Guides
Guides to comics and graphic novels
Ten short guides for the grown-up reading along: how to share a comic, which series go in order, what the ages mean and how to label a shelf. Every list in them is drawn from the series pages themselves, so a guide never points at a series that isn't there.
Checked . No covers, no shop links, nobody paid to be here.
- How to read a comic with a child who can't read yetPanels, bubbles and who speaks first: how to share a comic with a child who can't read yet, and why reading the pictures counts as reading.
- Do you have to read a series in order?Three kinds of series: episodes you can read in any order, one long story to read from book 1, and the mixed kind, with every series on Peabody sorted.
- Right to left: a manga how-to for familiesBack cover first, top right panel first, bubbles right to left: how to read manga printed the Japanese way, with a practice strip and the kids' manga Peabody tracks.
- What the ages on a graphic novel meanPublisher age, reading level and what is in the book are three different things. How to read each, and how Peabody says whose age it is on every series page.
- The new-book calendar, explainedUS release days, why a day can slip, and how Peabody's Out today banner flips at midnight Eastern time and redraws each hour, with no account and no emails.
- From comics to chapter books (and back)The hybrid series that sit between comics and chapter books, listed from Peabody's shelf, and why a child going back to comics after a novel is doing fine.
- Reading a comic aloudShare the reading: the child reads the speech bubbles, the grown-up reads the boxes. How to split a comic for two voices, and what to do when a page stalls.
- Comics for the child who says they hate readingWhat the series on Peabody's reluctant-readers list have in common: pictures that carry the story, short pages, jokes, and a next book to reach for.
- Making your own comic after you've read them allFinished every book? Make one. A printable four-panel comic sheet, how to plan a strip in four boxes, and the series on Peabody about kids who make comics.
- A shelf label kit for classrooms and librariesPrint shelf strips for each age group and an in-order strip for every series Peabody tracks, so children can find book 1 and the next one without asking.
- What the age labels on manga meanAll Ages, Teen, Teen Plus, Mature: what the labels on English manga mean, publisher by publisher, read at source, and which manga are labelled for children.
- Where to read comics free: the library, Libby, hoopla and Comics PlusWhere to read graphic novels and manga free with a library card: the shelf, Libby, hoopla and Comics Plus, what each one's limits are, and how waits work.
- First comics: what a 5- or 6-year-old can read aloneFirst comics a 5- or 6-year-old can read alone: what makes a comic easy, the series with a few words a page and nothing scary, and how to help without taking over.
- How to make a comic book with your child, on one sheet of paperMake a real 8-page comic book with your child from one sheet of paper: plan it, draw it flat, fold and cut it, with a free printable template and drawn folding steps.