Ask Tangognat – Manga for a 6 year old girl
Posted on | February 17, 2009 | 9 Comments
Justin writes: My 6yo. daughter just loves Tanya del Rio’s Sabrina comics, but now that her run is ending, I don’t know where to go next. She’s kind of into some superhero titles–the new Shazam and Supergirl–but I think she’ll like manga more. Got any suggestions?
I know you asked for manga, but the first titles that popped into my head were regular comics. If your daughter likes superhero titles and manga influenced art, you might want to try the recent series of Power Pack graphic novels.
I haven’t read the new Power Pack issues myself because my children are still in the chewing on board books stage, but I think these graphic novels are rated for all ages.
The other series I thought your daughter might want to try is Babymouse. These short volumes detail the adventures of an mouse in elementary school who has a vivid imagination, bad hair days, and an annoying little brother. Babymouse is very funny and a good choice if your daughter likes the color pink.
For manga, I think you’ll want to try some of the new and upcoming kids imprints from some of the manga publishers. Viz Kids is a bit heavy on the Pokemon, but one of the titles called Happy Happy Clover was mentioned in the comments threads of one of my earlier recommendation posts. It is about bunnies! I haven’t read it myself, but the cover looks cute.
Viz also has picture books based on the Ghibli library of films, so something like the Kiki’s Delivery Service film picture book might be another one to try.
Tokyopop briefly had a chapter book-like OEL manga line. I don’t think these series are continuing, but you might also want to check out Kat and Mouse, about girl detectives at a boarding school.
If you can wait until spring, I think the recently announced kids imprint from UDON could be promising too.
If you have more suggestions for Justin, please let him know!
Comments
9 Responses to “Ask Tangognat – Manga for a 6 year old girl”
Leave a Reply
February 17th, 2009 @ 11:51 pm
my neighbor totoro; is also cute.
I haven’t read The Legend of Zelda – but it does look cute.
February 17th, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
hm, I’m sorry, it looks like I don’t have href code correctly
February 18th, 2009 @ 12:53 am
That’s ok, I think I fixed it. Thanks for the suggestions!
February 18th, 2009 @ 1:50 am
Testing to see if my previous comment got submitted.
February 18th, 2009 @ 1:54 am
My previous comment didn’t get submitted, so I’ll try again without the links.
Check out http://www.kidjutsu.com. It’s a website I built for kids to read, discover, and share comics.
At her age, I would recommend Happyloo and Banana-Tail. Any comic rated all-ages should be appropriate.
If she was a little older, I would recommend the Wings of Nibonet, Ebony Box, and Inverloch.
February 18th, 2009 @ 6:37 am
I totally suggest Cowa! also! http://orientaldesires.blogspot.com/2009/01/cowa-by-akira-toriyama.html
February 18th, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
Whoof. Most manga out there is not really suitable for a 6 year old, both as far as content and reading level, so this is a tough one.
Have you considered the Dayan books put out by Dark Horse? They’re more like mini picture books, about the size of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit books, but they could work here.
I’ve already sung the praises of Happy Happy Clover — but if she’s already reading Power Pack, what about Card Captor Sakura or Sugar Sugar Rune?
I wish Chi’s Sweet Home was out in English, because that series about a kitten who gets adopted by a young family is totally adorable.
While not manga, Owly by Andy Runton from Top Shelf is great for kids too.
Hope that kinda helps. The difficulty of this task just underlines the point that we need more manga for younger readers. :\
February 19th, 2009 @ 7:16 am
[...] Tangognat has more manga recommendations for kids; this time it’s manga for a 6-year-old girl. [...]
February 23rd, 2009 @ 7:40 am
I’d second Deb’s comment–most “All Ages” manga are better suited for tweens. The Legend of Zelda is a good example: though the elves and ponies will appeal to young readers, the vocabulary and syntax are too advanced for first graders. (Some parents may also find it too violent, though the swordplay is bloodless.) A few other suggestions:
Agent Boo (Tokyopop): Agent Boo is a series of chapter books with manga-influenced illustrations. The vocabulary and syntax might be hard for a six-year-old to tackle on her own, but it works well if an adult is reading it with her. From the same author as Kat & Mouse. (Three volumes.)
Fashion Kitty (Hyperion): A fashion-forward cat helps other kittens dress to impress. I know, I know… it sounds awful. But the illustrations are cute, the layout is simple and not too hard to follow, and the script is surprisingly good. (Three volumes.)
Korgi (Top Shelf): A beautifully drawn series about a fairy and her trusty dog Sprout. Like Owly, it’s wordless, but the intricate drawings invite conversation and multiple readings. (Two volumes.)
Yam (Top Shelf): Another wordless graphic novel, this one featuring a young boy and his colorful assortment of friends that includes a TV set that behaves more like a dog. The series originated in the pages of Nickelodeon Magazine, and has a loopy, slightly surreal quality about it. (One volume.)