Fast-growing LibraryPass, this week announced the addition early reader titles to its Comics Plus service from four new partners, ABDO, Capstone, Cherry Lake, and Lerner Publishing Group, making them available to libraries and schools with "unlimited simultaneous access for online and offline reading."

In a release, LibraryPass Chief Content Officer Guy LeCharles Gonzalez said the addition will help serve the growing demand for age-appropriate comics. “We regularly receive requests for visually engaging, age-appropriate titles that would appeal to libraries’ youngest readers who might not be ready for traditional comics," Gonzalez says. “This initial collection of early readers will help serve that need, and we’re looking forward to adding even more titles from our publisher partners over the next several months.”

The release detailed the new content being added to Comics Plus:

  • ABDO's catalog includes series written for PreK–Grade 3 students, focusing on African American history, folktales, and real-life heroines. Introducing Ana & Andrewback in 2018, Editor-in-Chief Paul Abdo explained that "series for young readers that not only highlight African American history, but also present that information from a child’s perspective are rare. We wanted to address that gap in a library’s collection.
  • Capstone's catalog features a variety of popular DC Comics characters in fun adventures for early readers, including Batman, Superman, and DC Super-Pets!
  • Cherry Lake's catalog includes series with an environmental angle, like the Hello, Everglades! series, which takes young readers on a journey through the Everglades, exploring the flora and fauna of the region. The books in this series include an author biography and teaching guides.
  • Lerner Publishing Group's catalog includes their Early Bird Readers collections, featuring fun stories, inviting art, and hilarious titles to delight readers as they progress in level. Each title contains a GRL correlation chart in the back that matches each level to a GRL range.

Comics Plus offers schools and libraries thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from popular publishers. Librarians can get more information (and sign up for a free trial) online, or email the company here.