- Graphic Novels
- Ages 8–12
- Fantasy
Bog Myrtle
A strange, witty and visually distinctive graphic tale about a spider trying to become a witch. Best for children who like offbeat folklore, deadpan humour, darker animal comedy and unusual comic-book storytelling.
- Best for8–12
- FormatGraphic
- Length156 pp
- Read aloud~1 hr15 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Literary
Tone
- Funny
- Dark
- Absurdist
- Thought provoking
- Whimsical
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Bog Myrtle is a spider with a plan: she wants to become a witch. Sid Sharp builds the story with dry humour, folkloric strangeness and a visual style that feels both storybook-old and sharply modern. This is not a conventional preschool picture book despite the initial category; it is a longer graphic-fiction work for confident younger readers and middle-grade children who enjoy odd characters, fairy-tale logic and slightly macabre comedy. The appeal sits close to Jon Klassen, Edward Gorey and clever indie comics rather than mainstream bright cartoon adventure. It is especially useful here because it adds a more unusual, artful, cult-feeling graphic novel for children who are ready for something stranger than cosy animal stories but not looking for high-stakes horror.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 8–12
- Read aloud · 7–11
- Independent · 8–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Works well for
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Offbeat graphic novel
- Witchy
- Dark humour
- Spider protagonist
- Indie comics feel
Avoid if
- Arachnophobia
- Wants bright mainstream comedy
- Prefers realistic stories
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Interested in art and creativity
- Low self esteem
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A darkly funny, beautifully drawn graphic novel about identity and kindness — a distinctive read with discussion potential for confident readers.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific delight is the spider's ambition — Bog Myrtle wanting to become a witch, the witchy landscape full of folkloric oddness, deadpan humour and slightly macabre logic running through every page. The Sid Sharp graphic-fiction for the kid ready to be weird.
- Magic powers
- Transformation
- Being special or chosen
- Trickery and cleverness
Why parents love it
The Sid Sharp longer graphic work — Klassen/Gorey-adjacent rather than mainstream cartoon, storybook-old visual style with sharp modern timing. Strong indie-gem pick for the middle-grader who wants stranger than cosy animal stories without horror stakes.
- Indie gem discovery
- Shared humour
- Beautiful illustrations
- Great writing
About the author & illustrator
Sid Sharp.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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