Read on Twitter
Hot take: comics and prose novels are different media that require different skills to read. One is not easier than the other.
As someone who's tried introducing avid prose readers to comics, I learned pretty quickly that stuff I'd taken for granted all my life—like what order to read the panels in—isn't obvious to everyone.
And as someone with some expertise in literacy education, a lot of the stuff I took for granted as a prose reader—like the way my brain creates images in my head of the things I read—isn't something that happens for all readers, particularly struggling ones.
In my experience, kids who like to read will read all sorts of things. Kids who don't like to read aren't going to choose comics over prose, they're just going to *not read*.
And if I were trying to entice a reluctant reader into reading, I wouldn't give them a book from 1967 whether it's The Outsiders or The Amazing Spider-Man. I'm going to give them a book that's likely to be relevant to their lives right now.
(Both of those examples might be relevant to their lives, but it's gonna be a lot harder to convince them of that with books that were old when their parents were children)
A big part of this is figuring out *why* a kid is a reluctant reader.
Do they have trouble picturing what's happening? A graphic novel adaptation might help.
Do they have a limited vocabulary? Maybe find them a version of the story with simpler language.
Do they have trouble picturing what's happening? A graphic novel adaptation might help.
Do they have a limited vocabulary? Maybe find them a version of the story with simpler language.
People who are good readers do a lot of metacognitive stuff without necessarily even realizing it. Those skills have to be taught to reluctant readers, and it's not an easy process, especially if they haven't bought into the story.
"This was your grandma's favorite book when she was a teen" is not likely to win many reluctant readers over.
