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 contains one story
Medium, not genre

4. Caption
Panel
Gutter
Thought Balloon
Sound Effect
Dialog Balloon

5. Major Types
Superhero

7. Humor

8. SCIENCE FICTION

9. Fantasy

10. Realistic Fiction

11. Adaptations or
Spin-offs

15. Non-Fiction

17. Memoirs &
Personal Stories

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

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

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

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

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

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

27. 1950’s: comics in crisis! Frederic Wertham
Comics examined by US Senate
Comics banned and burned

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

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

30. 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

31. 2007 The Invention of Hugo Cabret finalist for NBA
2007-YALSA creates new annual booklist: “Great Graphic Novels for Teens”
2008 Invention wins Caldecott

32. 2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List
2015- Nimona by Noelle Stephenson named NBA finalist for Young People’s Literature
2015- El Deafo by Cece Bell won a Newberry Honor
2016- Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson won a Newberry Honor
2016 to March, Volume 3 by John Robert Lewis won the NBA for Young People’s Literature, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, the YALSA Award of Excellence in Nonfiction, the Sibert Award, and the Walter Award

33. Manga

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

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

36. MANGA

37. How to read a Manga Page
Unlike most English-language books, Manga is read “backwards” from left-to-right
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 Demographics: Kodomo: “child” Shonen: “boy” Shojo: “girl”
Refers to the target audience of a manga series
Kodomo: “child”
roughly 8 and under
Shonen: “boy”
up to 17
Shojo: “girl”
Seinen: “youth” (young man)
18 to 30
Josei: “woman”

40. Manga Terms Honorifics: -san: polite, “Mr./Ms.”
Suffixes placed at the end of first or last names
-san: polite, “Mr./Ms.”
-chan: informal/cute, for girls, children, close friends
-kun: for young males or a younger person than the speaker
-sama: for nobility, highly admired people
-senpai/sempai: older student
-kohai: younger student
-sensei: “teacher”
-dono: “lord,” old-fashioned

41. Manga Terms Genres: Yonkoma/4-Koma/4-Cell= standard gag strip format
Mecha= stories that involve giant robots/battle suits
Harem= romantic comedy involving one protagonist and multiple love interests
Shonen-ai / Yaoi= female-targeted romance involving gay male characters
Shojo-ai / Yuri= lesbian romance

42. Manga Terms Additional Terms: Dojinshi= self-published comics
Gaiden= “spin-off,” describes anime or manga that is related to a series but not part of the main story
Kawaii= “lovable,” used to describe cute things and characters like Hello Kitty
Otaku= “geek,” used affectionately in the U.S. to describe manga/anime fans

43. Most focus on youth culture and coming-of-age
Ratings
Read by?
2/3 of GN market=manga
75%=13-17 y/o girls

44. NEW
F O R M A T S

45. Why Graphic Novels & Manga?
In 2015, 24% of Eighth Graders scored below the NAEP standard of basic reading proficiency.
Average American age spends only 9 minutes of daily leisure time reading.
Students with access to a variety of reading materials have higher average reading scores.

46. 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)

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

48. Get Graphic!
First Second Books
Scholastic Graphix
Scholastic Graphix Teacher Site
Top Shelf Productions

49. Creating Comics on the Web
Graphix Comic Builder
read*write*think comic creator
MakeBeliefs Comix
Stripcreator