Graphic Novels Shira Belenke and Martha Buehler

What is a Graphic Novel? Graphic novels use juxtaposed text and images to tell their story. It is a fluctuating term that can apply to comics as well as illustrated books without words and books like Captain Underpants - the important part about graphic novels is that they incorporate text and images into the storytelling. Remember: "Graphic Novel" refers to a medium, not a genre. Any genre of literature, from nonfiction to fantasy, can be found on the graphic novel shelves.

A Brief History of Comics Comics and illustrated books have been around for a long time, but they really hit their stride in 1938, when a very familiar face hit the scene and ushered in the Golden Age of Comics: The comics of the 1940's were dominated by superheroes, mystery and crime, science fiction, and horror. While the superhero stories were directed at kids, most of the comics in the market were not - they were adult stories with adult illustrations.

Before They Were Popular... The graphic novel format (different from the stapled monthly comic issues, graphic novels are longer and bound like books) was originally directed toward an older, male audience. It wasn't until the late 1980's that publishers began to see that there was a huge potential audience out there for graphic novels.

The Trickle Down Effect As graphic novels themselves became more mainstream, publishers and retailers started looking for ways to expand their market. The more popular "adult" graphic novels became, the more prevalent graphic novels for teens, and eventually for children, got to be. Japanese manga played a huge role in expanding the market not just to a younger audience, but also to girls.

Are Graphic Novels Reading? Short Answer: Of COURSE they are. Long Answer: Media and culture are getting increasingly visual, and anything that helps children increase their visual literacy skills cannot be undervalued. Reading symbols, cause and effect relationships, and interpreting visual clues are all benefits to be gained from reading graphic novels.

Graphic Novel Awards Will Eisner Comic Industry Award The "Oscars" of the Comic Industry, given for creative achievement in American comics Harvey Award Recognition of outstanding work in comics Nominations are made exclusively by creators and artists LuLu Awards Recognizes women-friendly works and the work of female comic creators Ignatz Award Recognizes achievement in small-press comics

Comics and graphic novels are experiencing a burgeoning Golden Age in education today. A substantial, expanding body of evidence asserts that use of graphic novels and comics in the classroom produces effective learning opportunities over a wide range of subjects and benefits various student populations. Gambrell and Jawitz (1993) and Mayer (1999) dual coding studies "found that words and pictures together produced better recall and transfer than either did alone and that individual differences factor"

Different Types of Learners Visual Learners Learn by seeing and visualizing Auditory Learners Learn by listening and verbalizing Read-Write Learners Enjoy reading and writing in all forms Kinesthetic Learners Learn through a hands-on approach

The perfect blend of word and picture. can be used for teaching literary terms and techniques may act as intermediaries from the computer or television to print media engage reluctant readers visual messages alongside minimal print help ease frustrations of beginning or struggling readers.

A few clips on Graphic Novels in the Classroom Comics In The Classroom News Broadcast Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom "Shakespeare Squared" Graphic Novels: The School Connection Serious Comics: Graphic Novels for the Classroom

Captain Underpants Captain Underpants is hugely popular with kids. What about it do you think is especially appealing? How do you think the “hand-drawn” comic pages and the flip-book style pages incorporated into Captain Underpants contribute to its appeal? Despite the fact that it is not written in a traditional panel format and might more safely be called an illustrated novel, Captain Underpants is typically shelved with the graphic novels. Why?

Bone Bone deals with some pretty heavy issues of good vs. evil, and the temptations of power. Do you think these themes are handled in a way that young readers will understand? Bone was originally published in 1991, but has continued to maintain a huge level of popularity. Why? Do you think it will continue to be relevant in library collections, or will it eventually become dated? This is the first volume of a series. How eager do you think young readers would be to get at the rest of the series?

Babymouse: Queen of the World Superficially, Babymouse seems like a "girl" graphic novel. How could you pitch this to a young boy? Babymouse’s fantasies are an integral device for revealing her character. What do you think a young reader would take away from those sequences? Are they appealing? use/

Adventures in Cartooning Adventures in Cartooning uses the graphic novel format to illustrate its points about cartoons. Is this distracting? Or helpful? How could this book be used to send a positive message about the values of graphic novels? How might you use this book in an English curriculum?

To Dance How did you decide to tell your story in graphic novel form? "I had been thinking about writing a book about my experiences in training and dance for a long time. [This] could be a really good medium for showing more than I could ever tell just in words." Interview with Siena Cherson Siegel

The Storm in the Barn Is there anything in this story a child today can relate to? How would you classify this book? Do you think a child would be more willing to read this than a standard historical fiction novel?

Wrap-Up Questions Did you have any trouble following the flow of any of the stories? How would you shelve graphic novels in your library? Do you think they should be contained in their own section? Would there be any benefits to shelving them by genre instead? Do you think parents would be more accepting of graphic novels as a reading experience if they were shelved by genre, rather than segregating them in their own section? Do you think the graphic novel is more or less effective for fiction or nonfiction? Does it work equally well in both genres? Graphic novels get challenged by parents for being both non-literary and also for their visual nature. How would you handle a parent who objects to, say, Bone for being too visually dark and potentially inappropriate for children?

Useful Links Dealing With Challenges to Graphic Novels Comics in the Classroom No Flying, No Tights Graphic Novel Reviews by The Library Journal sp Good Comics for Kids