Are graphic novels “legitimate reading?” That’s the question.
As a mom who was an English major, successful freelance writer, and magazine editor, I love the power of books. And passing that love to my children has been important to me.
Our oldest took to books from an early age and is a voracious reader (Mr. Family Trip jokes that I have a part-time job of keeping The Bean in books). And our youngest also loves to read, but deep in his bones art calls loudest to him and he is an incredibly creative soul. So we’ve found he is drawn irrevocably to graphic novels.
At first, I resisted. Because, as mentioned, is that “reading?” Shouldn’t he be tackling something with more words and more vocabulary?
And it’s odd, the more I have been scouring the Internet for the right graphic novels for my son, the more I see parents apologizing or making excuses for letting their children read graphic novels. In fact, I was about to proffer the same apologies and excuses in this article. Then stopped myself.
Graphic novels are an incredible force to be reckoned with and a burgeoning industry. They are full of creativity, imagination, humor, and amazing stories. They are, undoubtedly, literature in their own right.
Are we to feel shameful that we endorse our children’s love of graphic novels because we feel like they should be reading something more “worthwhile?” And who defines that term anyhow?
When I began to look into graphic novels and began to experience how powerful they can be, how stirring, beautiful and moving, I realized that my battle wasn’t with the format, perse. But my shame was over some of the graphic novels I read over my son’s shoulder (I daresay, most of the incredibly popular ones). Turns out, like books in general, not all graphic novels are equal. But there are some thoroughly exceptional ones that our house has embraced and come to cherish. I will state outright that I still can’t endorse Dog Man, Captain Underpants, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I can’t turn a blind eye to the poor grammar, barely grade-level vocabulary, and the crass plot lines and jokes. Our kids read them, of course, as ultimately I feel they are harmless, but my goal is to supplement the time spent on those with something a little more challenging that offers opportunity to expand their minds (while still capturing their attention).
Ultimately, I disagree with this article here. No, we shouldn’t be allowing our children to ONLY read graphic novels; we should certainly still be encouraging them to pick up more complex and traditional books, with words and chapters, because that is, indeed, where their future learning lies.
But given our afterschooling project to get through this year, and my love for Classical Curriculum, I am an unabashed fan of the graphic novels that take classics and make them accessible. As I have come to adopt from my educational research, especially from this approach here, introducing children to the pervasive and society-forming stories, myths and legends that have indubitably created the world around them, and are referenced time and again through the ages, is so important. By bringing stories such as Beowulf (see below) to kids in a way they can understand as children sets them on a path to easily pick up the original in due time – they will not be intimidated because they have known the story from a young age.
Plus, if well-crafted and well-written, do graphic novels not still function in the same manner as literature – of opening a young person’s mind and horizon?
Read what Sean Connors writes discussing the literary merits of graphic novels:
Good graphic novels, like good literature, are capable of moving readers to reflect on unexamined aspects of their lives. Not all graphic novels will, of course, but the same might be said of much of the traditional literature on bookstore shelves.
Sean Connors, link here
We don’t need to be ashamed as parents or apologize for allowing our children to enjoy graphic novels (here’s looking at you Amazon reviewers). Instead, let’s just put that energy into finding good graphic novels for our kids.
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And so without much (more, since that was already a lot) ado, here are…
The best graphic novels for boys:
The Odyssey
by Gareth Hinds (based on the original)
This is our son’s go-to. He reads this all the time.
The Action Bible
by Doug Mauss with Sergio Cariello
This recommendation isn’t new to our website. These Bible stories are incredibly popular in our house and this book is nearly always out. Even setting aside whether your family holds a religious practice that believes in these stories, ultimately they are referenced so often in culture and, like it or not, are the basis for a lot of our Western world moral judgments. I think it’s nice for the kids to know their richness and have the background.
Kid Beowulf
by Alexis E. Fajardo
Who knew that this ancient, widely-inaccessible piece of literature could make for such a fascinating series of graphic novels? I adore these, and so does my son.
Zita the Space Girl
by Ben Hatke
Zita is amazing, and a strong, resolute female lead character is a great option for a young boy. The trilogy doesn’t have any lulls.
Mighty Jack
by Ben Hatke
Introduced in Zita, Mighty Jack now has his own series of books.
Last of the Sandwalkers
by Jay Hosler
I did not think my child would ever go for this book…the illustrations aren’t nearly as colorful and it’s fairly scientific. But, it turns out, I was wrong (which seems to be much of the theme of this post).
The Treehouse Series
by Andy Griffiths
Ok, maybe not technically a graphic novel, but an “illustrated chapter book,” if your child loves stories that are interlaced with illustrations that make the words come alive, try these. They are just the right amount of silly.
The Last Kids on Earth
by Max Brallier with Douglas Holgate
I know, it’s still zombies and monsters, and its endorsement is by Kinney, but I like these. They are, at their core, about friendship and courage.
Space Dumplins
by Craig Thompson
All about family and loyalty, in space!
Dragonbreath
by Ursula Vernon
This character has such wonderful imagination, and the jokes are funny and work on so many levels.
Ghosts
by Raina Telgemeier
Really, anything by Telgemeier is good, but some of her graphic novels skew more towards middle school. She presents real life issues, but in a way that is manageable for kids. But as a parent, make sure the issue addressed is something your child is ready for.
Our son also loves the Wings of Fire and the Warriors graphic novel series, but, again, those stories are pretty basic by way of narrative and vocabulary, albeit the epic battles make them riveting.
We also tried Hugo Cabret and Lovelace & Babbage, but they seemed a bit too much for our 8-year-old.
On our list to try: The Hobbit, The Olympians series, and Primates.
And now, onward guilt-free parents. You are armed and equipped to pick great graphic novels for your kids. So feel free to allow them to enter new worlds and expand their horizons.