Full Year 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels

Three Dog Man titles disappeared, and two new books showed up, on the chart of the top 20 Kids graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for the full year 2021 provided to ICv2.

All year long, the monthly charts were consistent, as they have been for years, in including all available Dav Pilkey titles. It was only in March 2022 that Pilkey’s streak was broken for the first time (see “March 2022 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels“).

The full year chart, however, includes only eight volumes of Dog Man, along with the two Cat Kid graphic novels that came out in 2020 and 2021. What’s more, one of the Dog Man titles appears twice. What happened?

Publishing happened. As we noted earlier this year, Scholastic reprinted the first six hardcovers in the series and upped the price from $9.99 to $12.99 for the new editions (see “August 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels“). The new editions have different ISBNs, so BookScan lists them separately from the old ones.

The $9.99 edition of Dog Man appears at number 14 on the full-year chart, and the $12.99 is at number 19. Two other $9.99 editions are in the top 20, Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild at number 13 and Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas at number 18.

While this had minimal effect on the monthly charts, when we look at the entire year, breaking the first six titles into two editions means that the second, third, and fourth volumes of the series, Dog Man Unleashed, Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties, and Dog Man and Cat Kid, did not make the chart. Had the two editions been combined, those three books would have made the top 20. While price may be a factor in lower sales for individual volumes, it could be a function of availability too, as some bookstores may have run out of stock before the new editions were available.

The new books on the chart are two YA titles, The Silver Eyes and The Twisted Ones, both adapted from the novels that were in turn adapted from Scott Cawthon’s Five Nights at Freddy’s video game franchise. The first volume, The Silver Eyes, was released in December 2019. The second book, The Twisted Ones, came out in February 2021, and it made enough of a splash that Five Nights at Freddy’s made our list of the top kids’ properties for Spring 2021 (see “Top Kids Graphic Novel Franchises – Spring 2021“). The third volume, The Fourth Closet, was released on December 28, 2021. Whether because of timing or other factors, the first book did not appear on our full-year top 20 for 2020, but both of the first two books made the 2021 chart.

Overall, the 2021 chart shows how Scholastic continues to dominate the market, with 16 titles from its Graphix imprint plus the two Five Nights at Freddy’s books in the top 20. The Baby-Sitters Club and Wings of Fire books did well, showing the continued popularity of those titles (both of which are adapted from prose books). The Baby-Sitters Club does seem to be less evergreen than Dog Man, however, as only the more recent titles make the chart. Wings of Fire showed a similar tendency, with only Volumes 1 and 4 making the chart, but all five volumes charted in March 2022, so that series may be on the upswing.

The two non-Scholastic titles were both from HarperCollins: Jerry Craft’s New Kid, which is firmly established as a best-seller and was number 8 on the full-year 2020 chart, and FGTEEV Saves the World!, which is based on the popular YouTube family gamer channel. The earlier FGTEEV Presents: Into the Game! was on the 2020 chart, but neither the hardcover nor the 2021 paperback edition made the chart, and neither did the newest title in the series, FGTEEV: Game Break!, which came out in June 2021.

For other charts of 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
Full Year 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Manga

For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
Full Year 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Manga with Actual Sales
Full Year 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales

NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more. NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the U.S. trade print book market. The ranks on this chart are based on piece sales. Some publishers classify titles that are primarily text, or art books, as graphic novels; we’ve removed those titles from the ranking above.

For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the “BookScan Top 20 GN Index.”

Click here for more ICv2 Kids Week articles on kids comics and graphic novels!

Source: ICv2