Use of Comics and Graphic Novels in the Library and Classroom

Chi Anne McGrewMissouri Association of School

LibrariansSpring Conference 2010

You can email me for the exact powerpoint

chiannemcgrew@charter.netOr most of the information and links can

be found athttp://mrsmcgrew.blogspot.com

• Used to describe the specific format of a comic book that has greater production values and longer narrative

• Can also describe the trade paperback format, like a serialized novel.

Comic book definition-

Used to describe both the medium itself and the periodical form.

As a result, all graphic novels are comic books, but not all comic books are graphic novels.

http://progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm

Panel

GutterSequential Art

Combination of text, panels and images

http://www.flightcomics.com/flight3preview/preview_final/web_khangle/index.html

http://www.flightcomics.com/flight2preview/pages/06_081_khang_page03.jpg

Khang Le

• Graphic novels are the fastest growing categories in book publishing and partly because of this growth there is a a lot of uncertainty about what a graphic novel is.

• Traditionally a series of bound comics in long book form- started in the UK in 1870s.

Washington Post article by Steven Hunter (2002) explains how the

“graphic novel isn’t really a novel; what it is, really, is a movie in

graphics. It tells stories visually, finding images to express emotions that would somehow be beyond a

prose artist’s ability to convey”

Will Eisner coined the phrase graphic novel in 1978 to describe his collection of illustrated short stories, A contract with God and other tenement stories (Kitchen Sink, 1978)

Published 1978, filled with pictures, was meant as literature, not a comic.

Three subcategories of graphic novelsSuperhero comics

Popular entertainment

Literary fine art

http://swclinux.lakeheadschools.ca/news/wp-content/superheroes02.jpg

“I see no intrinsic reason why a doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic strip novel masterpiece.” -author John Updike (1969)

1986

Only graphic novel to appear on Time magazines list of the “100 best novels from 1923 to the present”

Set during the Cold War, with Bruce Wayne who is nearly 55 and has retired from being

Batman, is drawn back into the life of a superhero.

Marjane Satrapi explains her inspiration from Maus and the freedom of a graphic novel. “It’s just you telling your story.” Hers is not a story of victimization, but of anger and a direction for the anger. Plus, it reaches a population that otherwise would have no idea about the Revolution in Iran.

http://tenthousandvisions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/persepolis_cover.jpg

http://www.rand.org/international_programs/cmepp/imey/images/persepolis-page.gif

http://www.buckslib.org/images/Programs/onebook/Maus%20Poster.GIF

Pulitzer Prize Special Award

winner in 1992

Popular Entertainment

• Basically a catch-all group for works that don’t fall into the other two categories

• Fastest growing subcategory

• A lot is published by the numerous small presses.

Manga

http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/reading-comic-books-300x225.jpg

Comics bridge to graphic novels(Lyga & Lyga,2004)

To traditional library materials (Miller, 2005)

BIG MOVIES AND TV SHOWS COME FROM COMICS AND GN

• Spider Man• X-Men• Hulk• Justice League• Smallville• Teen Titans• 300• Road to Perdition• Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles

“due to their visual nature, graphic novels provide a more

visceral, immediate

experience.”

High Interest and Pop Culture• Graphic novels will

gain attention better than a textbook

• Graphic novels cling to the cutting edge of pop culture which kids also glean to. Often in advance of media. – Comics responded to

9/11 in less than 1 month, much faster than any other media

http://www.retrojunk.com/img/art-images/bone.jpg

http://littleduffelbaglibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/american-born-chinese-jacket-cover.jpg

http://scholarization.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/animetv-naruto.jpg

Prinz Award

WHY GRAPHIC NOVELS?

• Give students what they want

They read them

Graphic novels have a higher level of vocabulary

• Reluctant reader’s will read them• Graphic Novels circulate at least as much as

other books• Practical matters• No rule to how many are needed

Multiple IntelligencesHoward Gardner

Enjoy writing, reading, telling stories or doing crossword puzzles. Good with words and possess incredible vocabularies or make up their own words and meanings.

Linguistic Intelligence

Graphic Novel Connection- Enjoy recreationally. Creative outlet to create own. Imaginations are fueled. Challenges because text doesn’t do across the page format.

Spatial IntelligenceVisual learners, think in images and pictures. Fascinated by visual games, doodles, draw for teacher, art classes.

Graphic Novel Connection- enjoy reading and stimulate creativity

Interpersonal Intelligence

Graphic Novel Connection- Much of storytelling in a graphic novel is done through visual facial expressions, settings, sharp lines, and shadings.

Stand out among their peers, good at communicating understanding others feelings and motives, model leaders, well-liked, easily navigate through social situations.

Traits of Readers and the Graphic Novels Connection

1. Students incapable of visualizationstudents are surrounded by visual images, but not all make those pictures while reading which is necessary to being successful. Graphic novels help with visualizations because there may be entire pictures without text so they must decode meaning. “They can focus mental energy on gaining meaning from pictures rather than be frustrated by text that challenges their inability to create mental pictures of the story.” It’s not dumbing down, it requires more complex thought.

2. Reluctant Readers- Capable of visualization but won’t read. Unmotivated students are sometimes also unskilled, probably lacks skills necessary to construct meaning. If all the energy is spent pronouncing the words, comprehension is lost. Generally boys.

Graphic novels aid in decoding. Pictures are the key for reading success. Students don’t consider graphic novels to be real books because of the pictures so they don’t mind reading them.

3.Visually dependent students- Media rich environments make it difficult for students to keep the attention span.

Graphic Novels- adapt, don’t compete, use to teach visual literacy—looking at the messages, meanings and motivations behind a visual images.

Graphic Novels in schools: promoting reading and improving

literacy• “Including graphic novels in the library’s

collection boosted circulation and drew reluctant readers, especially boys.”– Kay Hones, O’Connell High School, San

Francisco

“Graphic novels can be a valuable tool for aiding language and literacy development of students. They are especially valuable to students who are struggling with language acquisition because the illustrations help provide contextual clues for understanding the narrative aspects of the text.”– Elaine Moskowitz, San Francisco Unified

School District

• “Research shows comic books as linguistically appropriate reading material, bearing no negative effect on language acquisition or school achievement.”

Comic books and graphic novels are perfect for reluctant readers and young readers to utilize visual literacy skills.

Owly: A time to be braveAndy Runton

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/previews/owly_vol4/owly_vol4_05.jpg

Comics and Graphic Novels

• Not just for those that need visual cueing: reluctant readers or ELL students

• Visual literacy beneficial to all students– Interpret pictorial cues– Allows reader to become a part of the

story– Students excited by the visual stimulation

of the artwork

“Graphic novels are beneficial for young people who read English as a second language or for those who read on a lower reading level than their peers because the simple sentences, visual or context clues, and educated guessing allow them to comprehend some, if not all, of the story”

“It is possible for a novice comic book reader to understand 60% to 70% of the story in a comic book just by looking at the pictures, thereby providing less proficient readers with a successful “reading” experience.”

“Perhaps the most powerful way of encouraging children to read is by exposing them to it. Reading, a kind of reading that schools pretend does not exist and a kind of reading that many children, for economic or ideological reasons, are deprived of. I suspect that light reading is the way that nearly all of us learned to read.

-Quoted from Stephen Krashen in The power of fiction (Libraries Unlimited, 1993)

In order for students to read better they have to have time for voluntary reading and choosing their own material.

Students must be able to choose materials in which they have a strong interest, including magazines, comic books, and graphic novels which are often frowned upon administrators, librarians and teachers.

In a study done 20 years ago which found that the presence of comic books in a library increased circulation of non-comic materials by 30%, school libraries have limited comic-style books.

Get Teachers on board• Go to team department meetings with

noted examples• Throw a graphic novel/ comic book

party• Ask principal for a few minutes at a

faculty meeting for book talk• Email a particular teacher with a book

they could use• Direct approach- checkout a book in a

teachers name and note- thought this would work for you!

• Get reading club for teachers and students

• Faculty survey

Specific Uses for Graphic Novels in the Classroom

• Social Studies- – The Cartoon History of the World, Volume II– Civil War Series- adults love as well– Maus- for WWII– Persopolis- 1980s

• English- – most books fall into this category– Macbeth– Instruction on standard literary devices- irony, Foreshadowing, point of view, etc.

• Elementary- do a ‘picture walk’• Art teacher uses for curricular connections• Science

– Fallout, about the atom bomb• Graphic novels are great for ELL- vocabularies develop as they use the

graphics to make sense of the text.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VJEoP6POm2M/SV-ntxTtuMI/AAAAAAAACac/4ZXHzt7x5js/s320/US+Constitution.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VJEoP6POm2M/SLgE5-Z0GsI/AAAAAAAABho/uprjrybp8Fs/s320/Cover-small.jpg

Use in the K12 School

http://www.amberkeyser.com/images/cells_cover_snagged_i116.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W_4MyIMHk-Y/Sr-DvvfBq9I/AAAAAAAAAQs/VFxnnc5VXeU/s400/Investigating-Scientific-Method-small.jpg

“Graphic novel readers have learned to understand not only print, but can also decode facial and body expressions, the symbolic metaphors and similes and other social and literary nuances teenagers are mastering as they move from childhood to maturity.”St. Lifer, 2002, p.9

Lesson Plans

• Cartoons and comics in the classroom: A reference for teachers and librarians edited by James L. Thomas

• For Castle waiting: The lucky road by Linda Medley, Allyson Lyga developed lesson plans on the Diamond Comics web site.

• New York City Comic Book Museum launched “Hooked on Comics” or the C.O.M.I.C.S. Curriculum based on the Fantastic Four from Marvel Comics

• Cross Generation Comics developed comprehensive reading programs around two of their popular titles, Meridian by Barbra Kesel for middle schoolers and Ruse by Mark Waid and Butch Guise for high school readers.

“Be prepared to show how the content of your graphic novels section is equal

to the content of your prose books.”

Example prose = John shot BillGraphic novel =

picture of John shooting Bill, Bill collapsing in pain,

face in anguish

REACTIONS• Surprisingly little resistance despite general negativity to

comic books• To prevent problems discuss with administration and

reading supervisors prior to building collections

• STUDENT REACTIONS– Boys run to the books – had to limit to 2 at a time so collection wasn’t wiped out– falling apart after 5 months because of use

– students read to the end– follow plot lines, have character, summaries– reading teachers like– less intimidating for reluctant or struggling readers

Students like

Teachers like

http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/uploadedImages/Image_Library/Reading/teensReading(1).jpg

10:1Graphic Novels : Young Adult Fiction

Selection Tools and Resources

• Professional and Trade Journals– The Comics Journal

• Founded in 1975• One of the nations most respected single-arts magazines,

providing its readers with an eclectic mix of industry news, professional interviews, and reviews of current work on a monthly basis.

• Published by Fantagraphics

Selection Tools and Resources

• Professional and Trade Journals– Knowledge Quest

• Column on graphic novels by Phillip Crawford, Thought Bubbles, published by American Association of School Libraries

Professional Trade Journals– Library Journal– The Shy Librarian

• Steven Weiner’s column, The Comics’ Librarian reviews graphic novels and discusses trends in the industry.

– Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)– Kat Kan’s article “Graphically Speaking” WIZARD magazine

– People magazine of the comic book world covers new products in the world of comics, tv animation, and related issues

– Booklist– School Library Journal– Publisher’s Weekly

Local Comic Book Store

Industry Awards

• Harvey Awards– Harvey Kurtzman

• Founder of MAD magazine

• Voted on by those working in the industry

• Eisner Awards– Will Eisner

• Designed to recognize “the outstanding work of the creative people from within our industry” and to “attract public attention to the art form by publicizing to non-comics readers the best work in the industry has to offer.”

• Eisner nominations are selected by a panel of 5 judges, with 5,000 voting ballots being distributed to publishers, creators, and retailers.

Industry Sites

– http://www.tcj.com/

Diamond’s Bookshelf– http://bookshelf.diamondcomics.com/public/

WIZARD Magazine– http://www.wizarduniverse.com/index.cfm

Graphic Novel Review Sites• Comic Books for Young Adults: A Guide for

Librarians– http://library.buffalo.edu/asl/guides/comics.html

• Librarian’s Guide to Anime and Manga– http://www.koyagi.com/Libguide.html

• Links to Comics and Graphic Novel Sites– http://my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/comicslinks.htm

• No Flying, No Tights: A Website Reviewing Graphic Novels for Teens– http://www.noflyingnotights.com/

http://graphicclassroom.blogspot.com/

AuthorIllustratorPublisher, ISBN, PagesStory SybopsisReviewAge RecommendationThings to be aware Use in the Classroom

Preview of Free Comics

Developing a comic book and graphic novel collection will allow the school library media specialist to harness the popularity of these works to promote reading for academic and recreational purposes.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/3346032718_6814dc4ef2.jpg

Adding to the Library

• Library Mission Statement• Collection development policy• Ask students• Review Lists• Comic store employees• Pilot collection

Collection Development

Collection Development

• 4 factors to consider– story– art– age appropriateness- most popular in middle

school– appeal

CATALOGING

– 741.5 under Dewey number makes them easy to find though not all fall into this category

– modified 741.5- allows for central location but singles them out from Dewey classification. Some come as 741.5 but can add Graphic Novel

– separate section- allows for expansion, separate category allows one to track circulation, also allows for highlighting them.

– Fiction- not Graphic Novel fit in fiction section, plus harder for students to find.

Researched Recommendations

• All together in a separate section• Divide by fiction and non-fiction• Use stickers to designate GN• Use subject heading in catalog

record of Comic/GN

Use in the classroom

• Motivation to read• Story board• Study of character development• Encourage writing• Literary elements

Resources

30- graphic novels good in some way for promoting reading

“Graphic novels are just fiction or non-fiction books with a different format. Fiction graphic novels still have a storyline with story elements. Non-fiction graphic novels still provide accurate information about the subject.”

5- help provide a variety of reading material

“It is a format that engages kids and encourages them to read. We know this because the few that we have are always checked out and they are being read, not just looked at.”

Many respondents recognized the potential for graphic novels to aid reluctant readers.

“If the format of a graphic novel is the hook it takes to bring a student and a book together, so be it. The format should not determine a book’s literary value.”

Chi Anne McGrew

Shawnee R-3

chiannemcgrew@charter.net

http://mrsmcgrew.blogspot.com

Contact Information: