Made possible in part

by a family literacy
grant from the New
York State Library,
New York State
Education Department

What?

Why?
How?

 Same format as comic books

Text & illustrations present information
Book-length, usually contain one story
Medium, not genre

Caption

Panel

Thought
Balloon

Sound Effect

Dialog Balloon

Gutter

Major Types

Humor

Non-Fiction

Fantasies

Adaptations
or

Spin-offs

Realistic Fiction

Personal
Stories

Toon Books
For emerging
readers age 4+
Can be read to or
by children
Vetted by
educators

A little history
Comic Strip=grandfather of Graphic
Novel
Around since end of 1800s
Originally used to draw people to
Sunday paper

First comic strip

Appeared in New
York World: 1895
R. F. Outcault
Increased sales
Eventually
endorsed soapwhiskey

Katzenjammer Kids
1897
Used word balloons

Used multiple panels to tell story

The Comic Book

1933-reprints
Initially free
1935-new comics
& original
characters
10 cents each

Popular comics
Superman
First superhero
On newsstands:
1938

Superheroes big
during World War II
After WWII: crime,
science fiction and
horror comics

1950s: comics in crisis!

Frederic Wertham
Comics examined by US Senate
Comics banned and burned

A New Beginning
Late 1950s: Justice League of America
born
1961: Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, &
Spiderman
1960s: Self-published underground
comics

Milestones in the
Graphic Novel World
1978-Will Eisner coins term
1986- Batman: the Dark Knight Returns
1987- The Watchmen

 1992- Maus: A Survivors Tale wins

Pulitzer
2005-Graphix imprint launched
2006- American Born Chinese named
NBA finalist for Young Peoples
Literature
2007- American Born Chinese wins
Printz Award for excellence in YA
literature

 2007 The Invention

of Hugo Cabret
finalist for NBA
2008 Invention
wins Caldecott

 2007-YALSA creates new annual

booklist: Great Graphic Novels for
Teens

2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List

President
Obama
collects both
Spider-Man
and
Conan the
Barbarian
comics

Manga

Manga history
Manga=comic
books
Period before
WWII=beginning of
modern manga
Mid 1990s=came
to US

 God of Manga
Osamu Tezuka
Hayayo Miyazaki:
anime & manga

Manga read by ALL

How to read a Manga Page

Unlike traditional books, Manga is
read backwards from back-tofront
Often, if you
start at what
looks like the
front of the
Manga, you will
see a message
like this

Panel Order
& Dialog
Balloons
5

Panels and dialog

balloons are read
reversed

10

11

Manga Terms
Shonen: teenage
boys
Shojo: teenage
girls
Shonen-ai /
Yaoi=boys love

 perceived as
subversive=attractive!

Ratings
Read by?
2/3 of GN
market=manga
75%=13-17 y/o
girls

Why Graphic Novels &

Manga?
6.3 million secondary school students are
reading below grade level.

Average American age 15-24 spends only

7 minutes of daily leisure time reading.
Students with access to a variety of
reading materials have higher average
reading scores.

Graphic Novels & Manga:

Present complex material in readable text
Serve as a bridge to more difficult reading
Challenge readers of more traditional literature

Embrace nature of multimedia world

Fulfill NCTEs 21st Century literacies
streams, simultaneous information)

(multiple

Learning more about Graphic

Novels!
Reviews & More
School Library Journal
Library Journal
Diamond Comics Bookshelf

Cooperative Childrens Book Center

 Get Graphic!

First Second Books

Public Square Books

Creating Comics on the Web

read*write*think comic creator
MakeBeliefs Comix
Stripcreator