Our monthly column Using Graphic Novels in Education provides some great tips for using graphic novels in the classroom, but how can you use comics to get your kids reading from a young age? CBLDF’s publication for parents and teachers — Raising a Reader! How Comics & Graphic Novels Can Help Your Kids Love To Read! — offers tips on how comics can foster a love for reading!
Written by Dr. Meryl Jaffe with an introduction by multiple Newbery Medal honoree Jennifer L. Holm (Babymouse, Squish), this resource includes illustrations by Eisner Award winner Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama) and Eisner Award nominee Matthew Holm (Babymouse, Squish). Graphic design was handled by Brooklyn-based designer David Herman.
“Comics are an incredible tool for helping create a genuine love of reading,” said Jennifer L. Holm, who also serves on the CBLDF Board of Directors. “With Raising A Reader!, we set out to create a resource all about what graphic novels offer kids that includes vital information about how to read comics, how to create reading dialogues with them, and how comics are important tools for 21st century learners. We’re very proud of the work Dr. Jaffe has done to make Raising A Reader! an accessible yet information-filled resource for parents and educators.”
Raising A Reader! answers the questions parents and educators bring to using comics: What skills do graphic novels offer kids? What resources are available for using graphic novels in education? How do you teach reading with a comics page? How can graphic novels create reading dialogues? And much more!
In a recent interview, Jaffe spoke about how graphic novels level the playing field for even the most reluctant readers and provide a less intimidating introduction to reading:
It can help kids with language issues because there is now a visual component to the storytelling,” Meryl told me. “Graphic novels can empower these weaker students to have a voice in the classroom because they read a graphic novel that covers the same topic. They don’t feel incompetent.”
Raising a Reader! was made possible by a grant from the Gaiman Foundation and is available on the CBLDF website and also from comiXology.
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