News / Texas Library Association honors KODI and RED PANDA!

Texas Library Association honors KODI and RED PANDA!

December 10, 2020

Great news for kids and middle-grade readers! Two Top Shelf books — Jared Cullum's Kodi and Jarod Roselló's Red Panda & Moon Bear — have been unanimously selected for the Texas Library Association's 2021 Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List, dedicated to great comics for grades K-5. Remarkably, both books were recommended for the full span of kindergarten through 5th grade.

"I'm deeply honored to be selected by the Texas Library Assocation," says Kodi author Jared Cullum. "This list holds a special place in my heart because I spent most of my young adult life in Keller, Texas. Libraries were a cornerstone of my upbringing, and they're just as important to my own kids' life now."

“It’s an honor for Red Panda & Moon Bear to make this fantastic list," says Jarod Roselló. "As a kid, I was enchanted by stories of kids fighting monsters, helping their communities, and discovering the wonder of the world around them. I’m grateful I can contribute to that magic today. I salute the librarians who continue to work towards diversifying children’s literature and giving kids access to a diverse range of voices and stories.”

Parents, teachers, and librarians in Texas and beyond can also enjoy Red Panda & Moon Bear's adventures in Spanish with Panda Roja y Oso Lunar, part of IDW Publishing's new in-house Spanish publishing program. A sequel, Red Panda & Moon Bear: The Curse of the Evil Eye, is coming in early 2022.