Digital lizards of doom vol 1 by gabriel Valentin

Illustrated by Ernie Najera

In the land of Krogladon, lizards of science and magic must come together to defeat a common enemy: the evil robot Commander E.K.O. Two mighty lizard wizards use their powers to beat back the robot, and all is right with the world, for a time. Now, a new evil mastermind has emerged — Pineapple Pete — and he’s scooping up important people and plopping them into his video game simulator for his own enjoyment! Now, Dizzy Doom and his sister must face off against the Commander once more, except there’s a whole host of new and exciting characters along side them this time.

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While seemingly complex and a wild ride, this entertaining graphic novel blends many storytelling genres together to create a science fiction/fantasy story with video game and visual literacy elements. All of the speech balloons are on the left side of the page and accompany a character’s face to denote who is speaking, and these faces borrow popular emoji facial expressions to convey mood and to compliment their dialogue. The story has a lot of Easter eggs to keep readers re-reading or referencing the text multiple times as they learn new information. There are plenty of jokes and silliness throughout, including alliterative puns that will make read-alouds challenging but engaging.

There is an entire connected curriculum for the Digital Lizards of Doom universe that has been piloted in several schools, and has been met with initial success amongst elementary students. The curriculum includes prompts for reading questions, writing, and stoking students' curiosity. There are also connected activity pages, but some teachers have used these more as inspiration for creating their own materials. Check out their website for more information and to hear success stories. 

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-7

Publisher: Papercutz (Mad Cave)
Publication Date: Dec 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781545811320 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Graphic Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Humor, Action Adventure, Mad Cave