Thinking about creating a graphic novel for kids? With their signature bold graphics, bright colors and appealing visual storytelling style, a graphic novel for kids is increasingly popular with young readers. A graphic novel for kids can be crafted for almost every genre and storyline, making it a very versatile format. But crafting a graphic novel for kids means paying attention to design elements and structural choices that help kids read the story easily while keeping them engaged in this unique, visual take on a novel.
What Is a Graphic Novel?
Before diving into this distinctive genre as an author, it’s important to understand the basic elements of a graphic novel for kids and why their uniqueness makes them so appealing. First, a graphic novel for kids is a blend of art and story, played out in sequential panels in a book rather than the pages of text found in traditional novels. Hand-drawn art presented on divided panels is used to show action and emotion, while text is interspersed with the graphic elements to move the story along. A graphic novel for kids are often written as fantasy, comedy, mystery, adventure, or specifically for educational purposes.
Comparing Comic Books and Graphic Novels
While comic books and graphic novels share a panel-style presentation of their story, these two genres are distinctly different.
- Comic books are typically written in a serial-style, often including multiple episodes that are self-contained, ending quickly with little to no carryover between episodes.
- Graphic novels are a presentation of a longer story, complete with fully developed characters and a defined plot, written in a primarily visual format. Graphic novels are also divided into chapters or parts, similar to a traditional novel.
Why Kids Love Graphic Novels
Aside from the obvious visual appeal of a graphic novel for kids, they are a beloved literary choice for kids for four main reasons.
1 They make complex ideas accessible through their visual nature. As kids begin to choose books with increasingly complex themes and story elements, a graphic novel for kids can help them make the transition more easily than a novel can.
2 They build reading confidence in reluctant readers. Using visual clues, a graphic novel for kids helps struggling readers interpret difficult vocabulary and challenging inferences that might have been missed in a traditional novel.
3 They make stories easier to interpret because they are presented in smaller chunks. Understanding complex ideas is easier when less reading content needs to be analyzed.
4 They encourage creativity. Engaging artwork and the emotional connections they create can inspire young readers to create their own stories or artwork.
Teachers love graphic novels for kids, too, because they make stories accessible to readers of all reading levels, engage reluctant readers, and appeal to visual learners.
Create Your Graphic Novel for Kids
Crafting a graphic novel that kids will want to read includes using an appealing format and structure, designing the book’s layout and appearance in a way that young readers will want to engage with it and putting it into a package that kids will want to pick up.
Formatting Basics
The distinctive graphic novel style is rooted in the use of artwork panels and generous gutters and margins. Most authors utilize a template to get these elements perfect so they can focus on developing a great story that kids will enjoy.
- Panel Grid: Artwork is presented on lined panels, often more than one per page, creating a grid effect. Single panels can be impactful with enlarged graphic elements, or they can include text boxes with narrative content or dialogue. Pages utilizing multiple panels are often used to speed up the plot’s pacing or to reflect emotions in the story.
- Gutters: The space between panels is called the gutter, and they play a pivotal role in the layout of a graphic novel. Ensuring the gutters do not change throughout the novel makes it easier to read and helps young readers to focus on the story.
- Templates: A simple way to ensure your graphic novel’s panels and gutters appear even is to utilize a free or low-cost template to help with the layout.
Quick Tip #1: Simplify your layout. Use a consistent layout pattern and avoid overly cluttered pages that feature too much text or complicated visuals. Uniform grid spacing on every page creates a cohesive appearance throughout the story and allows kids to focus on the story and characters.
Developing Artwork
Graphic novels are known for gorgeous, hand-drawn artwork. Some illustrations are hand-drawn, photographed and then uploaded to the book’s manuscript before printing. But plenty of design tools are available to help budding artists create beautiful art for their graphic novels.
Free Design Tools
- GIMP This free software is an excellent image manipulation program that works on most platforms and comes with tutorials to help novice artists get started.
- Krita Another popular free and open source program, Krita’s painting software includes functional tools like brush options, texture packs, and page templates.
- MediBang Paint This free, downloadable software is ideal for manga-style artwork creation. It works with most operating systems, offers an iPad version and includes a feature that helps artists integrate traditionally drawn art and digital creations.
Paid Design Tools
- Clip Studio Paint This drawing and painting software includes thousands of tools and materials to use and cloud storage for your designs.
- Procreate Created specifically for the iPad, Procreate is a sketching and drawing app that you can use to quickly and flawlessly make your artwork from scratch or with help from Procreate’s advanced tools.
Quick Tip #2: Create kid-friendly graphics that feature bright, bold colors and obvious visual cues that kids can count on throughout the book. This helps to reinforce storytelling and keeps them engaged throughout the whole novel.
Quick Tip #3: Aim for clean visuals. Use easy-to-read fonts and larger sizes for dialog and narration sections to improve readability for younger readers. Text should be paired with high-contrast backgrounds to decrease eyestrain and make the graphic novel easier to read.
Sizing a Graphic Novel for Kids
A graphic novel for kids is typically published as either an A4 or A5 size. For small, lightweight books that kids can hold easily and slip into backpacks, choose A4. For a graphic novel for kids that will be used in an educational setting, the larger A5 is perfect because it offers a larger printing space that increases readability.
Binding a Graphic Novel for Kids
The method you choose to put your book together, called the binding, depends on factors like budget, book length and overall book size. Saddle-stitch books are printed on large, folded pages bound with industrial staples to create a book between 4 and 80 pages. Perfect binding utilizes a strong adhesive to join a book’s cover and spine with pages to create a publication that looks great on a bookshelf. Books with perfect binding are ideal for books up to hundreds of pages. Plastic Coil and Wire-O bindings create sturdy books that open flat and hold up to heavy use.
Paper Options
Choosing the right paper for your graphic novel impacts the way it looks and feels, and it can also extend the life of the book, encouraging young readers to enjoy it over and over.
Interior pages can be produced with a gloss or satin finish to enhance the artwork and make colors pop. Uncoated paper creates soft, muted artwork and a rougher texture that kids love to touch.
Quick Tip #4: Covers and book spines should be produced with a heavier-weight paper to increase durability, and matte or gloss coatings are commonly used to show off beautiful cover art design.
Putting It All Together: Printing Your Graphic Novel for Kids
Creating a graphic novel brings together fun art, good design, and engaging storytelling. Using your own artwork or digital tools to transform your ideas into beautiful images is only part of crafting a graphic novel that kids will want to read. Careful design decisions can draw young readers to your graphic novel, enticing them to explore the visual story you have created with their interests, reading levels, and format preferences in mind.
Once your art panels, story, and design elements have come together, be sure to proofread to catch errors and edit your manuscript for improvements to formatting and style to finish the book writing process like a pro. Your final step is to partner with a printer like Dazzle Printing to ensure that your book will look fantastic for the young readers excited to discover their new favorite graphic novel.
