School Books Move Over for Comic Books
If a host of academic experts have their way, comic books could push traditional books out of the way in elementary and middle school libraries.
But wait, comics are dumbed down versions of books, right? Not so fast.
Children’s literature expert Carol Tilley, a professor at the University of Illinois, is making her case for comics in schools in the December issue of School Library Monthly, citing a complex relationship between comprehension of words and text in comic books that can rival any other form of the written word.
“If reading is to lead to any meaningful knowledge or comprehension, readers must approach a text with an understanding of the relevant social, linguistic and cultural conventions,” says Tilley (via a EurekAlert about the upcoming School Library issue). “And if you really consider how the pictures and words work together in consonance to tell a story, you can make the case that comics are just as complex as any other kind of literature.”
It comes back to the standard argument from librarians - get kids reading, and they’ll develop vocabulary. It doesn’t matter, then, if they’re reading Captain Underpants or Middlemarch. At least they’re reading.
And so for kids who are resistant to picking up a book because of page after page of black and white text, the pictures in comic books that help carry along the action can be that all so important hook. And if Tilley’s on target, the language they find there is no less representative of the language they need to be learning than your standard picture book.
Do you still regard comic books as a sub-par version of kid lit?
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Tags: comic books, early literacy, Jeanne Sager, learning to read, reading, reading with kids, they say
8 Comments
snarky mama commented on Nov 10 09 at 2:28 pmI have never considered comics a sub-par version of any type of literature, be it literature aimed at adults or children. (And I find your question slightly offensive. Do you consider blogging a sub-par level of journalism?)
DH is an avid comic book reader, as such our children have been “reading” adult-level comics as bedtime stories, basically since birth. We are currently in the midst of explaining to our 7 y/o, that, no, he is not quite ready for “Civil War.” (Maybe Brett is the only one who knows what I’m talking about.)
An interesting story: One day last year when I picked my son up from school, his 1st grade teacher met me at the door. She wanted to let me know she was impressed with my son’s vocabulary (I guess a 6 y/o correctly using and spelling the word “abomination” is exciting). She wanted to know what we’ve been reading, so she could make suggestions to other students. I told he picked it up from reading comics with his Dad (Hulk smash). “Oh,” his teacher replied, “Comics just won’t do. You should really try to get him to read real books.”
jeannesager commented on Nov 10 09 at 2:31 pmSnarky mama, I wasn’t actually saying they WERE sub-par - that’s what Tilley says the resistance seems to be. Many people don’t think they’re as good as “traditional” literature; hence the trouble getting them on bookshelves.
snarky mama commented on Nov 10 09 at 3:56 pmFor the record, I don’t consider blogging to be sub-par journalism. Glenn Greenwald is one of my favorite news bloggers.
Esthermaker commented on Nov 10 09 at 6:21 pmI’m a graphic novel creator (actual works of fiction, in pictures, for grownups, that aren’t funny, and are based in history). My husband is a cartoonist as well, and teaches comics storytelling to people from elementary through college and beyond. Most of our friends are cartoonists, generally of the serious intellectual kind. We’re sick of arguing for what we do to be taken seriously. It’s art, and it’s literature, or at least it can be. Like every medium, at least 95% of the output stinks. But then you get books like Persepolis, Epileptic, Love & Rockets, pretty much anything Chris Ware has done, the entire career output of Lynda Barry, Dylan Horrocks, the fabulous Joann Sfar (The Rabbi’s Cat, and so much more), and so on.
That said, if our kid comes home with superhero comics one day, we’re going to have a lot of trouble holding back our opinions. Oy.
WaitWut? commented on Nov 10 09 at 6:43 pmMy favorite book as a young child was my “Children’s Bible”. If it hadn’t have been for the pictures, I would have been saved from years of misinformation about Christianity. But, that’s a story for another blog.
Children’s minds don’t work like ours. Their vocabularies aren’t as developed, so the aid of a picture or photograph is a great way to stimulate the desire in the child to find out what’s “really” going on in the picture. I say, bring on the comics! Not to mention, think of all the starving artists we could employ!
NorthernMom commented on Nov 10 09 at 6:48 pmI completely agree with the above commenters - Comic Books can be literture the same as any other book. The joy with comics (or graphic novels) is that you not only get to read, you also experience the art style as well. You can read a comic over and over and get more out of it if the art is well done.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Nov 11 09 at 8:18 amThis idea isn’t new actually. I have an uncle who published a whole series of Black history comics and had successfully gotten them into classrooms in NYC back in the early 70s. A publishing dispute ultimately sank the entire venture, unfortch. I think the idea certainly has merit.
Esthermaker commented on Nov 11 09 at 5:23 pmI think the worry that kids won’t read books without pictures if they get too used to reading comics and graphic works is a canard. I was asked about this on a panel at a middle school, and my response was that many of our grandparents, and certainly plenty of our great-grandparents, were illiterate; there’s just more reading material out there in the world, period, with and without pictures. As a kid I devoured Archie and Harvey comics, and also voraciously read books way above my “recommended age level”. So this idea that one replaces the other is inaccurate.
One last thing: comics aren’t only for kids. But you all knew that, right?
