Kids & Comics
Steve Hamaker just e-mailed me this article in the Christian Science Monitor about kids and Graphic Novels at the San Diego Comic-Con International. It has quotes from Scott McCloud and mentions Bone. I took notice of the comment that some teachers won’t assign graphic novels in reading class because they aren’t challenging enough. I’ve heard this before. I’d like to see those teachers get through a copy of From Hell. But as far as kids are concerned, it’s a false argument. You have to read the pictures, not just look at them. A comics reader can’t be lazy; he or she has to connect the images from any two given set of panels and make assertions about the content. And then move on to the next set of panels and build forward on the accruing information until a completed, moving narrative appears. Fortunately, most teachers do understand that comics aren’t reading “light”, and see the underlying art for what it is. A form of literature similar to, but separate from prose. My experiences with teachers in the last two years has been overwhelmingly positive and the majority of viewpoints expressed in this article agree.
Yeah! You go Jeff! I wish our school would assign graphic novels!
Comment by Tanner — August 17, 2006 @ 7:48 pm
Isn’t this great that the graphic novel as expanded in this way; I thought the article was very interesting?! I’m surprised that graphic novels include historical tales as well. Kids definitely need something to grasp their attention for something that might otherwise be boring to them. I noticed Moby Dick was also listed as a graphic novel. I thought of reading the book myself a few times since I enjoyed the movie version. But I highly doubted that I would be able to finish a book of that size lol. So I might try the graphic novel instead. But anyway I’m glad teachers are acknowledging graphic novels as reading material. I was never that lucky growing up, but I wonder how many pages they actually count them as…
Comment by Jeanette — August 18, 2006 @ 1:39 am
Probably it´s too soon, but WE ARE ON THE WAY! We must see that it´s the beginning of this challenge, and people need some time to “digest” it: at least some teachers think about it in USA! In Spain(I write from Madrid), talking about graphic novels as a part of a reading class is kind of unimaginable!
We have to be patient: it´s a “big” change for schools and they have to assimilate it.
Comment by Jose Fragoso — August 18, 2006 @ 2:53 am
In my district, all readings given to students are pre-assigned, we teachers have no say in what the students read. I keep copies of Bone on my reading shelf though for “Silent Reading Time” where students are allowed to choose what they want to read for a half hour after lunch(soon to be only 15 min, as this is no longer considered “Good use of student time.” The Bone, Avaitar, W.I.T.C.H. and Kingdom Hearts graphic novels are always selected. I’m always saving up money to buy more so that I can ditch the sign up sheet…and to replace the ones that are “lost” every year. Its great to see the low level readers show interest and concentration.
Two more quick notes:
When the color version came out of Bone, a request by an African American girl to colorize the black and white copy to fit her image of Thorne and the villagers sparked a wonderful discussion on shared beliefs, and the universality of themes, desspite the appearence of characters. We all ended up colorizing 2 pages, and what a work of art it is!A boy with experience with pet rats colored the rat creatures white and white with brown spots, The townsfolk were racially mixed, and just about everyone chose to put a shirt on Bone.
Last comment (I swear): Graphic Novels saved my sanity. I’m currently moving with my 6 year old son. Never a moment’s peace. i refused to let him watch TV or play video games for more than 1 hour. What saved me? A 4 part series of graphic novels based on his favorite video game. Just learning to read, but his background with the characters gave him the drive to struggle through all 4 novels! Thanks for your efforts in bringing the graphic novel to a wide range of people.
Comment by Shadoe — August 20, 2006 @ 3:54 pm
Interesting. Heh, if some teachers think graphic novels are not challenging reading, I’d send them an Andreas book or two: if you don’t pay attention to what’s drawn, you won’t understand the story.
(then again, maybe some of Andreas’ books are considered too mature for a younger crowd. Not because of nudity, but story complexity and the art style which may not be appealing).
I’m trying to remember when I was in school what we read in class…regular book, but the school library was filled with graphic novels (ok, frenc bandes dessinées here in Québec). So we had our pick
Do a lot of US schools have libraries with graphic novels in them, or is it more a class thing like the teacher above described?
Comment by Johane Matte — August 21, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Prejudice is a terrible thing and it exists in every artform, comics being no different. There are indeed plenty of folks in education who recognise the positive affect graphic novels can have on kids, thank goodness. Same thing happens with picture books, they’re looked down on by certain kids authors who write long format older children’s books. In turn they are looked down on by mature audience authors and so on. Crazy, really.
Comment by Curtis Jobling — August 21, 2006 @ 10:37 am
U.S. libraries are starting to fill up with graphic novels. In fact, it was the librarians who noticed that kids were reading them. Vijaya and I had tried for years to get Bone books into the distribution system for schools and libraries, but to no avail. Eventually, the kids forced the issue, and the distributors, whose library accounts were harassing them, finally called us. And since we’ve been with Scholastic,I’ve spoken to numerous groups of teachers who are curious and want to learn more about the art form. The schools are still on the fence, but they seem to see the value of kids reading them. I usually tell these groups that whenever a child looks at a comic he is reading.
Comment by Jeff Smith — August 21, 2006 @ 5:20 pm
Kudos’ on your hard work trying to get graphic novel into libraries and schools. That’s the way it should be adult’s listening to kids more instead of just assuming what they want. It’s kind of funny picturing kids pestering librarians over and over again lol. I was surprised to see it at a nearby small town library along with a few other graphic novels and comic based books. I certainly hope these kids know just how lucky they truly are to have comics in their schools.
Comment by Jeanette — August 21, 2006 @ 6:03 pm
Quick note to Johane, in the US,at least in Michigan, school library selections are chosen by the head librarian of each school. Frequently, they have meetings, to discuss how to spend the year’s purchacing budget (when there is one). I’m happy to say that Bone and Dark Knight were the first 2 graphic novels added to the middle school I was working in in 2003. Their immediate success (always checked out) urged the other middle schools and high schools in the district to join in. I’m happy to report that all schools (in the district)have expanded their selection tenfold. No graphic novels in the elementary library yet, but I’ll be working on it.
(Kids aren’t the only ones pestering the librarians)
Comment by Shadoe — August 22, 2006 @ 11:34 pm
Hey, Shadoe, that's very cool. I agree with Jeanette, too. I would have loved comics in school. Can you imagine taking Carl Barks and Uncle Scrooge seriously? I could have studied Joe Kubert and Walt Kelly in art class! Still – - and I say this with some reservations – - there is a part of me that enjoys comics' outlaw status. Hiding my comics in my school desk was part of my youth.
Comment by Jeff — August 23, 2006 @ 7:34 am