Funny Cartooning for Kids

by Mike Artell

Other guides to cartooning only help kids draw—this one also shows them how to think funny! That’s because a good cartoon always makes the reader smile...and that requires a clever idea and an understanding of what elements make a picture witty. Cartoon master Mike Artell presents an entertaining lesson, with plenty of laugh-out-loud images to demonstrate his every point. As children try out a series of imaginative exercises, they’ll learn why exaggeration adds humor, why simplifying details makes a character “cartoony,” and why doing the opposite of what’s expected can be so effective, and why having animals do “human” things is so amusing. Best of all, there really are no hard and fast rules—so budding cartoonists can have fun getting creative.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2006

About the author

Mike Artell is a multi-award-winning author, illustrator, musician and professional speaker.

Mike has hosted his own television show and has created cartoons for many national publications and greeting card companies. Mike’s first children’s books were published in 1990 and since then, he has written and/or illustrated more than 40 books. Many of Mike’s books have won awards. Most recently, his book PETITE ROUGE – A CAJUN RED RIDING HOOD was named 2009 Read Aloud Book of the Year by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Over the years, Mike has shared his techniques for thinking, writing and drawing more creatively with hundreds of thousands of students and teachers at schools in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Mike also stays busy as a platform speaker addressing many education, healthcare and association groups.

Mike lives in Covington, Louisiana with his wife Susan, a retired science teacher and middle school librarian. They have two grown daughters and 5 grandchildren.