I’m jealous of today’s young comics fans. When I was growing up in the ’90s, many educators dismissed the format. I didn’t begin reading graphic novels until I was an adult, and diving into the world of comics was challenging; I initially found myself overly focused on the words, missing key visual cues.
Kids nowadays begin honing their visual literacy early on. Every year I come across more graphic literature aimed at readers ages 4 to 8—books that will help nurture a passion for the format. Contrary to what many adults long believed, comics aren’t the junk food of literature; these are rich stories that demand much of their readers. I recently spoke to Thomas Maluck, a Kirkus reviewer, longtime comics fan, and librarian at Richland Library in South Carolina, who waxed rhapsodic about the form. “The attentive artist leads the reader even if they are not aware: What is there to notice here? Does anything reveal itself on a second reading that was not apparent before? These are the kinds of things that foster literacy, attentiveness, and thoughtfulness.”
Caregivers and educators seeking graphic fiction for the children in their lives have plenty of options, among them Kaz Windness’ Worm and Butterfly Are Friends Always (Simon Spotlight, Jan. 13). Nothing can keep the titular pair apart—except for winter, which means a lengthy migration to Mexico for Butterfly and months of loneliness for poor Worm. Windness begins her tale with a quick lesson on reading comics (spelling out the difference between speech and thought bubbles, for instance). Her compositions are eye-catching and uncluttered, and her depiction of body language is particularly adept, telegraphing sadness, fear, and, above all, joie de vivre; this is a soaring ode to the ties that bind.
Graham Annable’s My Imaginary Duck (HarperAlley, July 28) deals with a very different sort of friendship. No one else can see Mavis’ pal Duck—the bird always seems to step away when others are around. Mavis turns down invitations to play from other children; she’d rather be with Duck…until she realizes that perhaps she isn’t the only one with an avian friend. Annable slyly mines humor from silent Duck’s deadpan expressions, and his decision to keep things ambiguous (is Duck truly imaginary?) is a sound one; readers will enjoy making up their own minds.
More picture books are borrowing elements from comics, such as Rebecca Green’s Henri & Miko: Autumn in Bosk Olivette (Tundra Books, Sept. 1), a cozy tale of friendship between a mouse and a bee. The elegantly laid out panels are rife with detail; Green demonstrates the rewards that await readers willing to patiently pore over a book’s visuals. Gideon Sterer’s The Snowmansion, illustrated by Stella Lim (Candlewick, Sept. 29) follows a child and a snowperson who build an elaborate structure out of snow where both can spend time (outdoors eventually proves chilly for the youngster; the child’s house is too warm for the snowperson). Sterer and Lim avoid words altogether; Lim’s luminous images, divided into panels, tell the whole story, showing youngsters how to “read” art by paying close attention to shifts in palette, characters’ expressions, and scene composition.
Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.
