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[4] One format in particular has librarians and bookstores rushing to fill the shelves: the graphic novel. Bickers, asserting that publishing companies are taking what the students want to heart, writes, "Graphix [a division of Scholastic Inc.] is arguably the first imprint dedicated exclusively to graphic novels for kids, but it is certainly no longer the only one". Publishers realize that putting words and pictures in a format that draws the reader through a story as if he was watching TV or a movie is an effective way to encourage students to read: graphic novels are now being used to retell classic literature like Beowulf or Oliver Twist as well as popular series like Babysitter's Club and the Hardy Boys (Bickers). The Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole, a favorite among both teachers and students, fills pages of scientific learning with speech bubbles, post-its, and compelling illustrations. While not technically a comic-style graphic novel, there is very little white space in a Magic School Bus book, and that's the way kids like it (Bickers). In addition, the Bone comic book series by Jeff Smith, published into graphic novels for kids, is one of the most popular items in bookstores, libraries, and book fairs across the country (Bickers).
[5] There is no denying that digital interpretations of children's literature are being encouraged in a variety of places and media, but the effects of this digital hurricane are under the gun in research around the world. One research project proposed that preschoolers would benefit from digital read-alouds as opposed to the traditional print read-aloud. Not surprisingly, the project produced favorable results. Researcher L. Collen summarizes her interpretation of one of the project's results: "That children in the traditional storytimes asked no picture-based questions and children in both digital storytimes did ask picture-based questions suggests that...the digital storytimes may have resulted in an enhanced understanding of the story, based on an enhanced visual experience" (Collen). In imagining a class of preschoolers in front of a large screen, one does not need to ponder long on how enthralled the students would be with the enlarged graphics. After all, many preschool-aged children have already been exposed to television and other media. The question remains whether the students were asking questions because they noticed more, or whether the traditional read-aloud format did not adequately encourage these kinds of questions.
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[6] Continued research and reflection will be necessary if teachers, parents, and society at large wish to determine whether the immersion in digital media that is occurring in schools and homes across the country-and the world-is benefiting our youth. Undoubtedly, the world is becoming more inter-connected with the evolution of the Internet and an exponential increase in communication. Children are clamoring for texts that are graphically appealing and have an element of technology, whether it is a website they can visit, a game they can buy, or an attached CD-rom. Books themselves are changing both in format and in content to meet the increasing demand for interconnectivity, and children are changing as they interact with text in multi-directional, multi-media ways.
Works Cites
Bickers. J. (2007). The young and the graphic novel. Publisher's Weekly. 254(8). Retrieved November 18, 2007 from Wilson Select Plus database.Collen, L. (2006). The digital and traditional storytimes research project: Using digitized picture books for preschool group storytimes. Children & Libraries, 4(3). Retrieved November 16, 2007
from Wilson Select Plus database.Dresang. E.T. & McClelland. K. (1999). Radical change: Digital age literature and learning. Theory into Practice, 38(3). Retrieved November 18, 2007 from JSTOR database.
Edyburn. D. & Davis, D. (2007). Technology Tools for Academic Success - Books in the Digital Age. Panhandle Area Educational Consortium. Retrieved November 18, 2007 from
http://www.paec.org/fdIrstech/books.htm.Skurzynski, G. (1999). It's a wired world after all: Children, books, and the Internet. Theory into Practice, 38(3). Retrieved November 18, 2007 from JSTOR database.
1) What is the argument of this essay?
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