Starting Monday, February 6th, Youth Services at White Plains Public library will offer a Graphic Novel Book Club for children in grades 3-6 at 5:00 p.m. in Galaxy Hall. The first meeting will be a chance for the children to get to know each other, discuss the graphic novels they have read – what they liked and disliked about them, and what graphic novels they would like to read as a group going forward. If you would like to join us, please send an email to Donna Gehlmann – dgehlmann@whiteplainslibrary.org.
If you ask most librarians, we will tell you there is a book for everyone…the same thing can be said about graphic novels. There are several misconceptions about graphic novels such as they do not count as “real reading” or they are just read for “fun”. Time to break down those misconceptions!
A comics reader still needs to comprehend and analyze just as they would in a traditional novel, but reading graphic novels also supports visual literacy. Visual literacy has been called a critical skill for 21st century learners by the National Council for Teachers of English. Graphic novels can also give extra support to struggling readers or reluctant readers. The drawings/illustrations can aid those readers by giving context to the story where the child might not understand otherwise. Graphic novels also have exciting plots, characters, and plot twists. Studies have even shown that comics and graphic novels have a higher use of rare words than non-graphic adult books and children’s books!
(from: http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/voc/voc_what.php)
- Raising a Reader: How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love to Read!
- Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Support Literacy
- Using Comics to Teach the 4 Cs
- Using Comic Books for Serious Learning
- Comics and Literacy
- A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Graphic Novels
- 3 Ways Graphic Novels Benefit Reading Skills
- How Graphic Novels Help Students Develop Critical Skills
(from https://aliagraphic.blogspot.com/p/comics-and-literacy.html)
Where Can I Get Some Graphic Novels to Read?
A reader can find graphic novels in the Children’s, Young Adult, and Adult sections of the Library. In addition, there are many eBook versions of graphic novels available in Libby, Comics Plus, and hoopla. If you do not know where to start, please check with a librarian. We will have lots of recommendations for you!
Here are some popular suggestions to get you started:
- Amulet 1: Stonekeeper (series) by Kazu Kibuishi
- Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
- Baby Sitter’s Club: Kristy’s Great Idea (series)
- Class Act by Jerry Craft
- Click by Kayla Miller (series)
- Any of the DC comic series (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.)
- Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (series)
- Ham Helsing series by Rich Moyer
- InvestiGators by John Patrick Green (series)
- Any of the Marvel series (Spiderman, the Avengers, Black Panther, etc.)
- New Kid by Jerry Craft
- Smile by Raina Telgeimer (series)
- Stargazing by Jen Wang
- Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland and Mike Holmes (series)
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