Comic books and graphic novels can be a good place to start reading for children who find pages of unbroken text difficult. Images can help children read and understand ideas that they might find tricky. Not to mention, reading comics is lots of fun!
We’ve put together some of our top tips to get your child interested in comics:
- Explore – There are so many comics out there that you can find titles to interest every child. Our book list has lots of different suggestions for children of different ages and covers lots of topics.
- Magazines – If your child might find a whole comic book too daunting to begin with, magazines like The Beano and The Phoenix can be a great introduction. Both magazines are published weekly. Once your child has got to grips with the style of comics, they can explore the genre further.
- Visit the library – Many libraries now have comics sections for you and your child to explore. You can ask your librarian for their favourites. Many bookshops also have great comic book sections too.
- Make your own comic strip – Making your own comic is a great way to boost writing and storytelling skills. We’ve created our own tool to help your child embrace their comic genius.
Judd Winick, the comic book artist and author of the Hilo series, shares his top tip for engaging children with comics:
“Find one book that your child will fall in love with. You'll be very surprised how a child who doesn't like reading will cling to a comic or a graphic novel. They finish reading it, and they'll read it over again and over again. It’s what's great about a lot of comics and graphic novels is that many of them are serialized. So if they like the first one, there's usually one that follows after that.”
