Graphic novels have become one of today’s most exciting art forms with a plethora of publishing. However, there has, and no doubt there will always continue to be huge debate as to the exact definition of a graphic novel as the origins of the art form itself are open to interpretation.

Here at Lovereading4kids, however, we see it as a novel whose narrative is conveyed through a combination of text and pictures, usually but not always in comic-strip form.  Occasionally, a graphic novel might even contain no text at all and Raymond Briggs is of course a past-master at this.

We do not intend to pretend to make our genre remotely comprehensive; that is not our purpose. Our reason for creating a graphic novel genre is so that we can firstly, showcase graphic novels of previously published novels from the likes of Anthony Horowitz, Charlie Higson and Eoin Colfer, secondly, keep you abreast of some unusual one-off titles such as Hugo Cabret (on which the film from Martin Scorsese HUGO is based) and finally, we couldn’t exclude a small selection from an author at the forefront of the world of graphic novels, Neil Gaiman. Tintin and Asterisk we see as stand alone graphic cartoon classics and as such get their own space within Lovereading4kids.

One other very important element to mention is that graphic novels enhance reading skills and are particularly helpful in getting reluctant readers reading more enthusiastically as the flexibility of the medium ensures that complex stories can be told in a simpler form.

So why not take a look.  We’ll add to and refresh the list on a regular basis as and when something grabs our attention.