Reading With Pictures

July 15, 2014
Fifteen short, new (save one) episodes from 32 comics artists, writers and editors are presented as demonstrations of how comics can be used for educational purposes.That agenda often weighs heavily on the entries, which are grouped under headers for "Language Arts," "Science," "Mathematics" and "Social Studies." Chris Schweizer's "The Black Brigade," for instance, introduces a company of "Ethiopes" who fought on the British side in the American Revolution-but nearly all the action takes place offstage, and in the tiny panels, figures are crowded out by expository dialogue. Furthermore, in some episodes, the action is hard to follow, and in others, the writing barely reaches the sophomoric: "Whole books could now be produced in mass"; "Last night's homework was over how you can explain complex instruction visually." And even the better-crafted contributions aren't free from factual errors. Martha Custis' name is misspelled in a revealing, high-energy portrait of "George Washington: Action President," and the gravitational effects on space flight are casually dismissed in a hilarious discourse on the Newtonian Laws of Motion featuring Dr. Sputnik and the detached head of the great scientist.Worthy of concept, wildly uneven in execution. (downloadable lesson plans, not seen) (Graphic anthology. 10-13)

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Starred review from October 15, 2014
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* In 2009, Elder founded Reading with Pictures, a nonprofit organization devoted to recognizing comics' potential as an educational tool. Their website is at the forefront of this effort, and Reading with Pictures is the tangible manifestation of this mission. It's a tremendous relief, then, that the book delivers. Elder has assembled an array of creators adept at speaking in engaging, nondidactic voices, and each subjectlanguage arts, science, mathematics, and social studiesfeatures three to five stories that skillfully craft basic principles into energetic stories. Not surprisingly, language arts and social studies achieve the greatest success here, and Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's George Washington: Action President proves the high-water mark for a blend of facts and comics artistry. Stories run toward the comedic, but every student will find something to connect with, and even though teacher-oriented content is included, kids will happily gloss over that to get right to the comics. Although downloadable lesson plans are available for each story (a fact that could be better highlighted), any one of them could easily be assigned as a supplement to a larger lesson. A great tool in itself, hopefully Reading with Pictures will also prove to be but the first building block of a much vaster structure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)