100 Books Like Stormy Weather

I was a classroom teacher for 15 years who transitioned to writing children’s books. Starting with picture books, I now write graphic novels. My target audience is 2nd-5th graders and they really get my wacky sense of humor. My passion for silly comedy, from Abbott and Costello to the Marx Brothers, started at an early age and infuses my mission to help reluctant readers become enthusiastic and proficient readers. I feel strongly about this goal because I was once a reluctant reader and I can appreciate what these kids might be going through.

I've been writing and drawing children’s books and comic books for kids for over 23 years. I've always loved the comic book format and visual storytelling. Reading pictures is actually very stimulating for kids and adults alike. I’m also a parent to three daughters and teach art at an elementary school locally, so I work with children and see what captures their imaginations and inspires them. As someone who’s written and illustrated numerous graphic novels for kids, moderates a children’s book review group, and reads so many of the newest books available, I selected these graphic novels as some of the best I’ve read in the different genres that have been released recently.

I am Rachel Hamilton and I’m the author of the Exploding series with Simon & Schuster and the Unicorn in New York series with OUP and Scholastic. I love making people laugh, especially when it's intentional rather than accidental. As well as writing books, I write comedy sketches and have performed standup as part of the Funny Girls tour in the Middle East. It's hard to do humor well, so I have huge respect and admiration for the authors on this list, because they do it fantastically. I hope you love their stories as much as I do. 

My favorite books—to read and to write—have always been funny Christian romances. But all four of my kids prefer fantasy. They want me to read with them, and they’ve been asking me to read nothing but fantasy for years. Now I can say it’s my second favorite genre. In fact, I learned to like it so much I eventually started writing a children’s fantasy series of my own, in between all the mushy stuff. Beyond Wisherton is the first in that series.

I've been an editorial cartoonist and author of children's books for years, and I've always wanted to try my hand at a graphic novel. I'd want to explore this art form even if I didn't have kids. Editorial cartoons deal with serious, heavy issues. Comic strips can get monotonous, and picture books tend to skew young. Graphic novels for kids, however, are 'Goldilocks' projects for me—just right. They allow you to imagine incredible adventures for your characters, they give you an excuse to incorporate wacky humor, and the format provides a chance to have fun with art and design. What's not to love?

I love inventing inventions and experimenting with experiments–all in aid of blending science and story to inspire innovation and positive change. My career covers six countries, 15+ novels for primary-aged children, and jobs that include science journalism at CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider), exploding things at Questacon (as part of a science circus), and collecting bins in the back of a ute (as a garbage analyst). I write for children because I believe (and it’s scientifically proven) that our children are the future. 

I have always been a dog person. Sometimes, I think I am a dog whisperer, as I feel like the dogs in my life have always understood me, just like I understood them. They were often so human-like that I wondered what they did at the house when I was out. So, it didn’t take much of a leap to come up with the idea of “Dudley’s Day at Home,” where Dudley and his best cat pal, Buttercup, enjoy lots of human activities while Sam and his mother are away. 

I’ve always loved both horror and comedy. So imagine my delight discovering the two could be blended together into a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. Movies such as Ghostbusters, Army of Darkness, and Big Trouble in Little China are perfect examples. In each, you have a potentially terrifying situation, coupled with characters who are too full of themselves to play the victim – yet not quite competent enough to be the hero either. It’s inspired me to spend countless hours behind my computer crafting my own horrific worlds, coupled with characters who simply refuse to take it seriously. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

When the society, culture, and world we live in become unrecognizable and untenable, the genre of literature that best quells anxiety is satire. As the author of Satire State, I believe laughter is essential to survival and sanity. The tightly woven fabric of a society unravels slowly and then suddenly through a consecutive series of multiple actions by malignant forces. All the while, historical memory is gradually erased, and the new fabric is the only one recognized. Satire is the only way to chronicle the malignancy and force people to think hard. The following five books of satire that address urgent issues made me laugh, cringe, think, and mutter “too real” under my breath.

My love of children, nature, the arts, and reading have been the inspiration for my books. Growing up on a farm was the perfect place to satisfy my curiosity about nature. I enjoyed being in nature from sunrise to sunset. Not really knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, I decided to major in elementary education where I could share my love for learning and keep growing, creating, and learning from my students - even as they learned from me. Through the years I wrote rough drafts and made sketches for stories filled with intriguing ideas, and respect for nature that I aspire to complete to share with others as children’s books.