The next two books I'm going to blog about are graphic novels and the Librarian in me is just itching to rant about the misunderstandings surrounding this form of media.
If I had a dollar for every parent or teacher who said something like "Jimmy only reads graphic novels, I want him to read real books" I'd be rich. I'd also still be pretty T-d off. In a nutshell, graphic novels are books! Okay? Trust me.
For those of you new to the show, here's a definition of "graphic novel" from dictionary.com: a novel in the form of a comic strip. There's pictures and words. Simple enough?
Like novels, short stories, etc., there are good graphic novels and crappy ones. There are graphic novels suitable for kids and teens, and graphic novels that are most certainly only for adults.
As this medium progresses, graphic novels are becoming more and more mature. Yes, there's stuff like Captain Underpants which is hilarious and enjoyable, but there are also really interesting compilations of novel and graphic novel together such as The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, and the new Bone: Quest for the Spark series by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith.
Like any other material (book, movie, video game) that your child/student is interested in, look at the graphic novels on the shelf and see what the content is like. Are there images or topics that you don't want your child to read about? It's a lot easier to discover the content of a graphic novel than a traditional book!
And maybe you have trouble following the action on the pages. That's the special, key thing about graphic novels. Not only are your children reading (yippee!), but they are also learning visual cues on how to follow this kind of media. It's good for their brains - bonus!
Forcing a kid to read something they are not interested in runs the risk of turning them off reading all together. Don't dismiss graphic novels out of hand. If your kid is reading and enjoying them, what's the harm? Read it yourself, and then you can talk about it together. How's that for a bonding opportunity?
No comments:
Post a Comment