October
13
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In Defense of Graphic Novels and Those Who Read Them by Liesl Shurtliff
It happened at a school visit.
I was between presentations, sitting in the library. A few students were quietly searching for books. A boy, maybe nine or ten-years-old, came into my view, scanning the shelves. He seemed a bit lost and overwhelmed. One of my greatest joys is helping children find books they will love, so I asked him what he’d read lately that he enjoyed. He named some book I can’t recall, but it inspired me to recommend the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi.
“My own kids love that series,” I told him.
Suddenly a teacher appeared from between bookshelves and shot me a withering glare. “He needs to read a real book.”
The boy’s shoulders slumped. The teacher steered him away from me like I had a highly contagious disease.
This experience inspired me to include the following passage in the first book of my latest series, Time Castaways: The Mona Lisa Key.
“I like comics,” he said. “But I know that’s not real reading.”
Wiley raised his eyebrows. “Who told you that?”
My teacher,” said Corey. “She said there are too many pictures and it’s not enough of a challenge for my brain.”
“Well with all due respect to your teacher, who I am sure is a fine educator, I disagree,” said Wiley. “Pictures are no less powerful than words, and words no more powerful than pictures. They each tell us a story. And what happens when you put the two together? A symphony of the mind, like lobster and butter. People who read pictures and words at the same time are smart people in my book, yes, sir.”
This passage has been shared and passed around online multiple times, usually with praise but sometimes with censure. I read a review once that was otherwise glowing, but the one “disappointing moment was when a child is praised for reading comics.”
The animosity some adults have toward graphic novels is nothing new to me, and yet it continues to baffle me. I am convinced these adults all have good intentions. Just like me, they want what’s best for their children and students. They want them to be readers. But I’m equally convinced the way they’re going about it is wrong and their methods will inevitably backfire. I believe their negativity toward graphic novels is result of the complete misunderstanding of graphic novels themselves as well as a misunderstanding of the fragile ego of a child, and the ways in which they develop a relationship with books and reading. I’ll address the graphic novel first, the child ego second.
I have a theory that one reason adults look down their nose at graphic novels is because they have the word “novel” attached to them, as though we’re somehow trying to compare it to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. We have to look at graphic novels and comics differently. Comparing a graphic novel to a straight novel is like trying to compare the opera to the ballet or a sculpture to a painting. Would you say the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci has less artistic merit than Michelangelo’s David simply because it is only two-dimensional? Is the ballet less worthy than the opera because there are no words? Most people, while they may prefer the David to the Mona Lisa or the opera over the ballet or vice versa, would never make this comparative mistake, because most people understand they are completely different mediums. Likewise, graphic novels and comics cannot be so closely compared to straight literature. They might contain similar ideas, information, and stories; they might both be in book form, but they are, for all intents and purposes, different mediums. Graphic novels and comics convey the information in their own unique fashion, combining visual text with written language. Indeed, comics are seen by many as a “visual language.” (Comics, Linguistics, and Visual Language: The past and future of a field, Neil Cohn)
There’s some excellent research being conducted in the field of graphic novels and young learners. What researches are finding is that graphic novels can engage and challenge any reader in both visually and linguistically complex ways. The combination of text and illustration require an entirely different level of focus and concentration. In some ways graphic novels are more challenging than straight novels. In fact, if you haven’t read a graphic novel recently (or ever), please give it a try. Maybe start with Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, a National Book Award Finalist among many other prestigious literary awards and accolades. I have a hunch that some adults who poo-poo these books actually find graphic novels more challenging than they would assume, and that subconsciously factors into their reasoning for not liking them. I will admit, I struggled with graphic novels when I first started reading them. It was hard for me to focus and comprehend what was happening in the story. It was almost like I was trying to decode a new language. I’ve heard many other adults admit to the same.
But my defense of the graphic novel goes deeper than their literary or educational merit. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if graphic novels are more, less, or equally challenging than a straight novel. What matters most is the child, their identity, and their relationship with books and reading. Shaming any child for their reading choices, no matter what it is, is a death sentence to the child’s budding and delicate passion for reading. It will shut them down, and it will be ten times harder to lure them back. I speak from personal experience. I’m sure that’s not anyone’s intent when poo-pooing graphic novels, but that will nevertheless be the result. Encourage them to try a wide variety, sure. Use the famed improv “Yes and…” philosophy. “Yes! Guts by Raina Telgemeier is a great choice, and you should also try The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty. I loved them both!”
Give them graphic novels and novels. Give them poetry and short stories and picture books and magazines. Give them fiction, non-fiction, contemporary, historical, fantasy, and sci-fi. We want kids to read widely, to grow and expand their horizons, and we adults should be the best examples of these reading practices. But for the love of all that is holy, please don’t tell them the books they go to again and again aren’t worthy. That’s basically saying THEY are not worthy, that they are not a real reader. And if you pass on that message, it will surely become the truth. I certainly want my children to be strong readers and have an expansive vocabulary, but always my first priority is to nurture their reading identity and a positive relationship with books. This is the most important thing. If I can accomplish that the rest will follow.
It’s time to embrace graphic novels. It’s time to lift the stigma, stop the lies. It’s time to show our kids we can be just as open-minded as they are. It’s time we adults read graphic novels, too, not just for the kids, but for ourselves. I promise it won’t kill your brain cells or lower your vocabulary. It might even enhance it.
Liesl Shurtliff is the New York Times bestselling author of the (Fairly) True Tales series and the Time Castaways trilogy. Book 2 is available October 15th! Her books have been named to over two dozen state award lists and have won many awards including a Children’s Book Award from the International Literacy Association. Liesl lives in Chicago with her husband and four children. You can find her online at Lieslshurtliff.com and on Twitter @lieslshurtliff.
Nerdy Book Club 
As a teacher, I have noticed the rise in graphic novel popularity. And I couldn’t agree more with the article; we should do as much as we can to inspire children to read.
Yes to everything here. My SON taught himself to read using Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comic books starting at age 3 or so. I wish I had video. My husband, an academic, would read to him and point to the words. I did, too. He introduced the comics. I was at first thinking he should be reading “real books” after all I was a Nancie Atwell early reading workshop adopter in gr. 5, think 1980s and a writing teacher of note in my area. BUT I was won over and quite quickly. I had read Glenda Bissex’s book Genius at Work (Genus at Wrk) about her son’s writing development. So I was ok with approximation in many regards. My son would read and re-read the comics. We still have most of them. Yes, he was memorizing the words, but when does that become automaticity? He could read some pretty impressive vocabulary and there were good “morals” to the most of the stories. We did nothing to test him, just encouraged and supported and helped along the way. My son got the character traits of Uncle Scrooge, Donald and company. Of course we interacted a ton. People who heard him read at a young age were amazed. He also did use “phonics” as in phoneme awareness to sound out some words that might stump him for a few seconds but he often “just knew it” and he built from there. If he was interested or asked a question or we thought we could give him a generalization that might help him we did, but there was no script or lesson plan. He entered school a reader, not a 100% accurate reader but truly he could read. He did not sound segment and spelling was an early issue but that developed over time. I have written here before about his journey. He is a PhD historian and in grad school taught courses and corrected his student’s papers and spelling. It all came together in the end. When he was ready to read, he read, and now he reads the most incredible stuff, academic work that I have trouble with because of all the details I’d have to hold in my head. He reads widely for pleasure, too. Comics and graphic novels HELPED him. They HELP turn kids into readers. They will find their way! Even if they read them for a few months, they will broaden their search if guided and encouraged. I think we have to broaden any fixed notion that there is one magic way to learn to read. I also think that what we did to encourage our son to want to teach himself to read is worth sharing, so really should write about that for a wider audience. We need to remember Vygotsky and Bruner and Piaget among others in these days of “science of reading” stuff, too. And Brian Cambourne, don’t ever forget his contribution.
Yes, yes, yes!
Thank you for this. You’ve given us creators the language to defend what we do!
Excellent and cogent defense of graphic novels. Thanks, Liesl! Teachers and librarians need this right now. Love your pairing of Guts with Lightning GIrl, too.
The problem with us adults VS graphic novels is that we are, so sad to say, really really OLD. (Even 20-30-somethings fit into this category from a kid’s point of view.) When I was a kid (a pretty long time ago), my mother thought comics would rot my brain. So I would borrow a boxload at a time from a friend and hide them under my bed. I’m sure lots of us did the same back then, in the heydays of Archie and Jughead, Superman and Supergirl, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, and more. We turned out just fine. And now we’ve morphed into our disapproving parents because we, in our infinite grownup wisdom, now believe comics are not “real literature.”
Actually, I think the problem is that it’s hard as an adult to read words and pictures the way we did when we were young. it requires more concentration than just reading text. But what a fine gift Raina Telegemeir and Jenni Holm and Dav Pilkey and so many others are giving our kids right now. Long live graphic novelists!
Despite the it all I became not only a reader, but a teacher who inspires future readers & writers. Comic books saved me. They lifted me up when regular books weren’t my thing. While I struggled in reading class, I devoured comic books. Thankfully my 7th English teacher stepped in to validate this choice. She spoke of how my incredible vocabulary must have been a result of the hours and hours I spent pouring over comic books. Advanced thinking for the 1980s. Now my classroom library features a wide, diverse collection of reading material (magazines too). My copy of Rump share shelve space with Lunch Lady and The New Kid. There are hard bound comics just above the mysteries and across from my non-fiction books about everything you ever wanted to know about __________(insert subject).
Mostly I am proud to give each student K to 5th a free comic book each May when the industry sponsors Free Comic Book Day nationally.
The freedom to read your choice of material in school is a key to our goal of encouraging our students to become life long readers!
P.S. Audio books count too, but that is for another time.
I love this article! I am a librarian, and I just want kids reading what they enjoy! I am printing this to share with the teachers that have such trouble with students who “only” want to read graphic novels, that’s why I buy them!!
Hey, I owned that VW.
I am a huge fan of graphic novels and have seen how great they are for kids learning to read English and for children on the autism spectrum because they can clearly see the emotions of the characters. Thanks for this post.
Oh, I totally agree! Coincidentally, I just wrote a post on my blog with suggestions of titles of some graphic novel series for early readers. These might be the perfect books to inspire a reluctant reader to dive into a series and to develop a love of reading. We just don’t know…
I also liked your suggestion about choosing a graphic novel and a novel. I sometimes say to the kids when they choose two books (in the hope of enticing them to try a new genre or author) one is your choice and one is my suggestion. It often works. They come back and tell me they like my suggestion!
I’m guilty of this. Intell one of my boys that he needs to find a real bummer ok, or a chapter book. He argued that there are chapters in the graphic novels. One of my issues is that he picks grahic novels that are really easy to read and he can finish in one afternoon. I want him to challenge himself, not just check out the same 5 books every week.
Great article. I especially support the wide variety issue. We are a huge family of readers.
LOVE this!
I hate when people rip on what I’m reading. Giving me some kind of guilt trip about it isn’t going to make me want to read it more. It sucks all the fun out of it.
My opinion of Reading Levels as an 8th grade teacher. I make the kids take the ZPD tests in AR so I know where they stand, but I don’t pigeon hole them to it. At the end of the day, that is just a vocabulary and comprehension test. I need that data. However in a perfect world where all my kids are on grade level, there would be nothing for them to read. Even most adult/ya fiction is written on a fifth grade level (The Hate You Give is a 2.4). We’ve watered down our own vocabularies. Anne of Green Gables is considered a 7.6 reading level. Why? Incredulous as it sounds, 100 years ago we used “bigger words”.
If we would let them read what they love, they’ll read more of it!
My new passion sets for my classroom:
-the Non-Fiction Alphabet books (T is for TuTu, H is for Hero…) are written on a 6.4-7.6 reading levels. I sell this concept to my high level readers.
– the Who/What books are also 1 pr Non-Fiction books
-Hazardous Tales Graphic Novels are amazing literary non-fiction reads. My hesitant readers are eating them up.
**As someone who once worked in Elementary, I firmly believe that
reading levels matter at the younger levels as the content is (mostly) age appropriate for all in an elementary library.**
Back to Graphic Novels, I can’t do it myself, but I am teacher enough to acknowledge that Environmental Print (images) was the first thing we all read. Some kids think better with pictures. Temple Grandin said it best at a seminar I attended, “My mind thinks in pictures.”