Adventures in Cartooning Activity Book

This activity book is a sequel to Adventures in Cartooning, a rollicking adventure featuring a knight, an elf, a hungry horse, and a gum-chewing dragon. It builds on the drawing and composing lessons of the prior book, combining the adventures of these fun characters with blank pages where readers can add to the story. The story begins when the sun bursts into tears because it does not get to hear stories like the moon when children go to bed, putting into motion a sequence of bizarre events. The last chunk of pages are a series of blank panels where readers can draw their own stories and cheer the sun up.

This book's creators all have a connection to The Center for Cartoon Studies. James Sturm is the Director of the Center, Andrew Arnold is a current student, and Alexis Frederick-Frost is a graduate. Arnold and Frederick-Frost do not have many other credits yet but Sturm has created lots of comics and graphic novels, tending toward historical fiction but also dabbling in superheroes and even breakfast cereal mascots.

Critics have seen many positive features in this book for younger readers. The reviewer at Charlotte's Library wrote that the book is full of happiness and engagement for a certain 7 year old. Jonathan Liu, the Geek Daddy at Wired, relates a similar story where his daughter won't let him look at the book until she finishes her drawings.

First Second, the book's publisher, has an extended preview of the first book available here.

A great, big thank you to Gina for the review copy!