Library Spotlight

WEEK A

WEEK BEGINNING 16/09/24

Editorial: Why Read Graphic Novels?

Graphic novels are books aimed at teenagers and adults that tell a story using words and pictures simultaneously. They span all genres, come in an endless variety of art styles, and can be either fiction or non-fiction. When you read a graphic novel, you engage a different part of your brain than when you read a book with just words. This is because in a graphic novel, you read pictures for context alongside the text. Sometimes, the written language in graphic novels can be more complex than you're used to, as the images provide clues to the meanings of the words. Because of this, many people enjoy reading graphic novels in their second or third language, finding it a fun way to learn new words and phrases. The ability to read both pictures and text simultaneously is a valuable skill, useful for interpreting graphs, charts, and infographics, watching PowerPoint presentations, reading the news, watching TV and films, interpreting artwork, and much more. Interestingly, when you read books without pictures, you typically read faster the more practice, however, with graphic novels the opposite tends to happen – the more you proficient you become, the slower you go! This is because over time, your brain has been trained to prioritise written words, but as you hone your skill of "reading" pictures, you start to spend more time absorbing the context they provide. The artwork in graphic novels varies widely, and it's common to find a style or artist you like and enjoy reading books created in just that style. One very popular style is found in a subset of graphic novels that originated in Japan, known as manga. If you can picture the human characters in Pokémon, you'll have an idea of the drawing style used in manga. If you're unfamiliar with manga, you may have come across anime, which is the animated version of manga. Since manga originated in Japan, it’s often read from back to front and right to left. If you start enjoying manga, not only would you be developing a unique side of your brain, but you'd also be learning a new skill! We have around 800 graphic novels in the library with more being added all the time. You can find them at the Quad end of the library on the right hand side; we also make sure to always include some in our Book Box selection on Field side.

NEW THIS TERM!