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, November 17, 2009

Classic Fairy Tales in Comic Format

The classic tales have been told in a charming and bit unusual format by the publisher Stone Arch Books in the Graphic Spin collection. The interest level is age 3 to 8 and the reading level is grade 1-3 with 40 pages. Most the goodies that teachers have often used in the classroom are here. Rapunzel, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, and my two favorite tales, Rumpelstiltskin and Jack and the Beanstalk are in the first collection. They are a little dark in the "Grimm" style, but the main characters stand out. The art work is highly stylized, but appealing. Recently they have come out with the Emperor's New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, and a couple of others. The art work seems a little lighter in the new additions. All the tales have a lexile score ranging from the early 300's to about 410 and are all available in library bound editions.

In many schools where students have emmigrated from South America, East Indian, Asian, or African countries these Germanic tales may be new to the students. Teachers often use the classic tales to build a commonality in the the classroom community as the ideas may be used to reflect the common good within the classroom, the school, and the community. Today that would be considered character education. Actually each of these have a character education theme. Red Riding Hood is "Trustworthiness" and Hansel and Gretel is "Caring". I do not necessarily agree with the theme assigned to the books by Stone Arch, but the students can decide for themselves as the story unfolds.

Teachers or home schoolers may read and explore five classic versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, so you may want to save these fairy tale graphic novels for students to explore on their own. By the time the boys are in second grade they often balk at Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty as they are considered these to be "girl" books. However, they would enjoy Rumpelstiltskin or get a good laugh at the stylized wolf in the Three Pigs. Librarians, even with the budget cuts in libraries, I would still take a chance on a few of these and see if the students, especially those reluctant readers, embrace them.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Charm of Owly for the Pre-Reader

If you are are interested in the comic format for the youngest pre-reader, ages 4-6, take at look at Owly by Andy Runton. On his website you can see limited previews of some of the books. The first Owly book came out in about 2004. The Owly series is almost wordless, but can be used to introduce visual literacy, oral language, and directionality to the youngest of readers.
Use shared reading between a parent, older sibling, or preschool teacher and the child. The
Owly series are snuggle up and read together books. Share your thoughts aloud with the child and have the child do the same as you go through each panel. Shared reading helps develop phonology, fluency, content, and comprehension. Shared reading is also great for learners with diverse backgrounds. Owly was the winner of the 2006 Eisner Award for "Best Publication For A Younger Audience".

The characters could be described as "sweet" with human characteristics. The theme is often friendship, love, or overcoming obstacles. The series is published by Top Shelf and is available in hardbound or paperback but not library bound. The books are in black and white and usually have about 160 pages which is a lot for a pre-reader. For those youngsters with a limited attention span, it would be best to read the series in stages. The fifth book in the series was published in 2009 and is Owly Tiny Tales.