Lions, tigers, bears, and animal graphic novels for kids

John Patrick Green, 2020

Starting with my childhood obsession with Garfield, I’ve always loved graphic novels about animals. I’m allergic to so many of them in real life – it’s wonderful to get to enjoy their company on the page. So I was thrilled to get the chance to draw a series of graphic novels featuring alligators – one of the absolute weirdest animals out there. They’re so strange and bumpy looking! And they’re basically dinosaurs – they’ve been around forever! People keep baby alligators in their handbags to deter thieves – and then they go live in the NYC sewers! How could I resist making them mystery-solving adventurers?

Remy Lai, 2022

With her series Surviving the Wild, Remy Lai has created a set of charming, wonderful nonfiction books about animals today dealing with the world changing due to climate change. This book specifically tackles deforestation, and Star (amazingly drawn as basically an extremely cute pink sphere with legs and a trunk) must find a new home after his own vanishes. It’s a heartening and pensive story, filled with many very cute animals. This book also has great tips for readers about what they can do to help with today’s environmental problems!

Guojing, 2022

I know that as a kid, I dreamed about finding baby animals in the wild and having to raise them in those first adorable years – and that’s where this book starts, as its protagonist finds a mysterious flamingo egg and has to help as it hatches and grows up. The book then delves into fantasy, as its hero goes back to the city after her summer vacation with her grandmother – and the flamingo finds her in its migratory flight. It’s a delightful, quiet story with absolutely gorgeous artwork from the amazing artist Guojing.