AIBU that comics could get more kids reading?

[ConcernedBookworm]

Really depressing hearing about the decline in reading & literacy in the UK. It’s probably to do with mobile phones, but we need to do something otherwise we’ll go backwards as a society. We have to get more kids enjoying reading and instil the habit early.

AIBU to think comics are the answer for many kids who are at risk of not getting into the reading habit and we should do more to give kids access to them? But my kids school and our local library doesn’t seem to recognise how popular they are and don’t really prioritise them.

Kids in my eldest class are obsessed with Jamie Smart and Bunny Vs Monkey yet our library doesn’t have many comics/ graphic novels to choose from - or maybe they’re so popular they’re not available when we visit on Saturdays?

I think we should we be promoting them more somehow? I’ve spent so much money buying new ones for my kids. They like to browse the shelves at Waterstones and it’s costing me a fortune! But I’m happy to spend on them due to their enthusiasm- comics helped get my eldest into reading other stuff like MG Leonard & Harry Potter so it’s paid off.

But the school doesn’t seem that interested! They’ve never read comics as whole class texts. I also heard about the excelsior book award and asked my school if they’d sign up (it’s only £30!) but they weren’t interested, which makes no sense it would definitely get the kids excited about reading doing a comics book club (plus it’s cheap!). Btw the excelsior website is great resource for recommendations - you can look at this years shortlist and past years too.

There seems to be a lot of snobbery in education still. But my dad who grew up poor in Ireland and left school early said he credits comics for being literate. He said they’d go out on the street in the 1960s after tea to do comics swaps! We never had comics as a kid so I must admit I was snobby about them at first… but I think this new resurgence is a fantastic opportunity to reverse the decline in reading. We just need schools, libraries etc to support it more right?

ps I know not all kids like comics and I’m not saying we should force them on these kids. Just saying more access for those who they appeal to

Thanks for the heads up, I think I need to go to the desk and ask about getting access online so I can search their catalogue and make requests. I didn’t really think about this. Need to get organised as we have a lot of books now and makes sense to borrow some to save a bit of money!!

That’s sad you didn’t have a comic as a DC. I loved my weekly walk to get my Twinkle comic each week and the excitement when there was a free gift (although comics seem to have them all the time now).

This is a good shout- Neil Cameron and JS in one mag! I wonder if the school gets old copies from those who subscribe. I think it could benefit so many kids

I used to read Smash Hits, Sugar and various other pop culture magazines that I can’t remember the name of now! Never seen a comic in my life… which was weird because my parents have recently said they read comics religiously as children (one in uk one in Ireland).

I think comics might have died a death in the 90s for kids at least? I was vaguely aware of Tank Girl and 2000AD but wasn’t my thing. I knew of Beano but thought it was daggy! There’s definitely a comics boom going on right now in print media, which all very analogue and retro 🤣

When I was in sixth form in school many years ago 1982 we were asked to help with the redial reading group. It was a valuable an eye opening lesson for me. These children had never been read to, there was nothing to read in their houses - no books no newspapers nothing it was awful. We had set texts but I took in comics (beano in those days and Jackie). they were so happy to enjoy reading something. It made me cry to see it.
Now volunteer with adult literacy. comics still good

My 8yo DS, and 6yo DD both love the phoenix comic, and both read all the related books, Bunny V Monkey, Dogman, Cat Kid, Donut Squad, Captain Underpants. DS is now getting into longer books, more chapter books and stuff like Tom Gates (we went to see the stage show in half term and he loved it), and he has absolutely devoured his dad's collection of Asterix and Tintin books.

He's also asking for history and fact based books, and I am happy to feed him as many books as he likes. The comics are definitely a bit of a gateway, and I am just so happy that they are reading and telling me about the stories they love. Like a PP mentioned they also write and draw their own comics, and found a 'blank' create your own comic book on Amazon which was a bit of a hit for them.

I would love to see more weekly or monthly comic series, I remember there being loads in the shops when I was a kid, but now most of the kids magazines seem to be tie in to tv shows with a load of plastic junk on the front of them.

I asked my library to stock more and gave them reasons, mainly based around helping older kids who aren’t yet fluent readers. It worked.

I do think the way reading is taught now is partly to blame, along with the availability of constant easy entertainment.

Phonics does not work as it is currently taught for every child, and the heavy emphasis on deciding every flipping word on the page means kids lose track of the story. It’s all work and zero fun. And I know no one who was allowed to swap out the books assigned by reception when their kids disliked them. Homework in reception is grim.

When we were young we had more time one on one with adults (on average), without screens, without as many toys and noisy games. We were more accustomed to the idea that enjoyment often required a bit of effort, whether that be reading, learning to do the monkey bars or setting up a complex board game that took effort to learn the rules.

FWIW my DD was sight reading short words at 3 before nursery and left reception having lost all of it. She wasn’t allowed to recognise words, only spell things out, which took ages and wasn’t a story/had no pay off. I pulled her out of school eventually, and she learnt to read years later when I went back to the old fashioned ways. DS never went to school but was unable to retain his letters (I suspect because he didn’t care, ADHD) until he was 9 when he wanted to read Thomas books. It took a couple of weeks.

Whatever happened to Buster, Whizzed and Chips? (showing my age)
I know there are many more anime/manga eta but in the magazine aisle apart from Beano every thing seems to have plastic tat attached.
Bring back cheaply printed comics on newspaper paper like in the 80's!

They stopped producing them because people stopped buying them, sadly.

Oh yeah without doubt. School reading books are also absolutely awful. My younger DS has SEN so doesn’t learn through phonics at all, he’s not interested. He’s been able to read fluently from sight since he was 3 but of course he has to go through Gove’s stupid phonics screening tests. He’s passed it with flying colours but we had to work on his alien words because he tries to make them into real words. He’s top reading band and should by rights move to ‘free reading’ but that means he’d have to complete accelerated reader quizzes to progress which he wouldn’t do. The whole set up is wrong.

I don’t remember so much emphasis on phonics when I was at school in the 90s. I’m a huge fan of Michael Rosen and he isn’t a big fan of phonics either.

As OP said my DS7 was a reluctant reader, hating the Biff & Chip books. Having heard a few friends mention DogMan etc I bought one of each & he loved them. BVM & Donut Squad are his favourites; & he gets The Phoenix too.
Theyve given him the love of reading & he’s progressed through the Loki books & is now on the Percy Jackson books.
DH & I are quite geeky so have a few graphic novels & sometimes take the kids to ComiCons.

This is lovely to read- sounds like he’s thriving on his diet of comics. I quite enjoy reading donut squad too 😆

Yes! You speak the truth! Late 80s/ early 90s I don’t remember learning phonics- it was all about enjoying the stories. I seem to recall it being quite a natural process learning to read, progressing through the levels and enjoying the books.

Whereas my youngest has hated the whole process of learning to read, he sees it like a chore and it’s like pulling teeth. We do keep him interested in reading by reading to him, he is still positive about books, but he’s negative about reading in the school context which is such a shame.

Totally agree. There is real snobbery about bunny vs monkey, investigators, even wimpy kid at my son's school. But it's so hard to get him to read anything and keep him off bloody roblox that it feels like a win! And i am always hoping it's a gateway to something a bit more challenging

1. Library books for school - ask parents & staff via the PTA for donations of books they no longer need & ask people to use their social media to ask friends & neighbours for unwanted books. You will probably get some graphic novels (Dogman, Tom Gates etc) as they have been popular for a number of years. If you get more than you need, the PTA could think about starting a Little Library.
2. Phonics teaching was introduced about 20 years ago following the Rose Report looking at the evidence of the best ways of teaching reading. There are lots of MN threads about it.

Thanks @StillAGoth for sharing your experiences as a teacher, as a parent I hadn’t quite realised how much pressure there is to deliver the curriculum and how little time they actually get for reading in school. You sound like a wonderful teacher with lots of strategies to keep the enthusiasm for books including comics. Genuinely thank you for all you do - and other teachers seeing this- for all the extra effort you go to inspire kids to read despite the obstacles you face. I feel a bit guilty about not always keeping up with the reading diary but will try to chill out and develop a positive culture around books in our home- comics included! It really does make something fun feel like a chore, when you need to document it!

I wish they were more affordable. I get secondhand when I can. With sen children I can't borrow from the library because there is such a high possibility they will get wrecked/drawn in.

I wish more comic style magazines were more available and they were cheaper it's a good fiver for one with plastic rubbish on and not much engaging inside.

Have you tried the supermarkets? In the last year I’ve noticed them stocking many more kids graphic novels. For example last week Sainsburys had Chicken Hill and Pablo and Splash for a fiver each- absolute bargain as these are detailed and definite re-reads, because there’s a lot of detail to study. Amazing value for the artwork involved- that’s why they’re expensive I think.

Oh if you like donut squad you should definitely do the Phoenix comic!

Verdict is in- unanimous in favour of promoting comics/ graphic novels as acceptable reading material for kids.

I am at a different library this afternoon, still close to home but on a fancy new estate, it’s a lovely modern library, in a cosmopolitan fairly large city. We had high hopes but the graphic novels section is even worse than our local library. It’s literally half a shelf - and one of the worse placed shelves they have- without space to show covers. The selection is very poor. Not a Bunny V monkey, Pablo and splash or any of the graphic novel formats in sight! They only have Asterix (brilliant) and then a few thin comics, I didn’t see any of the newer titles or popular titles I recognise. No Dog Man, Investigators.

Just talked to the librarian and to be honest, they were pretty clueless- she said oh yeah I think I’ve seen Bunny Vs Monkey before. Another librarian then got involved and said other parents had been asking about graphic novels and agreed their selection is poor. She said she’s going to raise it with management and asked me to fill in a feedback form which I’ve done.

It’s disappointing because this library is huge, less than 5 years old and has a lot of bookcases full of kids chapter books and a brilliant collection and display of younger picture books. But it’s good they listened and will feedback to HQ

Ideally you want kids to see reading as both fun and useful, with as little boring hard work as possible, or at least work with a payoff that they themselves can immediately see.

My 13yo reads mainly graphic novels. I can’t hear them, but they are easy to read so she gets a lot of practice that doesn’t feel like she’s being taught anything hard. But she’s forever picking up new words, concepts, cultural knowledge - she’s voluntarily picked up Duolingo for Japanese because she wants to know what is being said about her books online! She would not get that from grinding her way through tedium. (We do use free audiobooks for the classics so she does have a varied reading diet and good cultural knowledge).

DS reads subtitles on videos, which is pretty close to speed reading! Instructions for games, non fiction but only adult ones, and he’s 10. Last year he didn’t reliably know his alphabet.

I read old murder mysteries and fantasy.

None of us are laboriously decoding each word. In my opinion if you have to concentrate on the actual words then it’s not a great book.

Related to this, we’re in the early stages of learning Spanish. Is there a Spanish equivalent of Asterix?

I’m sure there is! My husband has some in French (their original language) and we’ve seen them in Italy on holiday. They’re really popular across Europe so I’m they’d be available. Btw the new Netflix Asterix series is brilliant - highly recommend it

Yes I agree @VikingLady reading ought to be fun or further us, if it’s a chore with little payoff we will dislike it. This is why I don’t understand why so many of the reading level books are so bad- my sons current read from school is about having chicken chips and peas for dinner.. it’s so boring and repetitive!! No wonder he doesn’t want to read it