THE BIG PICTURE
Don’t be afraid to let children read graphic novels. They’re real books, too.
“Remember: Pick a real book! No comics!”
The parent’s voice cut through the children’s room at the library where I work, and I watched as a young reader’s eagerness to choose new library books turned to sullen acknowledgment.
Adult resistance to comics isn’t unusual, despite their growing popularity among young readers. In fact, dealing with parents and teachers who see comics (also commonly called graphic novels) as a low form of entertainment is a key topic of discussion among many children’s librarians.
Here’s another question at the heart of the matter: Should we call these books “comics” or “graphic novels”? Over the years, “comics” has become something of a pejorative, meaning a less-than-literary book played for laughs. “Graphic novel” sounds more highbrow, but it’s not always correct, given that many of these books now are memoirs and other kinds of non-fiction. Françoise Mouly, the publisher of TOON Books, suggests using the word “comics” to describe books with sequential art and words.
So, comics it is.
As librarians, we see how so many kids readily connect to comics and how they help create lifelong readers. Dave Burbank, my library’s comics expert, likes to reassure parents that many young readers are drawn to the genre because comics bear a resemblance to the screens so ubiquitous in our kids’ lives, yet they are reading a book.
We know that comics are especially beneficial to struggling or reluctant readers, as well as English-language learners. These books also offer all readers a way to practice important reading skills such as building vocabulary, understanding a sequence of events, discerning the plot of a story and making inferences.
So why do some parents and teachers continue to regard comics in such a negative light? Part of it may have to do with the history of comics in the United States, Mouly said. In the 1950s, Mouly notes, congressional hearings were held on what lawmakers saw as a possible connection between juvenile delinquency and comics. Worried that the federal government would try to regulate their industry, comics publishers established the Comics Code Authority. The code required that comic books show respect for established authority, and banned nudity and explicit violence. While voluntary, the code was followed by many publishers, resulting in an industry focused largely on producing simple, laugh-inducing kids’ comics like Archie.
In the 1980s, there was a backlash as more publishers decided to create comics for adults, such as the classic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, published in 1986. The market became dominated by glossy, expensive superhero comics mostly aimed at an adult male audience.
Then, in 1992, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, a graphic novel by author-artist Art Spiegelman (Mouly’s husband), became the first comic to win a Pulitzer Prize.
From there, comics have been on a slow, but mostly steady, march to acceptance as more literary graphic novels and comics were published, first for adults and now for children and teens. In the past decade, the increase in female comics creators, such as Raina Telgemeier, has expanded the range of books published for both adults and kids.
Mouly credits librarians with helping to shift the public’s thinking about comics, as libraries, rather than comic book shops, have become the go-to place to find the genre.
Yet, an implicit bias remains in U.S. education against books with pictures. While picture books are seen as important for young pre-readers, once kids learn to read, the prevailing wisdom is that it’s time to take away the pictures.
Kids have fought back. Over a decade and a half, they have embraced comics and highly illustrated “hybrid” series such as Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries. At the same time, comics for kids have begun winning literary awards. In 2007, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang became the first graphic novel to win the Michael L. Printz Award. It was also a National Book Award finalist. In 2015, El Deafo by Cece Bell was the first comic to win a Newbery Honor, an award for text, not pictures.
This year, the literary community went a step further, awarding New Kid, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Jerry Craft, the 2020 Newbery Medal. This was the first time that a comic captured the top award.
Publishers have rushed to establish new imprints to fill the demand.
Among the new imprints are Random House Graphics; among its first books, to be published this spring, is Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley. And Houghton Mifflin Harcourt recently announced its new imprint,
Etch, which this fall will publish its first books, including Oh My Gods! by Stephanie Cooke and Insha Fitzpatrick, and Dinomighty! by Greg Trine.
The kids are on board with comics, and so are many publishers, librarians, teachers and literary award givers. I’m hopeful that still-reluctant parents and educators are coming around.