Jessica Lee, Teacher Librarian at Willard Middle School highly recommends this program for all parents:
Reading with Pictures: Comics and Literacy
Tuesday June 4th, 6:00pm to 7:30pm at the Berkeley Public Library, Central Library
What happens in a child’s mind when they read a comic? Does reading comics prepare children for other forms of literacy? How is the comics medium similar to the increasingly visual information landscape of the Internet? Josh Elder, Executive Director of the education nonprofit Reading With Pictures, offers parents insight into how comics can make their kids better readers and how to make comics a part of a healthy reading diet!
My children love comic books, graphic novels, you name it (and so does their dad). As a child, I loved my Archie comics, but as an adult I cannot force myself to care about BLAMMO and little thought bubbles. KAPOW!! Since I am interested in boosting literacy, I thought this event sounded worth sharing. ZOWIE!
BONE, My kids current fave, what IS this?
Archie comics, where my $.50 weekly allowance used to go
3 thoughts on “Comics and literacy, discover the connection”
I’m glad you asked about Bone! Bone is an epic fantasy series starring a group of cousins (the titular Bones) who get run out of their home in Boneville for one of the cousin’s greedy, crooked ways. They end up in a valley inhabited by humans, dragons, rat creatures, and an ancient evil and become embroiled in an epic struggle. The Bone characters are cute, funny, and likable, and helps young readers ease in to a surprisingly complex story which is on par with The Lord of the Rings in terms of the high adventure it delivers. The creator, Jeff Smith, self-published the book in comic form over the course of 13 years before it was picked up by Scholastic Books and re-published in the color graphic novels your kids are probably reading. Smith is an incredible artist, balancing detailed environments and expressive, lovable characters. Bone is a great comic that I would probably start offering to kids around 3rd or 4th grade — and it’s an excellent read for adults as well!
PS – I am the librarian at BPL who organized this event. Thank you for promoting it through your site! Any questions can be directed to me at [email protected].
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