Good Manga for Elementary Libraries

4/1/2024

First published: 5/7/22

Finding appropriate manga for elementary readers can be difficult! Here's a quick list of all the manga I've reviewed that is appropriate for this age group and to which I gave a rating of 7/10 or more. I'll keep adding as I review more, so you might want to bookmark this page and check back to see what else I've found.

Additionally, you should definitely check out this list compiled by Ashley Hawkins, the Manga Librarian, which might have some overlap.

Note: These titles are listed in alphabetical order by title of series.

alice in kyoto forest by mai mochizuki

Since a tragic traffic accident took both her parents at a young age, Alice has lived with her aunt and uncle and their many children. She aspires to go to high school, but her grumpy uncle has made it very clear that he has neither the patience for her. After seeing an ad in a paper for new maikos in her home city of Kyoto, Alice jumps at the chance to return. But, the Kyoto she finds upon arrival is now what she expects. Everything is slightly off - streets and shrines aren’t where she expects; no one seems to pay for anything with money; and, there are anthropomorphized animals talking to her.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Read the full review here: vol 1,

alpi the soul sender by rona

In this magical tale, Alpi is a young girl who has a very important task. Great spirits bestow blessings on the regions where they live, but when they die, their bodies infect the land with terrible energy and plague the very people they once blessed. Soul Senders travel far and wide and help to send these spirits on to the afterlife and cleanse the land, but they do so at a great physical cost.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Read the full review here: vol 1,

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES BY L. M. MONTGOMERY

Cover of Anne of Green Gables. Anne is holding on to her floppy hat. She has a yellow dress on, and behind her is a nice country house with blooming flowers.

This version of the classic story is part of the Manga Classics line from UDON Entertainment. They are faithful adaptations written in manga style, so this is another way to get these stories into the hands of students.

Sara’s Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full review here

Ascendance of a bookworm by Miya kazuki

Cover of Ascendance of a Bookworm volume 1. Mine runs with a red book in her hands. She has bright blue hair and a blue dress on with a white apron.

This adorable tale follows Mine, who is actually a bookworm from another world reincarnated into a frail young girl. She has been devastatingly been born into a world where books are extremely rare and paper is expensive! But she'll do anything to make books

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read the full reviews here: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3

call the name of the night by tama mitsuboshi

Mira is a young girl with a mysterious power to cause darkness to seep from her, infecting everything and everyone around her. Her parents have sent her away to seek treatment from a kind family friend and doctor, who is helping her to learn to control her power, but also teach her basic medicine and herb harvesting. While learning to control her power, Mira must wrestle with some complex emotions like grief, anxiety, and self-doubt.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-10

Read the full reviews here: vol 1*, vol 2,

Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP

Cover of Cardcaptor Sakura Collector's Edition volume 1. Sakura is dressed in a very frilly, flowy dress. She holds her staff, and Kero-san is flying in front of her.

Sakura is a fourth grader who accidentally released a deck of magical cards, and now she is tasked with collecting them again before they wreak havoc all over Tokyo. This is a pretty sweet magical-girl series with plenty of beautifully illustrated magic sequences and lots of elaborate costumes. There are a couple of strange romantic relationships, like one between a teacher and a student, but it's not a main focal point of the series.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-8

Read the full reviews here: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6

CELLS AT WORK BABY BY YASUHIRO FUKUDA

Cover of Cells at Work Baby volume 1. Chibi Red blood san looks happy, holding a canister of O2. Scared White Blood Cell hides behind her. Behind both of them are other various cells.

This spin off of the main story of Cells at Work is about a baby body with baby cells, and all of them are drawn in a chibi style (large eyes, puffy cheeks, short limbs). This is a really cute story and a way for elementary students to start learning some biology. And, because the body is presented like a factory, there are no images of a human body that would be inappropriate for the age group.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

Dragon Quest: The Adventures of Dai by Riku Sanjo

Dai is the lone human inhabitant of Dermline Island, which has become a haven for monsters. Dai has befriended many of the monsters, who are mostly well-behaved wild creatures now. A few quests of adventurers find the island and try to make names for themselves or cash in on fortunes in monster bounties, but Dai thwarts them at every turn.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-9

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

THE EVIL SECRET SOCIETY OF CATS

The evil secret society of cats has one mission: to make humans fear the feline race! To that end, a motley cast of cats is here to take over the lives of unsuspecting folk and all media they consume. Under the leadership of the Feline Commander is Dr. Meow, with his fiercer creations, including Robocat, Queen, and Destroyer. Fighting to save humanity is Doggoman and his little sister who have trained under the wise Master Yorkshire.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

THE FOX AND LITTLE TANUKI BY MI TAGAWA

Cover of The Fox and little tanuki volume 1. A fox and a much smaller tanuki are nose to nose. The fox looks really upset, while the tanuki is smiling.

Senzou was a terribly powerful magical beast who now must serve a penance of raising a little tanuki to be a good servant of the gods. This is a classic odd-couple comedy but with cute Disney-type animals.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read the full reviews here: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3,

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF EIZOUKEN BY SUMITO OOWARA

Cover of Keep your hands off Eizouken volume 1. Asakusa with her survival back pack is climbing a latter up to Mizusaki and Kanamori, who are on a ledge above her

This school-life story follows three young students as the form a club dedicated to drawing and producing manga. They originally tried to join the already established Anime Club on campus, but they quickly found the club was not focused on creation, but consuming. The three girls have skills that perfectly complement one another.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

KINGDOM HEARTS BY SHIRO AMANo

Cover of Kingdom Hearts 1. Sora has his eyes closed and his arms outstretched.

Kingdom Hearts is a mash-up between two favorite universes: Disney. and Final Fantasy. Disney has repeatedly created worlds that captivate our imaginations, and there are an abundance of Final Fantasy video games with iconic characters. The manga capture the main storylines from each of the games, which has an added bonus - many of the games were console exclusives, and quite a few are on consoles that no longer exist, so some students may be able to catch up in this vast universe by reading the manga instead of tracking down the games.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability : Grades 3-12

Read the full review here

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: LEGENDARY EDITIONS
BY AKIRA HIMEKAWA

Cover of The Legend of Zelda, Legendary Edition: Minish Cap & Phantom Hourglass. Link holds his sword and has the minish cap on, which looks kind of like the top half of a duck.

This five-volume series brings the storyline of many Zelda games to manga form. While Zelda games are not always connected to one another in a congruent timeline, this is still a great way for students to catch up on previous games from decades past.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability: Grades 3-12

Read the full review here

LITTLE WITCH ACADEMIA

Akko is determined to be a witch. She will follow in the footsteps of her favorite witch, Chariot, who attended Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy. The major obstacle to her attaining her hopes and dreams is that she is not magical -- yet. Going to witch school is nothing like Akko thought it would be! Classes are not as interesting as she would hope, and she hasn't mastered flying a broom. Plus, lots of other witches make fun of her for not being from a magical family.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-7

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

A MAN AND HIS CAT BY UMI SAKURAI

Cover of A man and his cat volume 1. Kanda is in a brown suit with a red tie, and he is holding his new cat, who is quite large and fluffy. He is mostly white with a brown spot on his head and brown paws. The cat is smiling up at Kanda. The rest of the cover behind them is yellow.

Kanda, a widower, adopts an older, much fluffier cat, from the adoption center full of kittens. The two are a comfort and relief to one another.

Because this does deal with death and grieving, this is better suited for older audience or students who may be processing grief themselves.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

MIRACULOUS TALES OF LADYBUG & CAT NOIR BY ZAG

Adapted by Koma Warita, illustrated by Riku Tsuchida

Guarding the streets of Paris is the adorable duo, Ladybug and Cat Noir, whose secret identities are teenagers Marionette and Adrien. When they’re not their superhero selves, Marionette tries to navigate being a teenager, which means babysitting, dealing with class projects with the stuck up preppy girl, and trying to confess her feelings for Adrien. Meanwhile, Adrien tries to deal with his crush on Ladybug!

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-8

Read the full review here: vol 1

MY NEIGHBOR SEKI BY TAKUMA MORISHIGE

Cover of My Neighbor Seki volume 1. Yokoi and Seki are seated at their desks. Yokoi has out her classwork, but Seki is building a volcano on his desk.

Seki is constantly putting elaborate games, battlescapes, or other crazy things on the top of his desk instead of paying attention in class. But Yokoi, his neighbor, is the one who gets in trouble by being distracted. Seki is always miraculously on task when the teacher calls on him, or knows the exact answer, or has all of it cleared off, just in the nick of time to not get in trouble. This is a pretty funny story, and it's interesting to see all the different things Seki gets up to.

Sara’s Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1, vol 2

NICHIJOU BY KEIICHI ARAWI

Cover of Nichijou volume 1. Several students are seated in their desks. There is a deer randomly on top of one of the desks in the back of the room.

A slice-of-life school comedy following the lives of several students. One of the students is a robot desperately trying to hide she's a robot, despite the very large wind-up key protruding from her back.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full review here: vol 1

NICOLA TRAVELING AROUND THE DEMONS WORLD VOL 1 BY ASAYA MIYANAGA

Nicola is a human girl and a struggling witch, saved by the demon Simon, who now finds herself traveling incognito in the Demon World, where humans aren't allowed. The two of them make a bit of an odd couple as they travel around. Simon peddles trinkets and some possibly fraudulent pieces in his attempt to make a living in what can sometimes be a hostile world.

Sara's Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read the full review here: vol 1

Penguin and House

Hayakawa and his pet Penguin, Pen-chan, live in a normal apartment while Hayakawa attends university classes. Pen is an amazing pet - he helps around the house, does the shopping, cooks delicious and elaborate meals, cleans the apartment and does Hayakawa's laundry, and tries to do everything he can to make Hayakawa happy.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-12

Read the full review here: vol 1

POKÉMON BY HIDENORI KUSAKA

Cover of Pokemon adventures volume one. Red, the trainer, is running across the cover. he has a red jacket, black shirt, and blue pants on, with a red cap. Pikachu, a small yellow pokemon, is flying ahead of him, while a few other pokemon are running with him.

Pokémon is an adventure story following "trainers" - young people who capture creatures known as Pokémon and train them to compete in various tournaments. There are several different story arcs within the Pokemon series, so buying arcs instead of the full series makes this a little less daunting. Each arc follows a different trainer, and characters from other arcs make appearances, but are not always integral to the story.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability: Grades 3-12

Read the full review here

SPLATOON BY SANKICHI HINODEYA

Cover of Splatoon volume 1. The main inkling holds up his ink gun and looks to be in mid-run. He has his

Teams of inklings battle against each other to cover an arena in their color ink. This is based on a popular video game with the same premise, so the manga adds character and backstory to the inklings.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-8

Read the full review here: vol 1

SWEETNESS AND LIGHTNINg

Widower Inuzuka is very busy teaching and raising his young daughter, and he relies often on food from the Konbini (convenience store). While at a park celebrating the bloom of the Sakura trees, Inuzuka runs into a young woman who has a delicious picnic lunch from her professional chef mother. She invites the two of them to the restaurant to try the food for themselves.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 6-12

Read the full review here: vol 1

Talli, daughter of the Moon

Talli and her faithful knight escape her castle as it is sieged, and they must rely on an old merchant and his son to evade further pursuits. The four are helped along the way by true believers who recognize Talli for who she really is: a descendent from the Moon Goddess, and the last Summoner.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full review here: vol 1

Tokyo Mew Mew

Earth is under attack from aliens who are disgusted by the way humans are destroying the planet. They infect animals with chimera properties to make monsters. A rich high schooler and a “café owner” want to protect the world from these aliens. They infuse five girls with “red data” animal DNA - DNA from endangered animals - to become warriors against the chimera animals.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

Witch hat atelier by kamome shirahama

Cover of Witch hat atelier volume 1. Coco is jumping across the cover in her teal jumper and teal hat. Behind her is a country scene with the atelier in the distance.

Coco accidentally discovers magic and turns her mother into stone. Now, she's been accepted into an Atelier to hone her magical abilities, but the world of magic is not as sparkling and beautiful as she was led to believe.

In volume 9 of this series, one of the witches remembers being sexually assaulted as a child, but none of the assault is lived on the page. Everything is hinted, but it is still painful and poignant. While some of our youngest readers may experience these traumatic moments, it may be best to leave this part of the series to middle school readers who are more equipped to handle that experience and know who to seek if they feel they need to speak with a trusted adult. Up until that point, volumes 1-8 are beautiful and perfectly fine to be enjoyed by our younger readers.

Sara’s Rating: 10/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4, vol 5, vol 6, vol 7, vol 8

WONDER CAT KYUU-CHAN

One day, as Hinata walks by a free kitty in a box, he decides to adopt it and names it Kyuu-chan. Kyuu-chan turns out to be adorable and makes Hinata's life more interesting! Kyuu-chan loves playing with toys, but more than that, Kyuu-chan loves spending time with Hinata, including curling up inside his scarf. Kyuu-chan also loves snacks and getting his fur on the bottom of Hinata's pant legs. The two are always doing things for each other, including Kyuu-chan traversing half the city and the subway to bring Hinata his forgotten lunch!

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 3-12

Read the full reviews here: vol 1

2 Comments

Kim Tyo-Dickerson link

2/29/2024 09:44:54 am

Sara, thank you for curating these booklists for school librarians! They have allowed me to have the confidence and back-up to adjust our Sora access levels so that younger manga fans can choose more manga series to read. For example, in OverDrive Marketplace, NICOLA TRAVELING AROUND THE DEMONS WORLD was listed as "Adult" and had not been checked out as a result. I bet they will now!

Sara Smith

3/4/2024 07:53:22 pm

I'm so glad this was helpful, and I hope Nicola gets checked out more! It's a delightful little series!