Comic books have often been looked at as a second-rate form of literature. Educators and parents, alike, have long preferred books that were heavy on text and light on illustrations. However, a new generation of teachers are rediscovering the immense value of these texts.
While not all comic books are suited for children and teens, they are a powerful and useful genre for the development of a student's capacity to comprehend and analyze literature, while dramatically improving their proficiency in Language Arts. Here are a few reasons why children should read comic books.
1. Their lexicon of complex words is higher than most publications In a published study of over 1,000 comics and their inclusion of higher order words, most comic books and graphic novels featured an astonishing 36 -76 per cent of their text as representative of language found in senior secondary school and college/university placement tests. Most other periodicals and newspapers only garnered 14 per cent of these higher lexicon words.
2. Improvement of memory skills With the world becoming very media/visually literate, someone who is learning English or is a reluctant reader/writer could use the comic book as a means of engaging a sense of prediction and revision at the same time, by following sequential design, yet being able to visually flip back and restore the immediate visual hit again and again. This informed memory access (I.M.A.) and renewal is central to learning English.
3. Introduction to non-linear storytelling Many comic book writers tend to construct story arcs, over long periods of time. This affords the reader some time to contemplate the story. Even though the text might be presented in a chronological and sequential text-to-image presentation, the story arc can jump from past to present, and to future, all in the same narrative.
The most salient point regarding the genre is that students will self-select what they wish to read. The revival of comic books can be married to the inclusion of a variety of texts that go below and beyond a reader's current ability. Comic books and graphic novels are gateways to success in literacy, at any level of ability.
Article by Manfred J. von Vulte, educator and Canadian director of the Comic Book Project. For the full story see www.ourkids. net.
