Mink's stories

Graphic novels that help teach language skills to the youngest of readers? Of course you’re going to use anthropomorphics for that! Check out Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends, written and illustrated by Kaz Windness. “Worm and Caterpillar are friends—best friends. Worm loves how they are just alike, but Caterpillar has a feeling there is a big change coming. Then Caterpillar disappears for a while and comes back as Butterfly. Will Butterfly and Worm still be friends?” Well, you can find out now from Simon & Schuster.

image c. 2024 Simon & Schuster

We can’t say it better than the publishers did: “Bear, Staffan Gnosspelius’s debut book, is a gorgeous visual meditation on depression. In this deeply affecting, wordless picture book for adults, a bear is maddeningly afflicted with a cone that covers his head and that he is unable to take off. He furiously stomps and yells and tears at the cone, he implores the skies and fate for relief, he is drawn to dark and wild and scary places. The depths of his sadness feel like a defeat. It’s a battle he wages until he’s mentally and physically exhausted. Then, one day, Bear hears notes of music, the humming of a friendly hare. The hare hovers nearby, concerned, sometimes driven away by Bear’s frustration and anger, more often staying close and gently offering support.” This full-color graphic novel is available in hardcover from Seven Stories Press.

image c. 2024 Seven Stories Press

One of those projects that’s not really furry per se, but it sure seems to have a lot of non-human characters in it! Hotel REM is a new full-color all-ages graphic novel, written by Zack Keller, with art by Gabriele Bagnoli and Valerio Alloro. “Rembrandt Somner is the happy-go-lucky new owner of Hotel REM, a place for all the fantastic people and creatures in our dreams to hang out when we wake up. Channeling his endless enthusiasm, Rem attempts to balance his unwieldy coworkers and wild guests in order to run a successful business that makes his parents proud. However, a demanding celebrity guest threatens to be the rude awakening that ruins everything!” The preview is up over at Dark Horse Comics.

image c. 2024 Dark Horse Comics

The celebrated and multi-award-winning creator Ursula Vernon first came to most people’s attention through her black & white web comic called Digger. Now, a decade later, Grim Oak Press gives us Digger Unearthed: The Complete Tenth Anniversary Collection. “Digger Unearthed is the story of a shrewd, sensible wombat engineer named Digger-of-unnecessarily-convoluted-tunnels, who finds herself stranded in a fantasy world that is far from logical. Thrust into the middle of a puzzling and often perilous situation involving gods, demons, destiny, and redemption, she finds her way based on a pragmatic honesty and the sincere belief in doing the right thing… To celebrate its tenth anniversary, Digger Unearthed offers the complete web comic collection in a single volume that can be fully enjoyed by young adult readers, yet also contains layers of sophistication that become deeper and more meaningful with age and experience.” Which we have. It’s available now in both paperback and hardcover.

image c. 2024 Grim Oak Press