Here are three different takes on fantasy/sci-fi adventures for kids in graphic novel format, ranging from a prank-heavy camp experience to an epic fantasy with goats, and a cat’s funny/serious adventures with aliens.

Camp Monster by Kate Messner and Falynn Koch. Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2026. ISBN 978-1547609413. Review copy kindly sent by the publisher.

Young yeti Tasha’s family used to run Camp Yeti exclusively for young yetis – but there are no longer enough yeti kids to keep a camp going. Rather than shutting it down altogether, Tasha has persuaded her parents to reopen as Camp Monster, open to all monsters. This is great in theory – but in practice, none of these young monsters have experience socializing with others outside their own species. That leads to a lots of stereotyping and culture clashes as they try to navigate things like whether the pool should be warm or icy cold and just what constitutes tasty food. Camper profile forms introduce us to campers including mischief-making twins Tom and Zelbawog, shy Lupo the werewolf, Vera the soccer-loving vampire, Claude the swimming griffin, and Isabelle the ballerina ogre. The camp staff get shorter introductions but are just as colorful. Tasha’s ongoing letters to her grandfather keep readers aware of her feelings even when she’s doing her best to stay positive in front of her parents and other campers. Lively pranks keep the plot fun, while the looming threat of the camp being discovered by humans will either divide or unite the campers. The message here is clear, but as it goes hand-in-hand with the camp mayhem, it doesn’t get in the way of the entertainment. Falynn Koch’s bright and lively illustrations are an essential part of the narrative, as they should be. This should be popular.

Goat Magic by Kate Wheeler. Oni, 2025. ISBN 9781637158050. Read from a library copy.

Princess Alya has never able to live up to her mother’s expectations, but her life takes a radical turn off course when her mother’s caravan is attacked and she is cursed to spend every day as a black goat. Meanwhile, in a different part of the country, Trill is a goatherder preparing to take her family’s herd to market on her own for the first time. When they meet, Alya at first demands that Trill take her back to her castle immediately – but Trill is just as adamant that trying to walk through the mountains in the dark will get them nowhere they want to be very quickly indeed. Still, Trill’s ability to talk with goats makes her an essential companion for someone stuck as a goat half the time. Trill has grown up far enough away from the capital to be very skeptical of the government, who are heavy with rules (including limiting magic use to those who can pay to go to the expensive magic schools) and low on assistance. Traveling together is an education for both of them. Wheeler fits a twisty political plot with carefully thought-out world-building into an average-sized book, a truly impressive feat. There’s even time for a little bit of romance and a lot of goat mayhem.

Space Cat by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford. First Second, 2025. ISBN 978-1250817488. Read from a library copy.

Okorafor spins sci-fi stories around her real-life cat’s imagined adventures with aliens in this winning book. Pumpernickel Pickle Periwnkle Chukwu Okorafor – Periwinkle for short – enjoys cuddling with his humans during the day and taking his tiny spaceship out for jaunts at night. Shorter episodes tell how Periwinkle came to stay with the family, his joy in the spaceship, and that time an alien hid in the leftover hot sauce on the table and had to be chased around the house. Later, Okorafor, her teen daughter, and Periwinkle travel to Nigeria for Okorafor’s writing research, a special risk for Periwinkle because Nigerians do not like cats. Adventures galore await Periwinkle there, from getting to know the neighborhood cats, avoiding the humans – and trying to repell a full-scale alien invasion. Photos in the back show Okorafor and her daughter with the real-life Periwinkle. This is short, sweet, and a delightful treat for cat lovers young to old. Thanks to my love for finding it!

I’ve felt a little behind on the youth graphic novels lately, so if you have any good recommendations for me, please let me know!