This drawing activity is perfect for elementary students. Students can draw graphic novel characters and listen to a graphic novel read aloud.
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Drawing Activity
Drawing Activity for Bunbun and Bonbon: Fancy Friends by Jess Keating
Jess Keating has an AMAZING resource on her website. Kids can learn how to draw these amazing and, I’m predicting, soon-to-be iconic characters.
Keating made a great how-to video for drawing Bunbun, as well as printable PDFs for drawing Bunbun and Bonbon.
This drawing activity is wonderful for elementary students:
- Kids can improve their fine motor skills with this hands-on activity.
- They can practice following instructions, particularly multi-step instructions.
- They can make a physical connection to a book, Bunbun and Bonbon: Fancy Friends.
- Students have the opportunity to learn more about illustrators and how they do their job.
Graphic Novel Read Aloud
Graphic novel read aloud to accompany drawing activity for Bunbun and Bonbon: Fancy Friends by Jess Keating
I taught my kindergarten through fifth graders how to identify graphic novels. Fourth and fifth graders pretty much all already knew, but the kindergarten through third graders were delighted to learn three simple ways to identify a graphic novel:
- Boxes (panels) are present
- Illustrations are present
- Speech bubbles are present
Now even my kindergarteners know that if they see panels, illustrations, and speech bubbles, they’re probably holding a graphic novel. They LOVE to show me when they’ve picked up a graphic novel, and I love to see what they’ve learned.
That being said, I wanted to read them a graphic novel because they’ve fallen in love with identifying graphic novels. I came across Bunbun and Bonbon: Fancy Friends by Jess Keating and I AM IN AWE! The book is adorable. Plus, it’s about making friends (always an important message), the illustrations are large (great for reading to a class), and the low number of characters makes it an easy graphic novel for even kindergarteners to follow.
Paired with the drawing activity above, reading the first few chapters of this *short* graphic novel aloud filled a 30 minute class period.
I recommend reading a chapter a two a day for a week or so. The kids are now on a waiting list to check out our many copies of this book, and I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2 of the series!
Looking for more resources? Check out these!
Friendship books for kids of all ages
Chapter books for second graders
Fiction and nonfiction book pairings for preschoolers
