Oh no my Bookman Icon is gone
Today I had a talk with the local Association of School Librarians, which was basically an hour long presentation on the history of Graphic Novels and why they're important for librarians to consider. I was a little nervous approaching this because I wasn't really sure how to go about doing it, but I just sort of started throwing together a rough history of the comic book in the United States (and also a shout-out to Tezuka, but I don't really claim to know much else about the history of comics anywhere else) and some books I thought would be good for younger readers.
I also found studies online (awesome to read, btw) for why comics helped reluctant readers and "visual learners" get into books because I thought I'd have some real convincing to do, but I ended up needing basically none of it because everybody at the meeting was so willing to explore comics for children. Several of them were already comics fans, and a lot of my recommendations were already used very successfully in their libraries, so I was really happy with that.
It was a small group, but we got a really great dialogue going, and even though I went in to tell them about comics I ended up learning a whole lot about what kids read, and what's appropriate for what age. I got kind of schooled on putting Bone as a young reader book, for example (for reference, they said no younger than 3rd grade, but 3rd/4th and up LOVES it)! They kept asking me what grade levels things were on and I did the best I could, but by the end I was just comparing books to other books and letting them infer from that.
All in all, it was a really great dialogue. We talked about categorizing comics (it really IS a shame that everything gets lumped together in the Graphic Novel section), how weak the binding is on perfect-bound comics, and age-appropriate material. It was really informative, and now I'm really interested to learn more about comics for kids/young adults. I think this is where I want to spend most of my comics-related time!
Also, the local comic book store is selling copies of my mini on consignment now! I don't know how the market is for minicomics outside of NYC, but I suppose I'll find out. The owner was really supportive about it, so I'm pretty happy. Next stop: Jim Hanley's and Forbidden Planet!
I also found studies online (awesome to read, btw) for why comics helped reluctant readers and "visual learners" get into books because I thought I'd have some real convincing to do, but I ended up needing basically none of it because everybody at the meeting was so willing to explore comics for children. Several of them were already comics fans, and a lot of my recommendations were already used very successfully in their libraries, so I was really happy with that.
It was a small group, but we got a really great dialogue going, and even though I went in to tell them about comics I ended up learning a whole lot about what kids read, and what's appropriate for what age. I got kind of schooled on putting Bone as a young reader book, for example (for reference, they said no younger than 3rd grade, but 3rd/4th and up LOVES it)! They kept asking me what grade levels things were on and I did the best I could, but by the end I was just comparing books to other books and letting them infer from that.
All in all, it was a really great dialogue. We talked about categorizing comics (it really IS a shame that everything gets lumped together in the Graphic Novel section), how weak the binding is on perfect-bound comics, and age-appropriate material. It was really informative, and now I'm really interested to learn more about comics for kids/young adults. I think this is where I want to spend most of my comics-related time!
Also, the local comic book store is selling copies of my mini on consignment now! I don't know how the market is for minicomics outside of NYC, but I suppose I'll find out. The owner was really supportive about it, so I'm pretty happy. Next stop: Jim Hanley's and Forbidden Planet!