Have you heard of Graphic Novels?

Have you heard of graphic novels? I will be honest and admit that I do not know very much about them.

Here is what I have found:

Graphic novels are expressed through many frames of pictures and words. They are similar to comic books in appearance but have the depth of novels. Graphic novels are important to introduce students to for many reasons.  Students are given opportunities to analyze many forms of literature.  Some of these are poetry, fiction, and non fiction.  Graphic novels are often not taught at all by teachers.  They can be an excellent resource though.  Students who may not respond well to some literature might love graphic novels.

I recently found a LiveBinder (online 3 ring binder) dealing with Graphic Novels which helped me understand and appreciate this type of story a bit more: Graphic Novel Webliography.

Here are a few things I learned from the Graphic Novel Webliography:

• Graphic novels appeal to both experienced readers and reluctant readers
• Graphic novels can be used with students of all ages (elementary through adult)
• Graphic novels can be used to build vocabulary

The webliography also provides links for parents and educators to learn more about Graphic Novels in general and recommends   specific ones.  I really like the “No Flying, No Tights: Super Hero Soup” tab. I know my classroom library tended to have more options for the girls to choose (I did not plan it that way … it just happened). I can see Graphic Novels appealing to both girls and boys.

I was also pleased to find that when you do an Advanced Search in Big Universe, one of the categories is Graphic Novels. When you do a search for Graphic Novels on Big Universe, you can find illustrated classics, biographies, history, nonfiction, and just really good stories!

image from Franklin Park Library and found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/88488351@N00/2624664037/

4 Comments

• Gavin Bollard says:

  May 3, 2011 at 9:10 pm

  Graphic Novels are awesome and you can get many of them for free on the web (see: http://www.dailybits.com/17-sensational-free-and-downloadable-graphic-novels/).

  You can read them on your computer in PDF Format or CBR/CBZ format. The CBR/CBZ format is simply a bunch of pictures (Usually JPEG) compressed to either RAR or ZIP Archive. You can read them with a free comic book reader such as Comical (SEE: http://comical.sourceforge.net/).

  This is particularly cool because it means that you can convert any photos from digital cameras to make your own graphic novel. It’s a great project for kids.

  Finally, don’t forget that while most ebook readers don’t support CBR/CBZ formats, they can easily be converted to PDF. I’ve got a cheapie Mi-Gear reader and they’re awesome on it. In fact, so awesome that both my kids now have a reader too (and all three together were still less than the cost of a single Kindle device).

  Now my kids (reluctant readers and on the autism spectrum) are reading themselves to sleep every night. I never thought I’d see the day.
• Melissa Edwards says:

  May 4, 2011 at 3:20 am

  Your last two sentences made me smile! You never know what will encourage and engage children in reading. Thanks for the comment!
• Sean O'Neill says:

  May 10, 2011 at 8:42 am

  Hi,

  I am a creator of an online webcomic/graphic novel that is published on the web and available to read for free. It is an adventure story about ancient Egypt, and is appropriate for readers of all ages, but is probably best for middle-grade readers. I want to encourage all teachers and librarians to check it out! It’s an ongoing story, and is updated once a week.

  Please visit http://www.rocketrobinson.com and check it out!

  Thanks,

  Sean O’Neill
• Same But Different … | Big Universe Learning - Blog says:

  January 9, 2012 at 6:25 pm

  [...] King, Jr. Graphic Biography. I had not encountered that type of book before. I previously wrote a blog post describing some characteristics of graphic novel, so I was interested to read a graphic [...]