K I D S W H O DON'T LIKE BOOKS OF KIDS EAGER READERS W henever someone asks me What kind of kids read comics?" the old jingle for Armour H o t D o g s s t a r t s r u n n i n g through my mind: "Hot dogs, Armour hot dogs, what kinds of kids eat Armour hot dogs? Big kids, little kids, kids who climb on rocks, fat kids, skinny kids, even kids with chicken pox ..." My version goes something like: "Comics and graphic novels, what kinds of kids read graphic novels? Eager readers, kids who hate all books, gifted kids, struggling kids, kids who need a reading boost ..." Here are a few kids I've encountered in my career of promoting comics in libraries. Eager Readers We'll start with myself. I started r e a d i n g w h e n I w a s a b o u t f o u r years old; as a way to practice her English, my Japanese mother read to us kids when we were very young. I can't even remember how I s t a r t e d ; I j u s t r e m e m b e r looking through books before I could read the words. And I started reading comic strips in the newspaper when I was in kindergarten. By first grade, we were living in Japan again (my father was in the Air Force), and I started asking my parents to buy comic books on our weekly trips to the Base Exchange. That was the beginning, and I never stopped reading comics; they just became part of the reading mix in our house. I r e a d j u s t a b o u t anything—poetry, picture books, fiction, history books, mythology, magazines, newspapers—if it had text on it, I would read it. By fourth grade, I was on the honor roll at school; in high school I was taking AP classes (English, biology, French) by my junior year. I was one of those nerdy types before that word ever came into use. I did very well on standardized tests, mostly because I read so much, and even earned a National Merit Scholarship. I read literary classics, but I also read Tarzan, lots of science fiction, Sherlock Holmes and other mysteries, and of course comics. I was a DC Comics fangirl and loved G r e e n L a n t e r n , H a w k m a n , and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon, who was a librarian back then). There were several reasons I became a librarian, and Barbara Gordon's civilian profession was one of them. Then, as a librarian working with children and teens, I realized that I could use my love of comics in my job. A Tale of Two Kids My sons have grown up with comics i n t h e h o u s e , a n d b o t h o f t h e m are readers of comics. When my older son was in seventh grade, he read my copy of Ranma Vz, a m a n g a action comedy about a boy martial artist who, because of a curse, becomes a girl when splashed with cold water. My son loved this book so much that he took it to school with him one day. Apparently, he showed it to his friends in class, and soon just about everyone in his class had read it. My copy came back to me in pieces because it had been read so much. Because so many of the kids liked it, they went on to read more volumes of the series and then branched out to read other manga. Now, this all 1 2 Knowledge Quest | Getting to Know Graphic Novels
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K I D S W H O D O N ' T L IKE B O O K S
OF KIDS
E A G E R R E A D E R S
Wh e n e v e r s o m e o n e a s k s m e
W h a t k i n d o f k i d s r e a d
c o m i c s ? " t h e o l d j i n g l e f o r A r m o u r
H o t D o g s s t a r t s r u n n i n g t h r o u g h
m y m i n d : " H o t d o g s , A r m o u r
h o t d o g s , w h a t k i n d s o f k i d s ea t
A r m o u r h o t d o g s ? B i g k i d s , l i t t l e
k i d s , k i d s w h o c l i m b o n r o c k s , f a t
k i d s , s k i n n y k i d s , e v e n k i d s w i t h
c h i c k e n p o x . . . " M y v e r s i o n g o e s
s o m e t h i n g l i k e : " C o m i c s a n d
g r a p h i c n o v e l s , w h a t k i n d s o f k i d s
r e a d g r a p h i c n o v e l s ? E a g e r r e a d e r s ,
k i d s w h o h a t e a l l b o o k s , g i f t e d k i d s ,
s t r u g g l i n g k i d s , k i d s w h o n e e d a
r e a d i n g b o o s t . . . " H e r e a r e a f e w
k i d s I ' ve e n c o u n t e r e d i n m y c a r e e r
o f p r o m o t i n g c o m i c s i n l i b r a r i e s .
E a g e r R e a d e r s
W e ' l l s t a r t w i t h m y s e l f . I s t a r t e d
r e a d i n g w h e n I w a s a b o u t f o u r
y e a r s o l d ; as a way t o p r a c t i c e h e r
E n g l i s h , m y J a p a n e s e m o t h e r
r e a d t o u s k i d s w h e n we w e r e v e r y
y o u n g . I c a n ' t e v e n r e m e m b e r h o w
I s t a r t e d ; I j u s t r e m e m b e r l o o k i n g
t h r o u g h b o o k s b e f o r e I c o u l d r e a d
t h e w o r d s . A n d I s t a r t e d r e a d i n g
c o m i c s t r i p s i n t h e n e w s p a p e r w h e n
I w a s i n k i n d e r g a r t e n . By first g r a d e ,
we w e r e l i v i n g i n J a p a n a g a i n ( m y
f a t h e r w a s i n t h e A i r F o r c e ) , a n d
I s t a r t e d a s k i n g m y p a r e n t s t o b u y
c o m i c b o o k s o n o u r w e e k l y t r i p s t o
t h e B a s e E x c h a n g e . T h a t w a s t h e
b e g i n n i n g , a n d I n e v e r s t o p p e d
r e a d i n g c o m i c s ; t h e y j u s t b e c a m e
p a r t o f t h e r e a d i n g m i x i n o u r h o u s e .
I r e a d j u s t a b o u t a n y t h i n g — p o e t r y ,
p i c t u r e b o o k s , fiction, h i s t o r y
b o o k s , m y t h o l o g y , m a g a z i n e s ,
n e w s p a p e r s — i f it h a d t e x t o n i t , I
w o u l d r e a d i t . By f o u r t h g r a d e , I
w a s o n t h e h o n o r r o l l a t s c h o o l ; i n
h i g h s c h o o l I w a s t a k i n g A P c l a s s e s
( E n g l i s h , b i o l o g y , F r e n c h ) by m y
j u n i o r y e a r . I w a s o n e o f t h o s e
n e r d y t y p e s b e f o r e t h a t w o r d e v e r
c a m e i n t o u s e . I d i d v e r y w e l l o n
s t a n d a r d i z e d t e s t s , m o s t l y b e c a u s e
I r e a d so m u c h , a n d e v e n e a r n e d
a N a t i o n a l M e r i t S c h o l a r s h i p . I
r e a d l i t e r a r y c l a s s i c s , b u t I a l s o
r e a d T a r z a n , l o t s o f s c i e n c e
fiction, S h e r l o c k H o l m e s a n d o t h e r
m y s t e r i e s , a n d o f c o u r s e c o m i c s . I
w a s a D C C o m i c s f a n g i r l a n d l o v e d
G r e e n L a n t e r n , H a w k m a n , a n d
B a t g i r l ( B a r b a r a G o r d o n , w h o w a s
a l i b r a r i a n b a c k t h e n ) . T h e r e w e r e
s e v e r a l r e a s o n s I b e c a m e a l i b r a r i a n ,
a n d B a r b a r a G o r d o n ' s c i v i l i a n
p r o f e s s i o n w a s o n e o f t h e m . T h e n ,
as a l i b r a r i a n w o r k i n g w i t h c h i l d r e n
a n d t e e n s , I r e a l i z e d t h a t I c o u l d
u s e m y l o v e o f c o m i c s i n m y j o b .
A T a l e of Two K i d s
M y s o n s h a v e g r o w n u p w i t h c o m i c s
i n t h e h o u s e , a n d b o t h o f t h e m a r e
r e a d e r s o f c o m i c s . W h e n m y o l d e r
s o n w a s i n s e v e n t h g r a d e , h e r e a d
m y c o p y o f Ranma Vz, a m a n g a a c t i o n
c o m e d y a b o u t a b o y m a r t i a l a r t i s t
w h o , b e c a u s e o f a c u r s e , b e c o m e s a
g i r l w h e n s p l a s h e d w i t h c o l d w a t e r .
M y s o n l o v e d t h i s b o o k so m u c h t h a t
h e t o o k it t o s c h o o l w i t h h i m o n e
day . A p p a r e n t l y , h e s h o w e d it t o h i s
f r i e n d s i n c l a s s , a n d s o o n j u s t a b o u t
e v e r y o n e i n h i s c l a s s h a d r e a d i t .
M y c o p y c a m e b a c k t o m e i n p i e c e s
b e c a u s e it h a d b e e n r e a d so m u c h .
B e c a u s e so m a n y o f t h e k i d s l i k e d i t ,
t h e y w e n t o n t o r e a d m o r e v o l u m e s
o f t h e s e r i e s a n d t h e n b r a n c h e d o u t
t o r e a d o t h e r m a n g a . N o w , t h i s a l l
1 2 Knowledge Quest | Getting to Know Graphic Novels
F i g u r e I . A subset of the graphic novels and graphic nonfiction in the author's school library—mairy are checked out!
What kinds of kids read comics? ALL KINDS OF KIDS READ COMICS.
S t r u g g l i n g K i d s T h e n i e c e o f j a m e s , m y l o c a l c o m i c s -
s h o p o w n e r , is d e v e l o p m e n t a l l y
d i s a b l e d a n d h a s h a d t o a t t e n d
s p e c i a l e d u c a t i o n c l a s s e s ; s h e w a n t s
d e s p e r a t e l y t o j o i n h e r f r i e n d s i n
r e g u l a r " m i d d l e s c h o o l , b u t r e a d i n g
h a s b e e n a n o b s t a c l e . S h e h a d
s t r u g g l e d so m u c h w i t h r e a d i n g , s h e
h a d c o m e t o h a t e i t . T h e n j a m e s s a i d
h e g a v e h e r a c o m i c - b o o k a d a p t a t i o n
o f The Wizard of Oz, t h e o n e p u b l i s h e d
by M a r v e l C o m i c s , f o r a C h r i s t m a s
p r e s e n t i n 2 0 I I . A t first s h e
w o u l d n ' t o p e n it b e c a u s e it was a
b o o k , b u t , e v e n t u a l l y , s h e v e n t u r e d
a l o o k at i t a n d r e a l i z e d it w a s n ' t l i k e
t h e o t h e r b o o k s a t h o m e — i t w a s a
c o m i c b o o k ! S h e e n d e d u p finishing
t h e g r a p h i c n o v e l o v e r C h r i s t m a s
b r e a k , a n d t h e n a s k e d h e r u n c l e f o r
m o r e . E n c o u r a g e d by h e r s u c c e s s
at finishing t h e g r a p h i c n o v e l , s h e
d e c i d e d s h e w o u l d p r a c t i c e m o r e
r e a d i n g , a n d n o w is u p t o f o u r t h -
g r a d e l e v e l — a n d s h e a c c o m p l i s h e d
a l l t h i s i n s e v e n m o n t h s . H e t o l d m e
s h e is n o w r e a d i n g t h e D C S u p e r -
P e t s c h a p t e r b o o k s , a m o n g o t h e r s .
K i d s W h o D o n ' t L i k e B o o k s
My y o u n g e r s o n l i k e s t o r e a d , b u t
h e d o e s n ' t l i k e fiction. H e s t r u g g l e d
w i t h A R p r o g r a m s i n s c h o o l b e c a u s e
t h e y a l l f o c u s e d o n fiction, a l t h o u g h
h e l i k e d t o w r i t e h i s o w n s t o r i e s .
H o w e v e r , h e e n j o y e d r e a d i n g a l l
k i n d s o f n o n f i c t i o n b o o k s , a n d
h e h a s a lways l o v e d c o m i c s . A s I
d i d , h e s t a r t e d r e a d i n g c o m i c s i n
k i n d e r g a r t e n b e c a u s e o u r h o u s e
c o n t a i n e d so m a n y c o m i c s . H e
w o u l d d o t h e r e q u i r e d s u m m e r
r e a d i n g f o r s c h o o l , a n d t h e n h e ' d
p i c k u p s o m e c o m i c s f o r f u n . H e ' s
d o n e t h i s f o r y e a r s , a n d as a h i g h
s c h o o l s e n i o r ( 2 0 1 2 — 2 0 1 3 ) , h e
a p p e a r s r e a d y t o c o n t i n u e t h e
p r a c t i c e . S o m e t e a c h e r s h a v e
c o n s i d e r e d h i m t o b e a r e l u c t a n t
r e a d e r b e c a u s e h e d o e s n ' t c a r e f o r
p r o s e fiction, yet h e d o e s we l l i n
l a n g u a g e a r t s c l a s s e s . T h e s u m m e r
b e f o r e h i s f r e s h m a n y e a r o f h i g h
s c h o o l , I gave h i m t h e n e w g r a p h i c -
n o v e l a d a p t a t i o n o f R a y B r a d b u r y ' s
Fahrenheit 451 ( f r o m H i l l a n d W a n g ,
a n a u t h o r i z e d a d a p t a t i o n ) . H e r e a d
i t , a n d h e c a m e i n t o t h e k i t c h e n
t h a t e v e n i n g , a s k i n g m e t h e k i n d s
o f q u e s t i o n s a n y E n g l i s h t e a c h e r
w o u l d w a n t s t u d e n t s t o a s k . H e
c o n n e c t e d t o t h e s t o r y i n a l l t h e
r i g h t ways , b u t h e d i d so w i t h t h e
g r a p h i c - n o v e l v e r s i o n . I n h i s j u n i o r
y e a r h e r e a d t h e o r i g i n a l n o v e l f o r
h i s l a n g u a g e a r t s c l a s s , a n d h e s a i d
it was e a s i e r t h a n u s u a l t o r e a d it
a f t e r h a v i n g r e a d t h e g r a p h i c n o v e l .
E v e r s i n c e k i n d e r g a r t e n , I h a v e
a s k e d h i m t o r e a d f o r a n h o u r a
day ; d u r i n g t h e s u m m e r , h e r e a d s
a n h o u r o f r e q u i r e d r e a d i n g , t h e n
r e a d s at l ea s t a n o t h e r h o u r f o r
f u n . T h i s is a r e l u c t a n t r e a d e r ?
A l l K i n d s of K i d s R e a d C o m i c s
I ve b e e n t h e l i b r a r i a n a t S t . J o h n
C a t h o l i c S c h o o l f o r t h e p a s t five
y e a r s , a n d f o r t h r e e y e a r s I 've r u n
L u n c h T i m e B o o k C l u b f o r g r a d e s 3
t o 5 a n d f o r m i d d l e s c h o o l . W e m e e t
t w i c e a m o n t h d u r i n g l u n c h t i m e .
I t ' s v e r y i n f o r m a l ; t h e s t u d e n t s a r e n ' t
r e q u i r e d t o r e a d p a r t i c u l a r b o o k s . I
s h a r e n e w b o o k s I 've r e c e i v e d f r o m
p u b l i s h e r s b e c a u s e o f m y m a i n
j o b w i t h B r o d a r t B o o k s & L i b r a r y
S e r v i c e s ; I r e c e i v e a d v a n c e - r e a d i n g
c o p i e s a n d r e v i e w c o p i e s o f fiction,
n o n f i c t i o n , a n d l o t s o f g r a p h i c
n o v e l s . U n t i l t h e y s t a r t e d c o m i n g t o
L u n c h T i m e B o o k C l u b , m o s t o f t h e
s t u d e n t s i n t h e g r o u p h a d n o t r e a d
c o m i c s , o t h e r t h a n t h e n e w s p a p e r
c o m i c s t r i p s a n d v a r i o u s c o m i c -
s t r i p c o l l e c t i o n s i n t h e l i b r a r y .
T h e s t u d e n t s , b o t h b o y s a n d g i r l s , w h o c o m e t o b o o k c l u b r a n g e f r o m s t r u g g l i n g r e a d e r s t o e a g e r , g i f t e d r e a d e r s , a n d t h e y a l l g r a b t h e c o m i c s b e f o r e a n y t h i n g e l s e . T h e y r e s p o n d t o g r e a t s t o r i e s ; t h e y l o v e t h e a r t , a n d s o m e o f t h e m e v e n t r y t h e i r o w n h a n d at d r a w i n g t h e i r f a v o r i t e
1 2 Knowledge Quest | Getting to Know Graphic Novels
c h a r a c t e r s f r o m t h e b o o k s w h e n
t h e y w r i t e l e t t e r s t o t h e c r e a t o r s .
( T h e y w r i t e t h e l e t t e r s f o r f u n , n o t
f o r g r a d e s . ) T h e y ' r e r e a d i n g s u c h
b o o k s as a d a p t a t i o n s o f R u d y a r d
K i p l i n g ' s Just-So Stories, Super Dinosaur
b y R o b e r t K i r k m a n , Resistance a n d
i t s s e q u e l s b y C a r l a J a b l o n s k i , t h e
J i n x s e r i e s f r o m A r c h i e C o m i c s , t h e
D a n c e C l a s s s e r i e s f r o m P a p e r c u t z ,
Mai and Chad b y S t e p h e n M c C r a n i e ,
Smile b y R a i n a T e l g e m e i e r ( t h i s w a s a
H U G E h i t a n d w e n t " v i r a l " t h r o u g h
t h e s c h o o l i n 20IC>), Meanwhile b y
J a s o n S h i g a ( a n o t h e r h u g e h i t — I
h a d t o b u y t w o c o p i e s ) , t h e n e w
M a m e s h i b a s e r i e s f r o m V i z M e d i a ,
a n d m a n y m o r e ( s ee F i g u r e i ) .
I n t h e s p r i n g o f 2 0 1 2 t h e n e w
s e c o n d - g r a d e t e a c h e r a t S t . J o h n
d i s c o v e r e d t h e s m a l l c o l l e c t i o n o f
g r a p h i c n o v e l s f o r p r i m a r y g r a d e s ;
t h e y a r e i n t e r s h e l v e d w i t h t h e easy
n o n f i c t i o n . S h e p u l l e d o u t a c o u p l e
o f t h e b o o k s a n d t h e n d e c i d e d t h e
l i b r a r y s h o u l d d i s p l a y t h e m ; s h e
p u l l e d a l l t h e b o o k s o f f t h e s h e l f
a n d s h o w e d t h e m f a c e - o u t o n
t o p o f t h e s h e l v e s ( s ee F i g u r e 2 ) .
W h e n s h e d i d so , t h e s e c o n d - g r a d e
s t u d e n t s s t a r t e d b o r r o w i n g t h e m ,
a n d t h e b o o k s w e n t o u t o n c o n s t a n t
r o t a t i o n f o r t h e r e s t o f t h e s c h o o l
y e a r . I p l a n t o e x p a n d t h e "easy
g r a p h i c n o v e l s " c o l l e c t i o n o v e r t h e
n e x t s c h o o l y e a r ( a n d w i l l c o n t i n u e
t o d i s p l a y s o m e o n t o p o f t h e s h e l f ) .
C o n c l u s i o n W h a t k i n d s o f k i d s r e a d c o m i c s ?
A l l k i n d s o f k i d s r e a d c o m i c s . T h e
f o r m a t w o n ' t a p p e a l t o e v e r y o n e ,
b u t so m a n y d i f f e r e n t g e n r e s o f
c o m i c s a r e a v a i l a b l e t h a t s c h o o l
l i b r a r i a n s s h o u l d b e a b l e t o f i n d
s o m e t h i n g t o a p p e a l t o a l m o s t
a n y o n e . J u s t r e m e m b e r t o l o o k
b e y o n d s u p e r h e r o e s a n d f i n d t h e
w o n d e r f u l b o o k s b e i n g p u b l i s h e d
by i n d e p e n d e n t p u b l i s h e r s , t r a d e
p u b l i s h e r s , a n d e v e n e d u c a t i o n a l
p u b l i s h e r s . W h e t h e r k i d s a r e
a t t r a c t e d by t h e c o l o r f u l a r t , t h e
n o n t h r e a t e n i n g l o o k o f f e w e r
w o r d s o n t h e p a g e , o r g r e a t
s t o r i e s , c o m i c s p r e s e n t a n o t h e r
f o r m a t t h a t w i l l p r o m o t e r e a d i n g —
e s p e c i a l l y r e a d i n g f o r f u n .
K a t K a n started
reading comics when
she wasfivejears old
and never stopped.
She earned her MLS
in ig8lfrom the (then) School of Library
and Information Studies at the University of
Hawaii-Manoa. She worked in the Hawaii
State Public Library Sjstemfrom 1383
as a children's andyoung adult librarian,
and she managed the Young Adult Section
for the Hawaii State Library until leaving
in she worked in the Young Adults'
Services Department at the Allen County
Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana,
from 1997 through 2002. She has worked
in the Collection Development Department
for Brodart Books & Library Services as the
collection development librarian/graphic
novel specialist since 2 0 0 3 , and has worked
for St. John Catholic School in Panama City,
Florida, since 2OOJ. Kat has written the
"Graphically Speaking"graphic novel column
for Voice of Youth Advocates since 1994' ar,d
she also reviews graphic novels for Booklist.
F i g u r e 2 . Graphic
novels for primary
grades are popular, too.
J L . 1 i l ,
Whether kids ore attracted by the colorful art, the nonthreatening look of fewer words on the page, or great stories,
COMICS PRESENT ANOTHER FORMAT THAT W I L L PROMOTE R E A D I N G — E S P E C I A L L Y R E A D I N G FOR FUN.
Volume 41, No. 3 | January/February 201 3 33
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