Post by Mark T. Locker.

Snarked! Volume One: Forks and Hope by Roger Langridge.

This week I am delving into the world of graphic novels. Or maybe it’s a comic book. Honestly, it’s difficult to tell the difference. Either way, graphic novels are a great way to get reluctant readers into reading. My kid has been one of those. Those pages of text, only occasionally rewarded with a black-and-white drawing, can be intimidating, especially after years of big colorful pages with words at the bottom. We picked up “Snarked!” at the used book store for a quarter. It was a quarter well-spent! Set in a world that is firmly set around the imagination of Lewis Carroll, it features characters from Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and “The Hunting of the Snark”. In the story, a young headstrong princess named Scarlett is trying to find her missing father, the Red King. Assisted by the unlikely helpers, the Walrus and the Carpenter, she is pretty sure he has been dumped on Snark Island so that a puppet government can be installed.

Although the Walrus talks in an excessively florid prose that may be confusing to younger kids, the story is otherwise totally approachable for kids. It’s exciting without being scary or violent. There are several volumes available, so I look forward to reading the rest of the series with my son.