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

Agree with others, Phoenix magazine was great for DS when he was a reluctant reader. He loved books as a toddler then hated most of what he could choose at primary school and decided that reading was boring. Subscribing to Phoenix led him to Jamie Smart and then the Flember novels, and now at 14 to Manga.

He still doesn't love traditional novels but will read manga, comics etc (as well as joke books and meme books,guides to his favourite gaming franchises etc)

Buying him a Kindle also helped loads, he like being able to just download things from Kindle Unlimited and not feel like he's wasted money if it's something he doesn't like.

This is great! The statistics show how few teenagers are reading for pleasure these days - he’s in the minority. It doesn’t matter so much what he is reading but it will be setting him up for life.

@ConcernedBookwormtotally agree! Although we share a kindle unlimited account and I'm sick of seeing Goodreads recommending '100 dank memes' and similar. 😂 I rather view that this nonsense is better than nothing as it's forming a reading habit which should mature as he does!

Exactly! It’s all helping in the long run. He won’t have bad taste forever 🤣🤣

This is the Excelsior graphic novel award website where we have got loads of great recommendations - past and present shortlists are listed

https://www.excelsioraward.co.uk/

As others have said, you can ask your library to purchase titles rather than invest yourself. Today the librarian said they take purchase requests from library users which I was really surprised about

…. And just seen the Sunday Times are bringing back their Funday Times supplement tomorrow- with Jamie Smart on the front cover! I’ll definitely be buying a copy to support this.

Comics really are making a comeback 🤩

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/michael-morpurgo-the-sunday-times-the-times-jacqueline-wilson-roald-dahl-b1272712.html

I agree with a previous poster who said to check the online library catalogue and reserve books there. When you go into your local branch library, you are only seeing a tiny fraction of the library system's total stock, but you'll be able to see it all online. Place reservations on any titles your kids are interested in.

You can often even recommend books for purchase via the catalogue too, and you'll likely receive a notification if they do buy it.

I was always an avid reader. Literally, anything. Readers' digest. Leaflets. Encyclopedia. The world map. The weird hardback books in the front room. I also wrote stories. Drew. Made stuff. Made a mess. Day dreamed.

Much of this, in hindsight, was because I had nothing else to do. I wasn't a fan of outside. As a teen, my reading dropped off. This coincided with a social life.

As a secondary teacher, I think we've tried everything to get kids (boys) to read over the last 25 years. But they won't even read comics now. Or football books. Or even the Guiness book of Records, which was always a winner. Nothing is as engaging as a phone.

Added to which, their vocabulary is decreasing. Which i suspect is partly parents. Of my dc, only one reads. But rarely. The other doesn't. That one also used to struggle with listening to me or dh read to them as small children. I think they have aphantasia though, as they see words, not pictures. Both dc have a great vocab, but that's essentially because we sit and eat together and I've never really adapted my language for them, so they're used to asking:"what does that mean?"

I remember there being loads of comics. Twinkle ( which someone has mentioned), Bunty, the Dandy ( only now exists as an annual), Whizzer and Chips. I am sure there were loads more.

IMHO it's not about disliking reading it's about attention span. The majority of kids I teach cannot even listen for more than 30 seconds let alone read. And don't get me started on them being able to hold a conversation!

Comics work for those that read, the others just look at the pictures (especially my year 8 boys with The Simpsons)

I totally agree OP and was learning about the importance of graphic novels for literacy whilst training to be a librarian specialising in children 15 years ago.

A massive issue is the number of professional librarians that have just been slashed since 2010. I’ve never got to work as a children’s librarian as a lot of the jobs just ceased to exist. It differs in every county how they run their library services - but different impacts have been cut in book stock, lack of selection by staff (so it’s just supplied in bulk), lack of professional roles to choose stock and promote reading, volunteer managed libraries, and obviously closure of libraries. Finally there used to be school library services that would rotate books round schools which have mainly disappeared. UK schools don’t even need a library by law, prisons do.

In Europe how we manage our public library services is held up as what NOT to do. Would suspect the graphic novel or comic selections would be significantly better as well.

Graphic novels aren't an aid to literacy or a step to something better. They are their own medium with their own grammar.

My kids love reading books and comics I see them
both as valuable. On a side note I have about 4 years worth of Phoenix comics in my wardrobe taking up a lot of space. I wonder if a school would want these? Might offer them locally … I always assumed they wouldn’t being comics

My reluctant (dyslexic) reader is a Dogman fan. We've also had success with audiobooks which are exposure to literary language and ideas. He has his challenges in English, but his strengths include his ideas and vocabulary which reflects years of sharing books together even if he wasn't reading the words on the page.

Another positive we've had was the utterly beautiful illustrated versions of Harry Potter. Easier for me for reading aloud and more visual for him to hook into.

Another good series is Fighting Fantasy which are back in print again. Written in the 80s by the creators of Warhammer, they're interactive game stories with different outcomes, and nicely segmented for children who don't want to read lengthy prose.

That reminds me, on tired, little spare time nights, I used to read poems at bedtime for something quick.

I'd forgotten about the Funday Times. I used to love going to the front door on Sunday mornings to pull that out of the mountains of Sunday papers. I was a Beano fan too.

Anything that gets children enjoying the written word is a good thing.

It’s a huge crisis isn’t it and phones are largely to blame. Unfortunately it’ll take our society backwards. This decline is going to result in political, economic and social decline- it’s already happening. Whereas China from what a friend who’s from there said kids are much more protected from online and the impact on learning and development of young people much less. You can see where this is going and why it’s a crisis.

Whatever gets kids reading we need to get behind it

Yes and I’ve also noticed this happening to myself too. It’s the phones. They’re having such a huge impact on us. It’s very worrying that this is affecting their vocabulary and inability to focus. I guess the key then is creating a reading habit early before you lose them and comics can really support that

Ah this is so sad to read. Libraries are so important and having trained librarians and local purchasers to respond to local needs is so important. I’m sad to read about the underinvestment. Well it’s coming home to roost now.

You know I’d happily pay 50p to borrow a book. As an option on taking out a book. I’d happily tap my card if asked to support libraries in my local schools and to expand the selection in public libraries for all. But I’d need to be assured that the money goes to libraries and librarians and we get a fair share (it doesnt get weighted towards deprived areas because everywhere needs good libraries)..

Yes I think a local primary would probably be very grateful for these if they’re in good condition.

Sounds Like he has a good reading diet and that will support vocabulary, critical thinking etc. Whatever mode of reading that works we need to get behind as parents . Developing that habit is so important

There used to be so many… then the industry just sought of collapsed from what I understand. Beano has managed to cling on and now it’s joined by the Phoenix. Globally I was reading about the huge growth in the US, Manga in the Eastern countries like Japan, Korea. Now the graphic novel book format in the U.K. is huge. Kids are voting with their parents money and their library cards.

My brother, now 55, was a problem reading when he was a child. Wasn't keen until our mum bought comics for him. She would rather he read something than nothing. It seemed to work and his reading skills picked up as a result. There are some great graphic novels out there - Amulet, Alex Rider. I read these with my ASD/ADHD son as he has trouble with wordy books.

I am from Denmark and there are s lit of comic books in the library. While living in England I wrote to three libraries and suggested that they got more comic books exactly for the reason that it is an entrance to reading. I got a polite email back from the library in Worcester saying that they could see there is an entire area they have been neglected but they still only have anime, Tintin and Asterix just like before. The other two libraries didn't respond.

I cannot remember all I suggested, but I suggested these: The Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Corto Maltese, Valhalla, Natasha, Yoko Tsuno, Valérian and Laureline, Café, Spirou and Fantasio, Blueberry, and Thorgal.

Some of you will notice that a lot of these sre from the Belgian Golden Age of comic books which is when I was a child.

Sounds like other countries are doing it better than us and giving these books the space on library shelves they deserve.

Our local libraries have such small selections and they are so popular I don’t know why they don’t buy more. It’s not all about money- they list all their monthly purchases online. Soooo many picture books for little ones. Is that really more of a priority when they already have cratefuls of decent books. While their graphic novels collection wouldn’t even fill a crate.

So I think it’s a snobbery thing.

We need more comics/ graphic novels in libraries - your family’s experience demonstrates what a positive impact they can have on youngsters

Since I wrote this thread the world book day tokens have been spent. I was reading that Bunny vs Monkey topped the U.K. book chart for 3 weeks straight… and they ran out of stock everywhere and couldn’t meet demand (they were furiously trying to resupply across the country.

Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey also was massively popular. We got this and it’s really good

Jamie and Sheena will have helped to inspire kids to develop a reading habit now because of their inclusion. It’s the first year I’ve seen comics in the £1 WBD books. Hopefully this success will change things now.