The World of Shredderman

Students who are ready to crossover from graphic novels to chapter books should take a look at the Shredderman series by Wendelin Van Draanen. Shedderman is a cyber superhero for ages 7 to 10. The series includes four titles, Secret Identity, Attack of the Tagger, Meet the Gecho, and Enemy Spy. There are a few graphics in black and white which give off similar vibes as graphic novels, but these are definitely chapter books. The series is published by Random House and has a very cool website for introducing the characters. The website also includes resources and activities for teachers.

Flying High with "Fly Guy"

Tedd Arnold's kindergarten to 2nd grade Hi! Fly Guy has won the 2006 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award from the American Library Association. It sells in the Bound to Stay Bound version for $9.79. Shoo, Fly Guy and Super Fly Guy are both $10.25 in BTSB. The originals are all published by Scholastic. The BTSB versions will stand up to a lot usage by children. All are easy to read but still a fun graphic novel for the little ones.

His newest book Hooray for Fly Guy will be out in September 2009. In this book Fly Guy plays football. Fly High! Fly Guy was published in 2008. In this version Fly Guy takes a road trip. Arnold also has There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy which is an interesting concept for a super hero fly. Arnold is the author of one of my favorite picture books, Green Wilma. Wilma is another creature with big eyes. For a comprehensive list of Tedd Arnold books visit his booklist

Spotlight Beefed Up the Comic Classics

Spotlight has added many new additions to their graphic Marvel collections such as Ironman and Captain America. Ironman should be popular due to the movie which came out last year. They have also added to their Hulk and Spiderman series. X-Men: First Class and and X-Men Power Pack complete their previous selections in this series. These will be a big hit with students due to the popularity of the X-Men:Wolverine movie. Keep in mind the ever popular Thor is now out also.

Spotlight is a division of Abdopublishing. Spotlight has high quality library editions which can take a lot of wear and tear. Don't forget that Spotlight also has the beloved Archie series with Jughead, Betty, and Veronica. This series is in their graphic novel collection and is a big hit with fourth and fifth grade girls.

Explosion in Graphic Novels

Wow! There is an amazing amount of graphic novels coming out. At last publishers are producing many titles for grades 1-5. The Magic Wagon division of ABDO publishing has increased it's titles dramatically. They have Katherine the Almost Great series and Fiona and Freida's Fairy-tale Adventures for grades 2-5. Graphic Classics for grades 3-6 such as Moby Dick, White Fang, and Robin Hood are also available. I would want to see these before buying to check the quality of the stories. Now that everyone has jumped on the graphic novel bandwagon, librarians have to be sure the books they purchase are still worthy of being in a school collection especially in these times with limited funding.

Most interesting is the set of 6 of the series Boxcar Children. Although the Magic Wagon is not listed as a division with library editions, the Boxcar Children has reinforced library binding, so they should be able to stand some wear and tear. They have full color pages. However, the books are only 32 pages which makes me wonder if the content of the story is still in tact. Experienced teachers have for many years used the Boxcar children as the bridge to reading chapter books for grades 2 and 3. Those readers with less experience would be still be able to feel on par with their peers by reading the graphic novel Boxcar children.

The Last Airbenders

Just received the series of six of The Last Airbender from Perma-Bound. Now I find the famous director M. Night Shyamalan is releasing the movie in July 2010. I wish had access to more. Movies always spark students interest. Students are certainly going to be wanting more of the series. This series is based on the original Japanese Anime series.

The Avatar is the master of all four elements, water, earth, fire, and air, which are involved in continued warfare. Only the Avatar can stop the Fire Nation from conquering the world.

Kids are now coming to school with the Airbender hair cut. It's not from reading the book. It's from watching the series on TV. They have a shaved head with just the arrow showing in hair. Will wonders never cease?

New Recommended books: School library Journal

Rise of the Toa Nuva Book #1 by Greg Farshtey grades 3-6. 2008.
A graphic novel series based on the LEGO toy line. Art is vivid, attention grabbing, and the story line is exciting and action packed. A great purchase for comics and graphic novel collections. Reviewed by Tracie Glass, Eugene Public Library, Or.

The Legend of Old Salty: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny by Matthew Louz. grades 3-6. (Salt Water Taffy Series) 2008.
Brothers Benny and Jack solve a mystery after learning of the legend of Old Salty a monstrous sea creature. Strong art and nicely paced action. Review by Lauren Anduri, Brooklyn Public Library, NY.

Unfortunately both these selections are paperback which makes them hard to use in a school library setting, but not impossible.

New Hardbound Manga

In one of my early posts I reported I was unable to find hardbound Manga for elementary. That is no longer true. It's limited, but there is some. Perma-Bound has come out with editions of Manga. Manga for grades 2-5 is represented by the 8 volume series Avatar: the Last Airbender by Tokyopop which was shown on Nickelodeon TV for a few years. Cine-Manga from Tokyopop ages 3-6, includes Enchanted, and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Also for that age from Tokyopop is Kilala Princess Vols 1,2,3,and 4. Kilala Princess for this age is a mini version of the original series. There is a Manga Literary Classics Series for ages 4-7 which includes Gulliver's Travels, Little Women, and Treasure Island. Perma-bound has more manga for middle school and high school. Naruto has become a big middle school favorite with youngsters since it became available in the United States as anime on the cartoon network in 2005. Elementary students ask for it, but it's not appropriate for elementary students. Beware of the new manga's coming out for elementary students. They could be really bad versions of the original art form. I am not saying they are bad. I am just saying take a look first if you can. I would not order many copies of any of the manga titles until I see the actual books.

Anime vs Manga

What is the difference? According to Wikipedia, anime is animation either hand drawn or computer assisted. Anime was an art form started in Japan about 1917. Modern Manga is often considered an offshoot of anime evolving into a new comic format. However the earliest manga was a picture book published in the 1700's. Modern manga and anime often feature big wide eyes and have a cartoon art form. They both exploded in popularity after the war. Anime and manga are not genres. They have many genres within the art form.

Manga means comics in Japanese. Manga is mainly a paper culture although there is an increasing amount of manga online. Manga is sometimes scanned and put online by fans. Leading companies like Tokyopop and Viz have their own online manga. Tokyopop has an online player that works fairly well so that that the reader can read online. It looks just like a book with a colored cover, black and white inside, and the pages turn. Online manga is usually not for young children.

Anime is television, films, video, internet, etc. Anime is colorful. Traditional manga is black and white. but this is changing as manga goes global. Often both feature the warrior traditions of the Japanese culture but defined in a pop culture or futuristic setting. Japanese societial mores regarding nudity, gender roles, violence, and even roles of students in schools are often depicted. These roles are much different in the United States. There are anime for children. Adult anime is often shown in the middle of the night on American television. Although the art form is cartoon, the content is not for young children.

There has been a huge globalization of manga and anime all over the world. Pokeman was originally a video game, but the brand is marketed in toys, books, and videos all over the world. Anime movies have won many global awards. In the last few years United States bookstores have developed increasingly large manga sections. Many elementary school age students have favorite manga authors or series.

The Lexile Framework for Reading

Should students independent reading be guided by their Lexile score? The Lexile Framework for Reading suggests that students read books within the range of 100L below or 50L above their score. This may be difficult as not all books are found on the Lexile book search, librarians do not know the students Lexile score, and graphic novels are often not included in the database. A teacher will not find Spider-Man Versus Doc Ock in the Lexile database. The score reflects sentence length and vocabulary difficulty. The score does not take into account organization, content, or the desire of the student to read the book.

According to Stephen Krashen in the California School Library Journal using Lexile scores is not necessary. Krashen believes students can choose the book to read by reading some of the text to discover if the text is too hard or too easy. This goes back to the old five finger test. The student opens the book to a page, tries to read it, preferably out loud, and puts up a finger for every word they don't know. If they use all five fingers, they get another book. This is a practical and easy way for students to find a book especially if they are searching without a librarians or teachers help.

Although most of the Captain Underpants books are in the Lexile database, many graphic novels/comics are not. Publishers can submit books to be included in the database, however they are charged a fee for analyzing the book. If the publishers don't do this, their book will not be in the database. Graphic novels sometimes have NC in front of the score. This means non conforming text. The vocabulary and sentence structure does not necessarily match content nor the design of the book. Books with NC are usually for advanced students at their level. Manga books are not in the Lexile database, but the desire of the student is often very high to read them. Here is an example of a few graphic novels in the Lexile database.

• Tiger Moth: Insect Ninja 360L
• Adventures of Marco Polo 620L
• Adventures of Captain Underpants 720L
• Robot Rampage 370L
• Out From Boneville NC360L

If you are looking for lexile scores by grade level take a look at Understanding Lexiles. This will tell you the possible range of scores for each grade.

Managing a Graphic Novel Collection

In an elementary school students have a limited amount of time to have a lesson and checkout independent reading materials especially if their library is a prep time. I find it easier for students and myself if I have a completely separate graphic novel section. It is faster to shelve the books and keep an eye on the collection. The turnover rate is high. Most of the books are cataloged for 741 but some are B or picture books. I put all the graphic novels in one section somewhat separated from the rest of the collection that is easy to observe. Students tend to congregate there to discuss and choose books. Sometimes students will even argue or fight over a certain book. As a general rule as long as you can see students well and they know you can see them less problems occur.

Some of the easier books such as Robot Rampage for the very young readers( grades 1 & 2) are pulled and put in their easy reader section. I try to keep Bone and most of the manga books for grades 3, 4, and 5. Although I could find no evidence to prove back to front reading is a problem for very young students, it may be a challenge to read from right to left. Some teachers are not happy about back to front reading for students in grades 1-3.

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 .

"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.

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.