japanese-American schoolgirl and her adventures on alien planets. Plenty of action and peril, but little violence. I don't have any little readers, but it comes highly recommended by friends who do.


Mark Crilley's site:

http://www.markcrilley.com/pages/2/index.htm

Amazon links:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=MARK%20CRILLEY/103-7419828-6141403