Most people learn to read using a kind of comic book known as picture books. These books help new readers to learn new words and sharpen their grammar (1). Also the pictures in the books are a link to the words, which makes reading easy and fun (1,2). They also help people learn to write, because you see how the word is used in a scene so you learn how to use the new word properly (3). Comic books increase the number of words a person knows.
Comic books also help new readers by giving them confidence in reading. It also helps in learning words quickly and also helps in gaining knowledge and understanding more.
Before I was not able to read but I found some picture books and there were a few words and more pictures so I went on reading some picture books from time to time and I was able to read fluently do you remember reading picture books? How do you think they helped you?
- https://childrenspublishing.com/benefits-comic-books-children/
- https://www.ebsco.com/blog/article/seeing-is-believing-the-benefits-of-picture-books-for-building-reading-skill
- https://literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2018/12/20/the-power-of-comics
Hello Alison,
awesome topic!
Reading your research made me think about my childhood and when I was just starting to learn how to read. I remember I was reading a red-riding hood book with many illustrations to support the sentences/scenes. And it has helped me, understand the story so much better because looking at the pictures I was able to connect the dots to what was happening in the book. For example, I remember reading the world wolf and I had no idea what it was and so having a picture that describes the word I was able to determine what the word wolf meant.
your research is very relatable to my childhood 🙂
Lokshana
Hi Mary,
This is an intriguing topic! As a kid I never really read comic books; I still don’t think I have. You’re totally right about comic books being an easy transition into harder books. It might be interesting to look into if comic books increase or decrease creativity because the pictures are provided so the reader doesn’t develop their own ideas of the book’s imagery. For your question, I think there is room for you to ask more. You can maybe look at the advantages and disadvantages of comic books but that’s just one idea. Overall, you have a good start! Keep up the good work!
Here are some hopefully helpful links,
https://ap2hyc.com/2019/05/how-comics-affect-your-creative-thinking-in-your-studies/
https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/raising-super-readers-benefits-comic-books-and-graphic-novels.html
https://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/blog/research-behind-graphic-novels-and-young-learners
Good luck,
Shieva Mokhtarnameh
Hi Mary,
I love this topic.
I moved to Canada four years ago (Grade 5) from Taiwan. I remember not understanding English in class. I got into an EAL program in my elementary and they used picture books to help me improve on the language. That was really helpful because all the pictures are linked to the sentences therefore I can understand the books really well. This is a very relatable topic and I can’t wait to see your next post.
Hi Mary!
I really enjoyed reading your post, and I liked how you talked about your own experience with comic books. I have two younger brother, and I remember teaching them how to read. We would start off with books that had one or two words per page, and I would tell them to look at the pictures and try to guess what the words were saying. It got them used to recognising words, and seeing how different letters make different sounds. It was very beneficial for them!
I look forward to reading your future research,
-Jasmine Paduraru
Hello Mary! This is an interesting topic you have chosen! As a child growing up, I did not read much comic books but when I did, I found them very helpful when looking at the pictures. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post on how comic books help new readers! I am looking forward to reading more!