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The Cardboard Kingdom
Series · 4 books · 2018-2025

Books in series

The Cardboard Kingdom book cover
#1

The Cardboard Kingdom

2018

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier, Awkward, and All's Faire in Middle School, this graphic novel follows a neighborhood of kids who transform ordinary cardboard into fantastical homemade costumes as they explore conflicts with friends, family, and their own identity. Welcome to a neighborhood of kids who transform ordinary boxes into colorful costumes, and their ordinary block into cardboard kingdom. This is the summer when sixteen kids encounter knights and rogues, robots and monsters – and their own inner demons – on one last quest before school starts again. In the Cardboard Kingdom, you can be anything you want to be – imagine that! The Cardboard Kingdom was created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from ten other authors: Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez. The Cardboard Kingdom affirms the power of imagination and play during the most important years of adolescent identity-searching and emotional growth.
Roar of the Beast book cover
#2

Roar of the Beast

2021

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and All's Faire in Middle School, this sequel to the Eisner Award-nominated The Cardboard Kingdom follows the kids as they solve the mystery of a new neighborhood monster. A mystery is afoot in the Cardboard Kingdom. Vijay, the Beast, renounces his title after being bullied by neighborhood teenagers. No one—not his big sister Shikha or his friends—can seem to draw him back out of his shell. That very night is when it starts. At first, no one believes Nate, who breaks his leg trying to pursue what he saw from his bedroom window. But then there's another, and another. An unknown monster has been spotted roaming the Kingdom after dark. It's ghastly, it's quick, and it might even have giant tentacles. Or claws. Or wings. Okay, there might be some varied testimonies on what exactly this monster looks like. Forget Halloween—the newly minted Monster Mashers will go to any lengths to protect the Kingdom and uncover this mystery. But how did the monster get here? What does it want? And mostly importantly, who is behind its creation? The Cardboard Roar of the Beast was created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from nine other Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez.
The Cardboard Kingdom #3 book cover
#3

The Cardboard Kingdom #3

Snow and Sorcery

2023

The kids of the Cardboard Kingdom go on a new adventure! This time, they are in search of new friends—but what they discover is a lot more like enemies ... It’s winter break in the Cardboard Kingdom, and kids from the town across the park want to play together! But according to the evil Sorceress, not just anyone can join the kingdom… So it’s not long before the two communities spiral into battle. Will the Sorceress realize the error of her ways before all hope is lost? Will friendship still manage to win the day? The Cardboard Snow and Sorcery was created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from seven other Jay Fuller-Ng, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Barbara Perez Marquez, and Jasmine Walls.
The Sorceress Next Door book cover
#4

The Sorceress Next Door

2025

Authors

Chad Sell
Chad Sell
Author · 5 books

Sell exemplifies the new career path in comics: he started out making comics on his own, then did webcomics and self-published his work. His first graphic novel, The Cardboard Kingdom, is a series of short stories by different writers, all illustrated by Sell. He lived in a neighborhood much like the Cardboard Kingdom, where he and his friends bounded through backyards in imaginative games and outfits. He also drew a lot and came up with all kinds of colorful characters. His favorites were often the villains, because despite being different and misunderstood, they were powerful and confident, and they got the best costumes. Chad lives in Connecticut with his husband and two cats.

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The Cardboard Kingdom