Banned Books Week to focus on graphic novels

Dav Pilky, author of the Captain Underpants series,
has created artwork for Banned Books Week

For the graphic novel aficionados, comes news this week from the American Library Association: This year’s Banned Books Week (Sept. 21 to 27) will focus on comics and graphic novels, which frequently show up on the ALA’s Top 10 list of frequently-challenged materials.

In the “Newsmaker” interview, American Libraries, May 2014, Stan Lee, creator of Marvel comic characters, had an interesting perspective upon the impact of graphic novels.

Lee said, “In order to enjoy and appreciate and be wrapped up in a comic book, you have to read the dialogue balloons.”

According to Lee, a young person “forces himself or herself to read what is lettered there in order to follow the story.” He added that teachers have told him that when they put comic books in the classroom, the students got “better marks in English and in literacy than in any other way.”

Cross-posted to the Southern Oregon Education Services District listserv for school library media personnel