Graphic Novels and Comics take over Reading Groups!

Some vocabulary words from Big Nate Blasts Off

I love reading groups.  Ask anyone, they’ll tell you how much I love to talk about books.  We do a wide variety of things in our groups and this year, I’m doing something I’ve never done before…graphic novels and books with comics with the pages.  So.  Much.  Fun.  I have a few tricks up my sleeve and I’m hoping kids will learn a few things about how to take their time with books that are easier to read.  Although they don’t seem as complex, in fact, they can be quite in-depth and complex.  The illustrations are wonderful and we are really enjoying discussing the story lines, cast of characters, problems within the story, and the use of great vocabulary words. 

Here are some of the things we are talking about:

New words to use in their own writing

Illustrations and how they interact with the story (In Big Nate Blasts Off, the text goes into a comic to finish a thought and is quite fun to read)

Use of color (in Hamster Princess, they only use grey and purple in the illustrations…why!?)

What makes you keep reading this book?

What makes the characters interesting?  (In The 13-Story Treehouse and The 39-Story Treehouse, the characters are based on the writer, illustrator and the writer’s wife.)

We are really having fun reading all of these books.  There is one reading group that will start their graphic novel next week (we are just finishing the book Hatchet) and I’m eager to have them tell each other about the books they’ve read.  

YahoOOoOO!