Mary G Johnson's List: Graphic Novels

In 2011, the Quicklists Consulting Committee created a list of core titles than can be used when starting or maintaining a children’s graphic novel collection. The intended audience is librarians selecting books for inclusion in public libraries serving elementary school-age children. Graphic novel here is defined as a full-length story told in paneled, sequential, graphic format. The list does not include book-length collections of comic strips, wordless picture books, or hybrid books that are a mixture of traditional text and comics/graphics. The list includes classics as well as new titles that have been widely recommended and well-reviewed, and books that have popular appeal as well as critical acclaim. The Quicklists Consulting Committee identified the best books currently available, and updates the list at least annually to add great new releases and remove titles that have gone out of print.

Some of my reluctant readers are more likely to read when handed a graphic novel. Some of my struggling readers show better comprehension when they read one. The pictures help students who have trouble visualizing a story. When students have a hard time grasping the concept of inferring, I use graphic novels. As I learned in Terry Thompson's book, Adventures in Graphica, graphic novels lend themselves to teaching comprehension strategies.

What is it about graphic novels that is so attractive to kids? It's because of the pictures, but it's bigger than that. Marc Prensky in a research summary defines the current generation of children as Digital Natives. They have never lived in a world that didn't have the Internet, cell phones, video games, iPods, and all the other digital media that exist now. He believes that these children's brains are wired differently because of this upbringing.