The following non-fiction graphic novel titles are but a few of what is available for children interested in learning more about World War II. I have provided bibliographic information about several popular titles, as well as a brief explanation of important features of each, and why they should be added to a collection.
There are a number of non-fiction graphic novel series available, here are two extremely popular series.
Graphic Battles of World War II
The Battle of Guadalcanal: Land and Sea Warfare in the South Pacific
The Battle of Iwo Jima: Guerilla Warfare in the Pacific
The Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the Japanese Fleet
The Battle of the Bulge: Turning Back HItler's Final Push
D-Day: The Liberation of Europe Begins
Pearl Harbor: A Day of infamy
SERIES: Graphic Battles of World War II
TITLE: The Battle of Iwo Jima -
AUTHOR: Larry Hama
ILLUSTRATOR: Anthony Williams
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2007
PUBLISHER: The Rosen Publishing Group
ISBN: 978-1-4042-0781-3
The Battle of Iwo Jima received a *Starred Review* from Booklist, and has been positively reviewed many times over. The novel is very well illustrated and works great with the text. This graphic novel has some great informative features outside of the graphic novel aspect of the work. The book begins with a brief informative background piece about WWII, the Japanese war machine and finally information about the Island and Battle of Iwo Jima itself. At the beginning of the novel, there is also a list of the key commanders of both sides of the conflict. After the graphic novel portion of the book, there is a great informative piece on the after effects of the Battle in the Pacific, and more importantly a list of extra resources about WWII and the Battle in the Pacific. This graphic novel would work great as a companion to a lesson about WWII or the Battle of Iwo Jima.
The next popular non-fiction graphic novel series is the Graphic Library series available from Capstone Press.
For a complete listing of titles available from the Graphic Library click the link provided below.
http://www.capstonepub.com/aspx/pcategory.aspx?EntityGUID=7d47c0ce-9541-4431-9cef-2a400acd8942
There are several titles in this series dealing with famous events of World War II. One title in the series is The Attack on Pearl Harbor.
SERIES: Graphic Library: Graphic History
TITLE: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
AUTHOR: Jane Sutcliffe
ILLUSTRATOR: Bob Lentz
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2006
PUBLISHER: Capstone Press
ISBN: 9-780736-854771
The Attack on Pearl Harbor is cited by educators across the country for being a great companion to a World War II unit of study. It is not only engaging, but it has some great extra features such as a “More About Pearl Harbor” section as well as a section that provides information about extra websites and books on the subject. It is also refreshing to see a complete bibliography at the end of the book (something that many non-fiction graphic novels lack).
What is great about both of the titles mentioned above is that they both have information about where students can learn more about the subject matter presented in the book. Both titles would make an excellent companion to a unit of study on World War II.
