So, last night I participated in the monthly #educomix twitter chat which has kinda made me look at what is in my classroom graphic novel library. Please understand, for the last 2 years I have not been a classroom teacher, I have been a “special” teacher meaning I see every student in the school one day a week. I did the math and figured I see kids somewhere around 27 hours a year. I pick a handful of kids to check out one book when they leave my class. If I let everyone my entire class time would be used checking out books. Sure some books go missing, things happen. The saddest thing that has ever happened was when a student returned to my room handing back the book he had just checked out. I asked him why and he replied, “My teacher wont let me read this, it’s not at my level.” My solution- I asked him his ZPD and found him books at his level. My question is whatever happened to pleasure reading? If I stuck to books “at my level” I’d only be able to read dissertations.
When I first started teaching, 30 years ago I remember bringing in my comics as a way to teach my first graders how to sort and classify things. They thought it was cool and my collection got organized, win-win. Since then I’ve always had some kind of a graphic novel library in my classroom. The only rule was you could not only have comic books. My personal rule was to avoid comic strip compilations and focus on publishers other than Marvel & DC. That doesn’t mean I don’t have Spider-Man or Batman it just means that is a small part of my library. That can be harder than it seems. The biggest problem has been replacing books – they go out of print and no one collects all ages comics. I must thank @comiccarnival for looking out for me. I come in and there are pages from Previews with books circled and notes next to them. So teachers get to know your local comic shop. Don’t just drop by on Free Comic Book Day and ask for class sets of whatever they have left. Talk to them about the books they have, ask for suggestions- you’ll find out quickly what they think is appropriate for your kids.
Caveat Emptor: While kids are open to a lot of ideas, parents have a lot of baggage and think their child understands situations the same way they do. This is how books get banned, principals get called, bad things happen to good people. So here’s what’s in my graphic novel library- remember what I have might not work for your class.
In no particular order (s= series):
- Bone (s) – Jeff Smith
- Amulet (s) – Kazu Kibushi
- Ordinary People Change the World (s) Brad Meltzer & Chris Eliopoulos
- Science Comics (s) – various Published by First Second
- The Baby Sitter’s Club (s) – various published by Scholastic
- Mighty Jack (s) – Ben Hatke
- Zita the Space Girl( s) – Ben Hatke
- Cleopatra in Space (s) – Mike Maihack
- Leave It to Chance (s) – James Robinson & Paul Smith
- Secret Coders (s) Gene Luen Yang & Mike Holmes
- Salem Hyde (s) – Frank Cammuso
- Hilo (s) – Judd Winick
- Giants Beware – Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
- Dragons Beware – Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
- Monsters Beware – Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado
- G Man (s) – Chris Giarrusso
- Red’s Planet (s) – Eddie Pittman
- Super Dinosaur (s) – Robert Kirkman & Jason Howard
- Smash (s) – Chris A. Bolton and Kyle Bolton
- Little Guardians (s) – Ed Cho & Lee Cherolis
- Dreamland Chronicles (s) – Scott Christian Sava
- Star Drop (s) – Mark Oakley
- Smile – Raina Telgemeier
- Sisters – Raina Telgemeier
- Ghosts – Raina Telgemeier
- Drama – Raina Telgemeier
- El Deafo – CeCe Bell
- Solution Squad – Jim McClain
- Reading with Pictures – Various
- Time Shifters – Chris Grine
- All’s Faire in Middle School – Victoria Jamieson
- Roller Girls – Victoria Jamieson
- Pigs Might Fly – Nick Abadzis and Jerel Dye
- The Adventures of Superhero Girl – Faith Hicks
- Mouse Guard (s) – David Petersen
- Jellaby (s) – Kean Soo
- Spidey – Robbie Thompson & Nick Bradshaw
- Camp Midnight – Steven Seagle and Jason Katzenstein
- Anna’s Ghost – Vera Brosgol
- Making Friends – Kristen Gudsnuk
- The Courageous Princess (s) – Rod Espinosa
- Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction – Nick Dragotta & Saul Griffith
- Howtoons (Re)Ignition – Fred Van Lente & Tom Fowler
- Kid Beowulf (s) – Alexis E. Fajardo
- Animal Crackers – Scott Christian Sava & Mike Holmes
- Herobear & the Kid – Mike Kunkel
- Sunny Side Up – Jennifer Holm & Matt Holm
- Power Pack Vol.1 – Marc Sumerak & Gurihiru
- Tiny Titans (s) – Art Baltazar & Franco Aureliani
- Teen Titans Go (s) – various
- Lunch Lady (s) – Jarrett J. Krosoczka
- Leon Protector of the Playground – Jamar Nichols
- Buzz Boy – John Gallagher
- RoBoy Red – Rich Faber & John Gallagher
- New Brighton Archeological Society (s) – Mark Andrew Smith & Andrew Weldon
- Little Tails (s) – Frederic Brremaud & various
- Cowboy -Chris Eliopoulos
- Phoebe and her Unicorn (s) – Dana Simpson
- Making Scents – Arthur Yorinks and Braden Lamb
- Cosmic Commandos – Chris Eliopoulos
- Monster Mayhem – Chris Eliopoulos
- Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales (s) – Nathan Hale
- Comic Squad – Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm
- Albert the Alien (s) – Trevor Mueller and Gabriel Bautista
- Star Scouts (s) – Mike Lawrence
- Space Battle Lunchtime – Natalie Riess
- Suee and the Shadow – Ginger Ly & Molly Park
- Mr. Wolf’s Class (s) – Aron Nels Steinke
- Geeky Fab 5 (s)- Liz Lareau and Lucy Lareau
- Billy Batson & the Magic of Shazam (s)- various
- Sheets – Brenna Thummler
- DC Secret Society (s) – Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen
- Nameless City (s) – Faith Hicks
- The Princess Who Saved Herself –Jonathan Coulton and Greg Pak
- Amelia Rules – Jimmy Gownley
- The Dumbest Idea Ever – Jimmy Gownley
- Dream Jumper (s) – Greg Grunberg and Lucas Turnbloom
- Kitten Construction Company – John Patrick Green
- Crafty Cat (s) – Charise Mericle Harper
- Regal Academy (s) – various
- Dare Detectives (s) – Ben Caldwell
- City on the Other Side – Mairghread Scott and Robin Robinson
- Cucumber Quest (s) – Gigi D.G.
- The Creepy Case Files of Marco Maloo – Drew Weing
- Catsronauts (s) – Drew Brockington
- Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in 8th Grade – Landry Walker and Eric Jones
- Quirk’s Quest (s) – Robert Christie and Deborah Lang
- March Gran Prix (s) – Kean Soo
- Binky the Space Cat – Ashley Spires
I know that seems like a lot but to make sure every kid has something that interests them you need to have a wide variety. I also have some good old fashioned comic books in short boxes also. The only rule is that you return it as close to the way you got it.