Here's what your child actually loved about Cat Kid: it's a comic that hands you a pencil. All those little frog cartoonists, all those different styles, and the pages that show you how to make your own. This is a shelf of books that carry that same spark. Any single one is a full, happy read. Some are the same kind of goofy comic your child can finish in one sitting. Some actually teach the drawing. Pick by your child's age and what they're reaching for, and keep paper nearby, because the point of all of these is that your child closes the book and starts making one.
Everything on this shelf shares Cat Kid's DNA in one of two ways: it's a funny, cartoony comic a child can tear through, or it actively teaches them to make their own — and the best ones do both. Reach for whichever fits the child in front of you. Narwhal is the gentlest, easiest laugh for the smallest reader. Baloney and Pizza and Taco are the same instant, few-words-per-page comedy, and Baloney ends by teaching your child to draw the cast. Adventures in Cartooning is a real quest that's secretly a comics lesson. Comics Squad: Recess! is the nearest cousin of all — eight famous cartoonists, eight styles, one book, Cat Kid's many-artists format exactly. And The Cardboard Kingdom is the fullest, most grown-up pick, a whole neighborhood of children inventing themselves. Hand over the one that sounds most like your child.