Product Description

This ultimate guide to collecting and using graphic novels in a school library is written by an elementary librarian out of her experience as a teacher librarian who uses graphic novels in her library media center for instruction and to advance pleasure reading. Her husband and co-author is employed by the comic book industry and is very knowledgeable about the history and development of this increasingly popular type of book. The book contains lesson plans linked to school curriculums for all ages plus a discussion of why graphic novels are useful with certain types of readers, particularly boys and reluctant readers. It feature helpful information and lists for collection development including reviews, reviewing sources, jobbers, Web sties and publisher contact information and posits reasons to help the librarian defend the use of graphic novels with students. Chapters about partnerships with local comic book stores and interviews with librarian users add to this title's usefulness. Illustrated with pages from popular graphic novels, this book will pique the interest of librarians and teachers who just love to read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #222581 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.26 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

From School Library Journal
This excellent resource guide offers school librarians and educators a comprehensive introduction to graphic novels. There is a growing number of professional resources about the topic, all of which cover similar subject matter, including definitions and terminology, cataloging, vendors, and recommended titles. What makes this book unique is the inclusion of numerous reproductions of sample pages from graphic novels and the many lesson plans designed for grades K-12, focusing on the curricular areas of English/language arts, the humanities, and social studies. Readers unfamiliar with the genre will appreciate the section on "How to Read a Comic Book" and the Lygas' ideas about using graphic novels to address multiple intelligences, visual literacy, and reluctant readers. A minor shortcoming is the lack of attention to the topics of age appropriateness and the depiction of women, a concern for many schools. This indispensable, well-organized guide will provide school librarians with all of the necessary information for implementing and developing a graphic-novels collection.–Philip Charles Crawford, Essex High School, Essex Junction, VT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Motivated by their own appreciation of comic books and their experience using them in libraries, the authors offer a readable introduction to graphic novels in the media center. In the first section, they make cogent arguments for the inclusion of graphic novels. A second section introduces common terms and includes an extremely useful "how to read" subsection, complete with sample pages. The remaining sections provide recommended titles for all ages, testimonials from teachers and comic book store proprietors, resource lists, and a set of 17 lesson plans. An appendix of 100 graphic novels, a glossary, references, a lengthy bibliography of mentioned works, and an accurate index complete the volume. Equally useful for those who know graphic novels and for complete neophytes, this is a sound addition for larger elementary-, middle-, and high-school library professional collections. Ann Welton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Graphic Novels in Your Media Center offers not only guidance to make your collection appealing to readers but also potentially keeps you off the P&C 'hitlist' by offering a safe path between all the soft-core porn and blood-letting violence....[a] very practical and insightful book."-Synergy