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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& #39;s tried introducing avid prose readers to comics, I learned pretty quickly that stuff I& #39;d taken for granted all my life—like what order to read the panels in—isn& #39;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& #39;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& #39;t like to read aren& #39;t going to choose comics over prose, they& #39;re just going to *not read*.
And if I were trying to entice a reluctant reader into reading, I wouldn& #39;t give them a book from 1967 whether it& #39;s The Outsiders or The Amazing Spider-Man. I& #39;m going to give them a book that& #39;s likely to be relevant to their lives right now.
(Both of those examples might be relevant to their lives, but it& #39;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& #39;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& #39;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& #39;s not an easy process, especially if they haven& #39;t bought into the story.
"This was your grandma& #39;s favorite book when she was a teen" is not likely to win many reluctant readers over.
