Tea, Tales, and Tomes
At Tea, Tales, and Tomes we are living our favourite lives talking books and drinking hot beverages. So grab your cuppa and join us in this gentle corner of the audio world - a community of readers, raising readers.
Tea, Tales, and Tomes
Your Kid's Comic Book Obsession Is Their Literary Superpower
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Ever found yourself wondering if your child's comic book obsession actually "counts" as reading? You're not alone. Parents everywhere are questioning whether Dog Man and Captain Underpants are legitimate literature or just a phase to endure.
Comics and graphic novels deserve recognition as legitimate reading material that offers unique cognitive benefits through multimodal storytelling, serving as perfect gateway books for reluctant and proficient readers.
In today's episode, we are delving into the science of reading graphic novels and looking at why comic books and graphic novels have been termed "story-teller quicksand."
What gateway books sparked your love of reading? Share your story and join our passionate community of readers raising the next generation of book lovers.
Find us on Instagram @teatalesandtomes and don't forget to join us next time for more bookish wonder.
Podcast music by Lundstroem (Episode 1 onwards) and Audionautix (TTAT Trailer). Podcast edited by Timothy Wiggill.
help. My child loves comics. Hello, bookish fans. This is natasha and you're listening to the Tea Tales and Tomes podcast, where we are living our favorite lives talking books and drinking hot beverages. So grab your cuppa and let's talk books.
Speaker 1:Today's episode, like every episode, is brought to you by overwhelmed adults the world over who have no time for judgment but could do with some help in choosing books for the kids in their lives. So, bookish friends, have you ever felt like the universe is dropping hints at you, specifically bookish hints? Suddenly, you keep seeing a particular book everywhere, or everyone seems to be reading or talking about reading the same thing. So I've been finding myself having almost the exact same conversation with mums and dads outside school or over coffee or during dinner, and it's all about comics and graphic novels. These conversations have largely stemmed from the fact, I think, that many of our children are currently entertaining a mild obsession with everything. Dave Pilkey or Jamie Smart, in case you don't know, these are authors of some super funny comic books that seem to really appeal to that 7 and up age group. Me smart, in case you don't know, these are authors of some super funny comic books that seem to really appeal to that 7 and up age group. Mostly, the sentiment of the parents I've chatted with is along the lines of I can't wait for my child to get over this phase or well, I'm happy that my child is reading. I kinda wish that they would read quote-unquote better books. I think if we scratched a little deeper, I guess what we are all actually wondering is is this really reading? Do comic books and graphic novels count? Do you have your tea or coffee in hand? Because this is the question we're going to be tackling today. Now, you know that here at Tea Tales and Tomes, I've got your back with all the science, all the book recommendations and none of the judgments. The one thing I do want to preface this chat with is that, at the end of the day, you are the parent or primary caregiver or supplier of the books, and I am just here to provide you with the information you need to make bookish decisions for those really important little people that you love. At the end of the day, your reading life and that of your kid is something that you will cultivate, and while I love a good book chat or even a good book debate, the decision is ultimately your own. The decision is ultimately your own. Having said all of that confession time, I am the biggest proponent of comic books and graphic novels on planet Earth.
Speaker 1:If you listened to me on Anne Bogle's podcast what Should I Read Next, you would have heard me speak about my own reading journey as a kid and how I became a reader. Central to that journey was comic books, because this was all that I had access to. We were a low-income household, no home library, no access to public libraries in my early years, but my dad did work in a printing press and one of the things they printed was comic books things like Casper the Friendly Ghost, richie Rich and Archie and Friends. So he would bring these home sometimes, and this is how my reading journey started Simply poring over the pictures and words in these comics until I wore the pages away and my mom, in her typical non-sentimental way, chucked them in the rubbish bin. Not better holding any bad feelings about this or anything. So, in a way, reading comics was my gateway to books, and while I still do read a lot of comic books and graphic novels, my reading life is actually wonderfully diverse these days. But less about me. And back to the question at hand Does reading comic books and graphic novels count? The simple answer is a resounding yes, but if you need a little more convincing, stick around.
Speaker 1:Firstly, let's talk about the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. During this episode, I'm very likely going to use these terms interchangeably, so if you are pedantic in that way, please do forgive me. On the face of it, you see, there aren't enormous differences between the two. Both contain illustrations that depict setting, characters and other key story elements. Both make use of panels, which dictates the story flow and rhythm of the narrative. Both have dialogue, which is typically in your speech balloon format, and both will often make use of sound effects, and here I'm referring to that visual representation of words like wham, bang, crash. Now, the main difference between comic books and graphic novels is that comics are typically serialized stories that can continue for months and even years, whereas graphic novels are longer in length and are usually wrapped up in a few books if it's a series. So comic books often will keep introducing new characters, new story arcs, so like if you think about Marvel's X-Men, for example whereas a graphic novel will have one main story with a distinct introduction, a middle and a conclusion, for example, al Defo by CC Bell, or the graphic novels of classic tales like Frankenstein or Anne of Green Gables, which, yes, are actually available in graphic novel format these days.
Speaker 1:Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the meat of the discussion. Why should we encourage our kids instead of deter them when they choose books in these panelized formats? We're going to dig deep. We're going to get into the science, the psychology, all the good stuff. Did you know that we imbibe stories and can communicate in five main modes? Now, these are visual, that's through pictures, illustrations, paintings, etc. The linguistic, that's the use of text and words, which are typical of books. The spatial, which is the physical layout of something Oral, that's what we hear through our ears, and gestural sign language and body movement, for example. So that's what we hear through our ears and gestural sign language and body movement, for example. So that's five.
Speaker 1:Now here's the magic about graphic novels and comics. They are probably the most multi-modal form of reading you can get. This means that with graphic novels and comic books, there's a unique combination of modes that allows for and requires some serious higher order thinking skills. So maybe we should actually be really grateful that our kids are engaging with these formats. Let's break this down a bit more Now keep in the back of your mind those five main communication modes that I spoke about.
Speaker 1:So number one graphic novels make use of the linguistic mode, that's, the use of text or words on paper In a chapter book. This is typically the only mode of communication. Number two graphic novels and comic books will contain the visual mode through the use of illustrations. Now, illustrations and pictures are fundamental to comics, and with this, not only is the brain deciphering scenes that are depicted, they're also deciphering minute facial expressions of the characters that are drawn in. There's also the use of foreground and background to convey huge meaning. There's so much of amazing visual information being interpreted when comics are being read.
Speaker 1:Number three graphic novels also make use of the spatial mode of communication, and by this I am, of course, referring to the use of panels, which is one of the main tools that writers of this medium use to communicate. In comics, the placement of panels actually creates story flow, and decoding and deciphering. This is all happening when our kids are reading these stories, for some reason. My experience has shown is that kids are actually able to do this deciphering of the panels and the story flow way more effortlessly than I can, so way more effortlessly than us adults. Lastly, so, number four, this is something that I'm kind of hypothesizing and maybe it's a bit of a stretch, but that's okay.
Speaker 1:I'd like to say that comic book authors and illustrators use oral storytelling through the written word, and I think that they do this through the use of those animatopoeic words, that's, the words that sound like the thing that they're describing, like meow, hiss, bang, crash. Now, if you have these words in a normal book, not a graphic novel, not a comic book, and they're typed in the same font, sure they have impact. But when a graphic novelist depict this, they make these words even more tangible and real, like you can actually hear them. So big impact. Words like bam, crash, zoom, are typically in a different font, different color, and they most often will have additional illustrative lines or something that adds to the effect, and when you read them you're inevitably hearing the sounds in your mind. So, by my count, that's four out of the five modes of communication. And no other form of reading affords this, as far as I am aware, unless, of course, one is reading subtitles while watching a movie or a TV show. Now, the importance of subtitles is a whole other episode. So I'm not going to digress, I'm going to say it again Graphic novels are a wonderfully multimodal form of literature and should be encouraged and not dismissed.
Speaker 1:So we have to ask ourselves why wouldn't we want our kids to immerse themselves in this multimodal form of literary magic, especially if it appeals to them? Now, as kids progress through school, they will inevitably be asked to break down big concepts into charts, presentations, storyboards, maybe even memes. We often have to do this as adults, and it starts right here. It starts with wonderful books that show us how stories are, more than words creeping along from one side of the page to another, from one side of the page to another. So now that we are comfortable that this does count we are, I hope, nudge, nudge, wink, wink we might ask ourselves. But what happens if our kids never read any other type of book? What if reading books with speech balloons and panels and illustrations makes it difficult for them to engage with more classical forms of literature, especially in terms of their academic requirements? It's a very valid question. Remember I said that graphic novels were sort of my gateway into the wonderful world of reading. So let's play a little imagination game here, if you will allow me.
Speaker 1:So close your eyes and let's imagine you have a child between, say, 6 and 12 years old. You've got this child that's a reluctant reader, doesn't even consider themselves a reader because maybe reading seems daunting or books are just too long. They have difficulty with getting through books at their reading level, for whatever reason. Maybe they just don't enjoy it, maybe they have trouble concentrating for long periods, maybe they have dyslexia or are neurodivergent or all of the above. Now we as parents want this little 6 to 12-year-old child to read, for all of the benefits that can be derived from reading. But the usual books for this age group are just too intense, too daunting, too many pages, too many words. But then you've got picture books at this age group are just too intense, too daunting, too many pages, too many words. But then you've got picture books at this age which are seen to be for babies and little children. So this six to 12 year old child does not want to be associated with those books that are for babies and toddlers.
Speaker 1:So one day this child comes across Elephant and Piggy by Mo Willems or Bunny vs Monkey by Jamie Smart or Jake the Fake by Craig Robinson. Insert any other really great comic book. These are all comics that are hugely funny, have pictures and rich but minimal text, and these are instantly appealing because they are accessible. So this child picks up this book. The content is age appropriate, it is uproariously funny and before you know it this child has finished a tome of a book. Then they find out that these books are actually part of a much bigger series and there are tons more books. And suddenly you have a child that wants to devour book after book after book, often rereading. Would you consider this, not reading? Would we take this experience away from this child?
Speaker 1:I once heard an author refer to comic books and graphic novels as storyteller quicksand, because once you're in, you are in deep, there's no getting you out. And isn't this the best way to raise a reader? Bookish friends, what these books do, especially for reluctant readers or children that may be a little stuck in their reading lives, is show them the joy of stories and, most importantly, allows them to take on the identity of a reader. It builds their confidence so that when they do find a chapter book that might be interesting, they're not going to feel overwhelmed. They already see themselves as epic readers having read all of these tomes, and this is a huge stepping stone to building their confidence with all sorts of books. I'm going to say it again Graphic novels and comic books are the gateway to books and reading that I was talking about.
Speaker 1:So these books do another spectacular thing they allow readers to engage with hard reads like Shakespeare or the Count of Monte Cristo, which these days are wonderfully available in graphic novel format. So when these classics are read in panelized formats in the form of a graphic novel, at the first go they are way more relatable, and when the play or the full story in all its wonderful splendor is placed before your child, it will feel like an old friend waiting to be embraced rather than an enemy to be conquered. So this also means that you can introduce your children to these classic authors at a much younger age and have them engage with these amazing works when their brains are sponges sucking in all the information that the world has to offer. Imagine having a six-year-old who knows Shakespeare, and all because they read it in a graphic novel format. I think that's pretty wonderful.
Speaker 1:My last comment on this, I promise, is that if a child is reading, it is good. There will always be books that our children choose that to us are questionable. I experience this on a daily basis. But if the book and the content is suitable for their age and emotional reading level and if we want children to see reading as something that enriches their lives beyond just school, we have to allow them to take ownership of their own reading lives. They're on their own reading journey and we have to help them to nurture their own reader identities. We have to help them to nurture their own reader identities.
Speaker 1:These choices are, after all, an extension of who they are, and us trivializing or mocking or not being willing to understand the choices, I think, means that we're not fully honoring our little people. I hope that with this episode, I provided you with the right type of information for you to make up your own mind about the benefits of graphic novels and comic books. I know that it's a lot to take in and I know that I haven't made a lot of recommendations in this episode, so please go check out episode three, which is the next one, which I'll help you choose the right type of comic book and graphic novel for your young reader. Thank you for listening. Bookish friends, I hope to catch you again for more bookish wonder.