Elise Gravel. Tundra, $12.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-77049-633-0
In one of two books kicking off the aptly (and wonderfully) named Disgusting Creatures series, Gravel (How Do You Doodle?) explores the long and short of worms, with a big emphasis on humor. A pink earthworm who is prone to shouting pops up...
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Elise Gravel. Innovation, $8.99 (22p) ISBN 978-1-943147-40-3
There are a great many different ways “to be,” suggests Gravel in this funny and affirming board book. Cartoon children display different moods, feelings, and states of being. A wide-eyed child takes off running—he’s “scared.” Striking a “bizarre”...
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Elise Gravel. Enfant, $17.95 (48p) ISBN 978-1-77046-363-9
What makes “the worst book”? The latest from Gravel (You Can Be) is a fourth-wall-breaking showcase of picture book “don’t”s. Three critters rendered in Gravel’s signature comics style introduce an intentionally dull fairy tale with great skepticism
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Elise Gravel. Schwartz & Wade, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-593-12005-7
The opening spread of this explanatory resource for younger readers shows a crowd of people with varying skin tones and hair colors—refugees, the image implies, don’t all look one way. “A refugee is a person, just like you and me,” Gravel (The Worst
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Elise Gravel. Chronicle, $14.99 (104p) ISBN 978-1-7972-1491-7
In a useful, funny graphic novel guidebook, Gravel (the Arlo & Pips series) offers examples of how disinformation can prove high-stakes, adversely affecting the environment, democracy, and even individuals’ health. But with vigilance, practice, and...
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Elise Gravel. APA/Magination, $12.95 paper (96p) ISBN 978-1-4338-1291-0
Friendly beasties invite readers to explore their emotions on lined notebook pages, with sections devoted to feeling excited, annoyed, and more. “Draw or write down some things that scare you inside this bottle,” advises one creature with horns that
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Elise Gravel. Roaring Brook, $14.99 (176p) ISBN 978-1-59643-741-8
Jessie, a self-described “nerd extraordinaire,” candidly evaluates her life in this illustrated notebook-style novel, which is packed with screwball cartoons, doodles, lists, and comics sequences. Jessie shares her trepidation about starting high...
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Elise Gravel. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-235124-1
With gravity-defying pigtails and a near-permanent scowl, Ada lives up to her description in the title of a book whose theme is less “practice makes perfect” than “follow your bliss.” Working in a palette of pink and mint—spiked with jittery reds...
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Elise Gravel. Toon (Consortium, dist.), $12.95 (64p) ISBN 978-1-943145-08-9
When wrestler Antonio Barichievich (1925–2002) emigrated from Croatia to Montreal as a young adult, his huge, Paul Bunyan–like physique drew attention. He weighed 460 pounds—“which is as heavy as a horse!” Gravel (I Want a Monster!) points out—and...
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Elise Gravel. Harper, $12.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-06-235126-5
In this offbeat illustrated chapter book, Gravel (The Great Antonio) lets readers peer into the “observation notebook” of a girl named Olga, who adores animals but is none too keen on people. Her best friend is a spider named Rita who lives under...
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Elise Gravel with Mykaell Blais. Random House/Schwartz, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-17863-8
Collaborating with Blais, who is transgender, author-illustrator Gravel offers an examination of gender stereotypes, employing a series of probing questions and speech bubbles that invite readers to consider gender identity and its attendant...
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Elise Gravel. Orca, $10.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4598-2320-4
Gravel’s board book imagines common foods and everyday objects participating in human tasks. In each spread, text on the verso asks an illustrated question, “Down by the Bay” style: “Have you ever seen a carrot taking a bath?” shows the bucktoothed...
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Elise Gravel. HarperAlley, $12.99 (64p) ISBN 978-0-06-298222-3
Stripped-down forms, bold black contours, and hand-lettered type by Gravel (I Am Scary) reveal crows’ many talents in this simple story of would-be friendship. Pips, a tiny yellow bird, overhears braggart crow Arlo’s proclamations: “No bird is...
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Elise Gravel. HarperCollins, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-303767-0
This conversational picture book by author-illustrator Gravel winningly imagines anxiety and stress as the first-person narrator’s imaginary puppy, Ollie, who lives in their head. When golden-colored Ollie, a rabbit-eared, big-eyed, high-spirited...
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Elise Gravel. Chronicle, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-79722-820-4
Gravel’s signature creature-filled cartoons celebrate brains’ beautiful diversity. With googly eyes, skinny arms and legs, and a cheerful-appearing disposition, the “big, jellyish, squishy” brain that stars fills panels with speech-bubble commentary
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