Let's Get Graphic

Alicia Eames, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 6/12/2008

A quiet revolution has been taking place in the world of graphic novels for young adults and children. The format is wildly popular and as educators enter the conversation about the importance of teaching visual literacy, resistance to the format's inclusion in libraries and classrooms has begun to melt away.

Selecting graphic novels for teens has its challenges, but concerns about age appropriate content has made building collections for elementary students a bit tricky. Michele Gorman’s latest guide to graphic novels, Getting Graphic! Comics for Kids (Linworth, 2008) tackles that problem with decided expertise. Going beyond (but not forgetting) Babymouse (Random) and Bone (Scholastic), she offers suggestions on suitable nonfiction, fiction, and manga.

Arranged alphabetically by title, each of her annotated recommendations offers a detailed summary, background information, and age range. Black-and-white reproductions from selected volumes highlight the draw and communicative power of a genre that relies on the interplay of words and pictures. Be sure to check out Gorman’s introduction; her list of “reasons why comics for kids are important” is something to keep close at hand for skeptics who question using a visual approach with readers.

Additional arguments on the importance of instructing pupils to decode what they see as well as what they read can be found in Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills (Corwin, 2008). In this book, Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher have compiled a collection of essays written by educators from across the United States that address teaching students to make sense of images in a world which relies increasingly on visual communication. There are nine contributions, four of which focus specifically on how to use graphic novels or comic books successfully in the classroom.

In "Graphic Novels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," Jacquelyn McTaggart writes, “Teachers use graphic novels because they enable the struggling reader, motivate the reluctant one, and challenge the high-level learner.” And in “Comics, the Canon, and the Classroom,” James Bucky Carter points out the similarities between “sequential art” and “concept maps, word webs, graphs, and flowcharts” (think graphic organizers). The first article in the collection defines visual literacy and how it contributes to perception, while the last piece addresses how "visual supports in literacy instruction" benefit students challenged by autism, cognitive disabilities, or hearing loss. Additional pieces offer suggestions for the study of picture books, political cartoons, or film. Teachers and librarians who want to get kids reading—and keep them hooked for years—will find plenty of inspiration in this stimulating resource.

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