We must make kids want to read before we can make them read what we want. Jacquelyn McTaggart. Graphic Novels, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Teaching Visual Literacy. Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher, Editors.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Publishers

A serious issue in obtaining library books for young students is the quality of the binding and the paper quality. Graphic novels/comics get a tremendous amount of wear. They do not sit on the shelves. They fly out the door just like the heros in the books. With American comics it is not a problem if you know where to get library bound books. Jeff Smith's Bone by Scholastic is one of the few paperbacks that is built with good quality paper. Most quality manga's are all ordinary quality paperback. Although in 2008 Perma-Bound has come out with a few elementary mangas. Paperbacks don't survive well. After about ten checkouts they are going downhill. I put more money on the American graphic/novels because they can be bought in library binding. When I have the money I invest in a few good manga's for the older students.

Spotlight is popular fiction in quality library editions. They are reinforced side-sewn editions. Spotlight is an imprint of ABDO Publishing. They have a few picture books, Dora the explorer, and a few Henry and and Mudge, but they really excel in their graphic novels/comic selections. They have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fantastic Four, The Hulk and Sentinel, Spiderman Team Up, Spiderman, Spidergirl, X-men, Archie, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I have these books and they hold up amazingly well.

Using various publishers Bound To Stay Bound Books have an increasing selection of graphic novels. They have Capstone's graphic history library such as the Boston tea Party and Rosa Parks. World Almanac Library's California Gold Rush and the First Moon Landing are part of this collection. The infamous Captain Underpants, Babymouse, and Scholastic's Bone series are in BTSB. They have Creating the X-men, Kristy's Great Idea (Babysitters), the Story of Spiderman, Wolves in the Wall, and many more high quality graphic novels. These are all hard bound with a good looking sturdy cover. For the very young students they have the Stone arch series books Tiger Moth and Robot Rampage .

Monday, July 14, 2008

"Good" Graphic Novels/Comics

What makes a good graphic novel/comic? When I say graphic novels/comics for beginning readers I am also referring to books like Calvin and Hobbs or Garfield. They often have one page stories with just a few panels which are easy for the reader to understand through both the text and the visuals. First look at the myths of what makes a child a good reader. There is clearly no one answer. Graphic novels/comics do not have the same setup as picture books for emergent readers. They do not have repeated phrases, patterned text, or rhyming. However, good illustrations that either add to or match the storyline are essential in picture books and graphic novel/comics. Both can have humor, be about real life situations, or engage a child in a wild adventure. The child can use prediction in either. Equally both involve visualizing. Comics involve visualizing what happens even between the panels. Picture books may have features on end papers allowing the student to make inferences even before the book is read. Making inferences are very necessary in comics. Since the text is limited in both, the child has to figure out what has happened or is going happen in his or her mind. Comics also have universal themes, such as good vs evil, order vs chaos, and working together. Every good book whether a picture book or graphic novel/comic is engaging and is not condescending.

Reviews in School Library Journal, Booklinks, websites, or books, such as 101 Best Graphic Novels by Stephen Weiner, give a helping hand when picking out appropriate books for students. American comics are rated by the comics code as either for teens or all ages. The original comics code was very restrictive and came about due to congressional hearings. At that time (1954) it was thought that comics caused juvenile delinquency. However, since 1980 publishers have not adhered to the comics code, so when getting American comics for elementary school, you still have to be careful. Manga books do not follow that code, but there is a rating on the book cover which gives you an idea of the appropriate age. However, mangas imported to the US are published almost exactly like the ones in Japan except they are in English. They are not edited for content with the US population or mores in mind. The first few books of a manga series may be rated for all ages and the last few books will be rated for teens. Manga books often are in a series. See Great Manga for Preteens in the sidebar for much more information.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!

There are publishers with increasingly large collections of graphic novels for grades 1-5. The trick is to identify the good books and the ones that are just written to hop on the band wagon. As with all books some are good and some are terrible. How do we define a good graphic novel/comic for elementary students? It starts with identifying the purpose for using graphic novels. Are teachers using them to bring the reluctant reader into the circle of readers or is it to emphasis literary terms and techniques, for example, foreshadowing, in a visual medium leading to the development of critical literacy? Are teachers using them as a curriculum connection? Are teachers using them for those students who can read but just don't want to because they feel mainstream reading has no connection to the pop culture around them? All of these reasons are valid.

In grades 1-5 there are many reluctant readers, the purpose of using graphic novels/comics is usually to encourage students to read. Students have to be engaged to become good readers. At this stage it does not matter if they are reading Superhero or Pokemon. I dislike Pokemon (just a personal non preference), but my job is to give students something they will read. While they read they learn to visualize what they read and enjoy the reading experience. Often reluctant readers have a problem with reading because they cannot visualize. A picture is worth a thousand words. A good book engages the student with text and visuals. The next post will examine the characteristics of what I see as a good graphic novel. This is just my opinion.

Some publishers have jumped on the character education band wagon with graphic novels tagged as character education, such as Stone Arch Books, Tiger Moth series and others. These are definitely not the most popular comic/graphic novel in the library, but the younger students, boys usually, (grades 1, 2, & 3) will check them out, and they feel satisfied. However, Stone Arch also has the classics such as Treasure Island or Robin Hood. The publishers also have them tagged for character education, but these are classic tales with important curriculum connections that the reluctant reader would never pick up and read unless it was in graphic novel format. In the last few years many more biographies and history books are being made into graphic novels. Moby Dick has long been a mainstay in literature for high school. The graphic novel version by Will Eisner is another way of looking at this classic. For me the goal is always to get the student to read.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

What is Manga?

I am a total novice regarding comics. I am even worse figuring out manga. I tried to find out as much as I could about the genre. Scott McCloud an American cartoonist has published a book Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic novels. At the end of the book is a section on Understanding Manga. This is exactly what I needed. The following is a brief rundown on the history and nature of manga according to McCloud and Wired magazine.

There are two kinds of manga for ages 7-13, Shojo and Shonen. Shojo is mainly for girls under 12 and Shonen is for young boys. See School library Journal for more definitions. Young readers often cross over the gender barrier. Shojo often is romantic, emotional, and sometimes magical such as Sailor Moon and others. The action is shown in the expression of the faces and the reader is inside the characters head. In Shonen the action is more physical. A specific method of drawing shows the motion, plus the use of action words such as, wham, bang, klank make it appealing to boys. With Shonen the reader is inside the action. This is the difference between North American Comics (Captain America etc.) and Japanese comics. With North American comics the reader is an observer. In manga the reader is a participant. In Japan this has led to thousands of fanfic artists (Doujinshi) who make their own manga stories using preconceived characters and situations from sold books. These are made, discussed, compared, and sold at huge comic markets. Its an inexpensive enterprise because its all in black and white. Characters are scanned, changed, and recopied on a copy machine for limited distribution. This occurs without the interference of the Japanese comic industry as long as fans only scan a few and don't mass market them. They do have copyright laws but they are not enforced as long as the unspoken rules are not broken. According to McCloud the reason manga is loved is because the reader feels they are part of the story. It's all about participation. The fans become the writers. Some of the techniques used are large expressive eyes, details, use of wordless panels, and the use of streaked backgrounds to give the reader a sense of motion. By the way Making Comics is an informative book, of course it is in comic format. For eye opening information on Manga mores, styles, pitfalls, and titles for under 13's checkout Great Manga for Preteens.

Wired magazine (Nov. 2007) reports manga began with the animation market now known as anime which was television and movies of cartoon characters. Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom) was the first weekly cartoon made for Japanese TV. It was sold in America as Astro Boy. The artist was inspired by our own Walt Disney. Go Figure.

Little known strange & weird facts according to Wired:
Hiroshima has a public library totally devoted to manga .
In the United Kingdom, the Catholic church is using manga to recruit new priests.
American teenagers can read graphic novels which each contain 300 words often found on the SAT and ACT: Warcraft, Dragon Hunt, Psy-Comm, and Van Von Hunter, manga titles published by Kaplan and Tokyopop.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Americanized Versions

American comics or graphic novels have plenty of action. Some are even award winners. The graphic novel cover shown at the beginning of this post Bone: Out From Boneville is a good example. This is the first of a series of 8 by Jeff Smith most appropriate for 4th and 5th graders, but a high reading 3rd grader might enjoy it too. Those reluctant reader boys with a show me attitude enjoy it. The graphics are a little dark and scary. Reading a scary book is a way to show they are tough. The text is not easy, but it's funny too. There are many inferences in both in the text and graphics. For the older reluctant reader it is not identified as baby book as they call easy readers or picture books, so the student feels cool and part of the group when he or she leaves the library. Bone books are in paperback and hardcover and published by Scholastic.

Last year when I introduced graphic novels the girls said, "Only the boys read those." So I introduced our girls to some wonderful comics/graphic novels for girls, for example: To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegal and Amelia Rules: Superheros by Jimmy Gownley. To Dance is a Sibert Honor Book. Baby Mouse: Our Hero by Jennifer and Mathew Holm is the first of a series of 8. The reluctant girl readers loved the series and asked for more. A favorite was also
the Yotsuba@! series (manga) for the 4th and 5th graders. If you are seriously looking for titles for your collection checkout the Graphic Novel Titles links on the sidebar.

Monday, July 7, 2008

What is a Graphic Novel?

A graphic novel is a basically a long comic book. Many of us are familiar with the comic book format we read as a child such as Spiderman, Batman, and Superman. These are still a favorite today. Look at the mirad of superhero movies that make the big bucks. However, our children today have the option to read this genre in a much longer book with a varied range of settings and topics.

Much of the format for today's graphic novels comes from other countries, mainly Japan, where the graphic novel is read by children, teens, and adults.
The Japanese comics are called manga and are read from back to front. Manga's usually are in paperback and are usually black and white. Stories may contain love relationships, including lesbian or androgenous relationships, violence, "bad" often call mature language, and nudity. There is lots of Whiz, Bam, Pow just like American comics. English versions of Japanese graphic novels can't just be purchased and used in American classrooms. Basically they need to be checked for language, nudity, and excessive or graphic violence before using them in our schools. The cover shown here is Yotsuba@! Vol 4 by Kiyohiko Azuma. Yotsuba@! is wholesome and suitable for elementary students. It has 8 volumes. On this web site I will list the sites I found for graphic novels or comics for students in grades 1-5.

Graphic Novels In Grades 1-5

In the last year I have been experimenting with graphic novels in my library. I come to this with little or no background in comics so I had no idea where to begin or where this would lead. However, I discovered many kids are mad about the graphic novel/comic book format. Students who were not very interested in reading were so excited about the format and the new reading material that if I had allowed it some would have fought for some books. A far cry from the year before when I had to enforce the "get a least one book rule" for the reluctant reader. Often the reluctant reader is a boy but some are girls. If introduced to the right book girls will go for graphic novels also. Publishers are beginning to come out with graphic novels books that meet girls needs.

This blog is an attempt to get all the information I have gathered in one place for me and anyone else who is interested. There are many sites with information but many of the sites are not for elementary students. I am hoping that next year I will have monies in my budget to purchase more of the these books for students. I never seem to have enough.