Whether you prefer the term graphic novel, sequential art, or comics, books written in this style have exploded in popularity this century. The first graphic novel that I read was Raina Telgemeier's SMILE, a memoir about the author navigating school while dealing with the repercussions of a mouth injury. Published in 2010, it led a surge of fans to graphic novels. Since 2010, the sales of books in comic/graphic format have soared to nearly $2 billion in sales, according to Publishing Perspectives.

This popularity has led to an expansion of topics tackled in this style, encompassing both fiction and nonfiction, and targeting ages 4-8 to adult. It was only a matter of time before poetry and the graphic format would join forces in the children's book market.

The two books we'll look at today are collections of poems by author-illustrators who have illustrated them in a comic style: