graphic novels

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The Power of Graphic Novels to Foster Connections

By Julia López-Robertson, University of South Carolina, Melissa Summer Wells, University of Mary Washington & Jennifer D. Morrison, Sam Houston State University

A portrait of a young boy smiling above the title, and a RV below the title.In our last blog we introduced you to graphic novels and provided a model for applying critical reading and critical literacy to When Stars Are Scattered (Jamieson & Mohamed, 2020). This blog focuses on the Pura Belpré Award winner, Mexikid (Martín, 2023). Mexikid is a memoir about a Mexican American boy named Pedro and his family’s journey to bring their abuelito from Mexico to live with them in the United States. Pedro is the seventh of nine children; the older five were born in Mexico, while Pedro and his three younger siblings were born in the U.S. and, according to the older siblings, are “not Mexican enough.” The family embarks on a 2,000-mile road trip to Mexico, encountering many adventures along the way. While the older siblings drive a pick-up truck, Pedro and his younger siblings travel with their parents in a used Winnebago. Throughout the journey, Pedro hears stories about his family—particularly his abuelo—and learns about his Mexican heritage and family history. In what follows we will discuss our purposes for engaging students with graphic novels and speak specifically about Mexikid. Continue reading →

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The Power of Graphic Novels to Foster Critical Literacy and Critical Reading

By Julia López-Robertson, University of South Carolina, Melissa Summer Wells, University of Mary Washington & Jennifer D. Morrison, Sam Houston State University

Graphic novels, often stigmatized as a genre, hold immense potential for transformative multimodal literacy instruction. Paris and Alim (2017) argue that equity and access are best achieved by centering the dynamic practices and identities of students and communities of color within a critical, inclusive vision of education. In our teaching and research, this means prioritizing multimodal texts to help preservice teachers explore diverse ways of knowing, doing, and being in the classroom.

Traditional reading and writing capture only a fraction of students’ literacy capabilities. Carefully selected multicultural, multilingual and multidisciplinary graphic novels offer powerful tools for critical reading and literacy. These texts provide unique access points that connect teaching and learning to the lived experiences of children and their communities. Continue reading →

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Sweeping Indigenous Histories

Celeste Trimble, St. Martin’s University, Lacey, WA

In Redrawing the Historical Past: History, Memory, and Multiethnic Graphic Novels, editors Martha Cutter and Cathy Schlund-Vials remind readers of a speech that Toni Morrison gave at Portland State University in 1975 where she said, “No one can blame the conqueror for writing history the way he sees it, and certainly not for digesting human events and discovering their patterns according to his own point of view. But it must be admitted that conventional history supports and complements a very grave and almost pristine ignorance.” This year, after teaching a few sections of a course which, in part, is an overview of Indigenous histories of the Pacific Northwest, I have realized that this ‘pristine ignorance’ is sometimes because of a lack of information, and sometimes because of a strong and willful desire to maintain the settler colonial histories learned as children and throughout life. In my work as a teacher educator, I need to assist non–Indigenous adults in learning history through an Indigenous lens before they are able to bring these important histories to their own students. Children’s literature can be such a valuable resource for relearning histories, even for adults.

Sweeping Indigenous Histories Continue reading →

WOW Recommends: Book of the Month

WOW Recommends: The Cardboard Kingdom

The Cardboard KingdomThe graphic novel The Cardboard Kingdom is a cheerful story capturing children’s imagination and creativity, friendship and exploration of conflicts with families, friends and even their own identity. Chad Sell created this book in coordination with ten other writers, including Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Manuel Betancourt, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Cloud Jacobs, Michael Cole and Barbara Perez Marquez. Continue reading →

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To be or not to be: Graphic Novels in the Classroom?

by Julia López-Robertson, Amber Hartman, Jennifer Judy, Lillian Reeves, University of South Carolina

Many teachers are very hesitant to use graphic novels in their classroom. Much of the hesitation has to do with a personal lack of familiarity with this specific form of literature. For some, the use of graphic novels in the classroom is foreign and scary, some might not even see it as “literature,” while others are actually beginning to see the great advantage of using them to supplement student learning.
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