I have a book for Older Children who enjoy Art & Crafts to go inside our Christmas Gift Guide 2025: The Adventures of You!: How to Write, Draw, and Star in Your Own Comics by Ellen Forney (Author). I received the book in exchange for this review. Inside this post is my affiliate links. If you click on the links and make a purchase, I will make a small percentage from the products you purchase.
The Adventures of You! will keep children busy for hours on end as they write their own comics they draw, write and star in. Make sure you take plenty of photos to put inside your book. Charlie and David said the book reminds them of a Comic Book but its’ actually a graphic novel.
There is nine chapters in the book starting with introduction and ending with chapter 9 go make comics! There is even photos in the book you can color to make the fun go on longer. There is a questionairre to help you name your comic book character.
Charlie liked chapter where you draw all kinds of stuff. David like chapter 6 drawing characters. I liked chapter 5 combining words and pictures. I love how the Author included a certificate we can print out and hang up once we finish our comic books.
If Charlie had been #Homeschooling full time we would have used The Adventures of You!: How to Write, Draw, and Star in Your Own Comics by Ellen Forney in our #Homeschool Art Class and also our Reading Class and you could do the same. This book is for older children but younger children might enjoy hearing the story.
About the Book:
For storytellers and artists of all levels (no experience necessary!), here is a colorful, interactive how-to book that teaches kids to express themselves through comics.
Hey! Are you an artist? Writer? Creator? All of the above? None of the above? Grab a pencil and this book to begin expressing your life in comics! This interactive guide is chockfull of fun exercises, insightful lessons, and plenty of practice space. Draw and write your own characters! Create funky panel shapes! Fill in the speech bubbles! Follow fun prompts to doodle, draw, and design! No writing or drawing experience is necessary—all it takes is YOU (plus a pencil or pen) to turn your ideas into visual stories, starring you!
Praise for comic artist, speaker, mental health coach, and New York Times bestselling author Ellen Forney:
- “Ellen Forney’s greatest strength as a cartoonist is her gift for explanation—getting information across with vigor, wit, and visual inventiveness.” –New York Times
- “Forney has a virtuosic understanding of what words and images can do in congress, playing them off one another in ways that allow her pages to be more than the sum of their parts.” –NPR
- “Brilliant” –Entertainment Weekly
About the Author:
Ellen Forney is an author, artist, speaker, and mental health coach. Her work includes the New York Times bestselling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, the story of her diagnosis and struggle with bipolar disorder, and its companion book, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life, a mental health guide and the basis for her coaching.
Ellen’s work has been published and reviewed in a variety of media, including Washington Post, New York Times, Psychology Today, NPR,and LA Times, among others. She was awarded fellowships from MacDowell, Artist Trust, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Civitella Ranieri. Ellen grew up in Philadelphia and lives in Seattle.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
