1. Made possible in part by a family literacy grant from the New York State Library, New York State Education Department

2. What?
Why?
How?

3. Same format as comic books
Text & illustrations present information
Book-length, usually contain one story
Medium, not genre

4. Caption
Panel
Gutter
Thought Balloon
Sound Effect
Dialog Balloon

5. Major Types
Superhero

7. Humor

8. Non-Fiction

10. Fantasies

11. Adaptations or
Spin-offs

15. Realistic Fiction

16. Personal
Stories

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

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

21. First comic strip Appeared in New York World: 1895 R. F. Outcault
Increased sales
Eventually endorsed soap-whiskey

22. Katzenjammer Kids 1897 Used word balloons
Used multiple panels to tell story

24. The Comic Book 1933-reprints Initially free
1935-new comics & original characters
10 cents each

25. Popular comics Superman First superhero On newsstands: 1938
Superheroes big during World War II
After WWII: crime, science fiction and horror comics

26. 1950’s: comics in crisis! Frederic Wertham
Comics examined by US Senate
Comics banned and burned

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

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

29. 1992- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale wins Pulitzer
2005-”Graphix” imprint launched
2006- American Born Chinese named NBA finalist for Young People’s Literature
2007- American Born Chinese wins Printz Award for excellence in YA literature

30. 2007 The Invention of Hugo Cabret finalist for NBA
2008 Invention wins Caldecott

31. 2007-YALSA creates new annual booklist: “Great Graphic Novels for Teens”
2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List

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

33. Manga

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

35. “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka
Hayayo Miyazaki: anime & manga
Manga read by ALL

36. MANGA

37. How to read a Manga Page
Unlike traditional books, Manga is read “backwards” from back-to-front
Often, if you start at what looks like the front of the Manga, you will see a message like this

38. Panel Order & Dialog Balloons2 3 1 4
Panel Order & Dialog Balloons 6 5 7
Panels and dialog balloons are read “reversed” 10 11 8 9

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

40. perceived as subversive=attractive!
Ratings
Read by?
2/3 of GN market=manga
75%=13-17 y/o girls

41. New Formats

42. Why Graphic Novels & Manga?
6.3 million secondary school students are reading below grade level.
Average American age spends only 7 minutes of daily leisure time reading.
Students with access to a variety of reading materials have higher average reading scores.

43. 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 NCTE’s “21st Century literacies” (multiple streams, simultaneous information)

44. Learning more about Graphic Novels!
Reviews & More
School Library Journal
Library Journal
Diamond Comics Bookshelf
Cooperative Children’s Book Center

45. Get Graphic!
First Second Books
Public Square Books

46. Creating Comics on the Web
read*write*think comic creator
MakeBeliefs Comix
Stripcreator