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Graphic Novels that Take Reading Further
Graphic novels are more than comic books. They ask readers to make meaning from both words and images, follow sequences of events, interpret visual clues, make inferences, and connect information across a story.
For students who struggle with reading, this combination can provide an important bridge between what they can understand and what they can comfortably decode. For reluctant readers, it can provide the motivation to pick up a book in the first place. And for all readers, it offers a different way to encounter complex topics and ideas.
That’s the concept behind our Read and Reason books, a growing series of graphic novels designed to strengthen reading comprehension while introducing students to subjects worth thinking about.
Why Graphic Novels?
They Can Help Bridge Reading Gaps
Many students are capable of understanding ideas that are more advanced than the text they can comfortably read. Graphic novels provide visual context that can help support comprehension while students work through the written language. The combination of words and images can act as a scaffold for developing or struggling readers.
They Give Reluctant Readers a Way In
For a child who finds traditional novels intimidating or uninteresting, a graphic novel can be an inviting place to start. Research cited by the organization United Through Reading found that children who read graphic novels for pleasure are more likely to report enjoying reading and seeing themselves as good readers.
They Strengthen Comprehension
Graphic novels require readers to pay attention to more than the words on the page. Readers interpret expressions, actions, settings, panel sequences, and other visual information alongside the written text. They make inferences, track relationships between events, and use multiple kinds of clues to understand what’s happening.
They Make Complex Ideas More Accessible
A graphic novel can introduce students to subjects they might otherwise encounter only in a textbook. History, philosophy, science, mathematics, and other academic subjects can become part of an engaging narrative.
Explore the Read and Reason Graphic Novels
Philosophy
This introduction to philosophical thinking invites readers to explore questions about the nature of identity. Better yet, it’s interactive! Readers choose their next adventure as protagonists Phil the monkey and Soph the tiger explore philosophical theories about identity and time with twenty-three eminent Eastern and Middle Eastern philosophers.
Latin
Young readers follow siblings Caecilia and Verus as they explore their home in ancient Rome, all while building vocabulary and understanding simple Latin through repetition, illustrations, photographs, and context. The book combines the first two volumes of the Latin curriculum into one accessible and entertaining introduction to the language and world of ancient Rome.
COMING SOON! Science/Science Fiction
The Mars Colony Chronicles:
Kipton and the Mystery of the Stromatolite
Coming soon, this book brings reading comprehension together with a mystery adventure set in a colony on Mars. As readers follow the story, they encounter scientific concepts and questions that encourage them to read closely, make connections, and think critically.