This is the page I (Anna’s dad) wish someone had handed me. Anna learned to love reading with comics — she’d finish a whole graphic novel, feel like a champion, and immediately reach for the next one. If you have a kid who “doesn’t like reading,” a funny comic is often the door that finally opens.
Here are the three series that did it for us: what they’re about, where to start, and the books we genuinely loved most.
🐊 InvestiGators — our top pick
Two alligators, Mango and Brash, are secret agents for S.U.I.T. They crawl through the sewers, fight goofy villains, and crack the kind of puns that make a 5-year-old groan and grin at the same time. The pages are bright and busy, the jokes are non-stop, and the mysteries are just twisty enough to keep a new reader turning pages.
Where to start: book one, InvestiGators. Read them roughly in order — the gags build on each other.
A note for the littlest readers (4–5): every book works for all ages except Take the Plunge — we’d save that one for a little later. All the others are great fun at any age.
Our favourites: Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S. and Class Action had us laughing out loud.
- Start here
InvestiGators
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Take the Plunge
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Off the Hook
- Our favourite
Ants in Our P.A.N.T.S.
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Braver and Boulder
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Heist and Seek
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All Tide Up
- Our favourite
Class Action
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Case Files
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Weather or Not
🐶 Dog Man — big hearts, big laughs
From Dav Pilkey: a police officer and his dog are hurt on the job, so the doctors sew the dog’s head onto the cop’s body — and Dog Man is born. He chases the wonderfully naughty cat Petey, but underneath the silliness these books are quietly about kindness, family and second chances. Anna re-reads them constantly.
Where to start: book one, Dog Man.
Our favourite: The Scarlet Shedder (book 12).
- Start here
Dog Man
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Dog Man Unleashed
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A Tale of Two Kitties
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Dog Man and Cat Kid
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Lord of the Fleas
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Brawl of the Wild
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For Whom the Ball Rolls
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Fetch-22
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Grime and Punishment
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Mothering Heights
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Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea
- Our favourite
The Scarlet Shedder
🩲 Captain Underpants — gloriously silly
Recommended by our friend Joshua, and a classic for a reason. Two prankster kids, George and Harold, hypnotise their grumpy principal into believing he’s a superhero in his underwear: Captain Underpants. Expect toilet humour, “Flip-O-Rama” action and total chaos. It’s a touch cheekier and aimed a little older than the other two — perfect for a kid who lives for silly jokes.
Where to start: book one, The Adventures of Captain Underpants.
- Start here
The Adventures of Captain Underpants
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Attack of the Talking Toilets
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Invasion of the Cafeteria Ladies
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Professor Poopypants
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Wicked Wedgie Woman
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Bionic Booger Boy, Part 1
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Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2
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Purple Potty People
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Tippy Tinkletrousers
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Radioactive Robo-Boxers
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Turbo Toilet 2000
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Sir Stinks-A-Lot
Why comics work for new readers
If your kid only wants to read comics — let them. Pictures carry meaning, the pace is fast, the wins come quickly, and “I finished a book!” is the feeling that makes a reader. Re-reading the same favourite ten times absolutely counts too.
Cover images are from the publishers; the buy buttons go to Amazon so you can grab any you like. Happy reading from Alex and Anna. 💛
✨ Prompts to remix it
Paste into ChatGPT (or any assistant) to generate fresh content in seconds.
My child is 8 and fell in love with reading through the graphic novels
InvestiGators, Dog Man and Captain Underpants. Recommend 6 more funny,
kid-friendly graphic-novel SERIES at a similar reading level. For each, give
the series name, author, a one-line description, and which book to start with.