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A N D T H E E F F E C T O N R E A D A B I L I T Y A N D R E A D I N G C O M P R E H E N S I O N I N Y O U N G E R A U D I E N C E S
LAYOUT IN CHILDREN’S COMICS
INTRODUCTION
• Children’s comics are not the same as children’s books.• Children’s comics serve a different purpose from
other types of comics.• Require a different structure. • Two types of children’s comics in this thesis-
“Early Reader” and “Chapter Comic Books”
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND CHILDREN’S COMIC BOOKS
• Confusion about difference between children’s books and children’s comics• Some overlap with titles such as Diary of a Wimpy
Kid; books that feature cartoony illustrations• Children’s comics feature 1+ panels per page and
text is in balloons or caption boxes.• Children’s books have one image per page and
dialogue in captions surrounding image
Children’s chapter books
Children’s Chapter Comic (Winx Club)
CHILDREN’S COMICS AND CHILDREN’S LITERACY
• Comics can be used to encourage struggling readers• Image-text interdependency reinforces vocabulary,
gives struggling readers confidence to make guesses.
• Children can take turns reading comics with parents, friends, or teachers, encourages the social aspect of reading
• Comics tend to be seen as being “fun”, not “work”• Generally layout follows directionality conventional
to that country, reinforces literacy skills• Teaches timing, helps children develop a sense of
direction
EARLY READER COMICS
• Focuses on children ages 3-5 (beginning readers)• May have little to no dialogue• Can be read by a child with no literacy skills• Very simple comics with straightforward layouts• Should be designed to accommodate the reader’s
limitations, reinforce literacy skills.
EFFECTIVE LAYOUT
Silly Lilly, by Agnès Rosenstiehl
EXPLANATION
• Layout is simple and linear, it follows the reading direction that children are taught in school. • Panels are large and based on a grid, so they fit
together with no wasted space• The pages in the example were originally facing
pages in the book, the artist has taken this into consideration, neither page is more distracting than the other.
Lucy Knisley, “There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”,Nursery Rhyme Comics
EXPLANATION
• Reading direction follows the left to right directionality that is common literacy practice in the Western Hemisphere• Reading direction is very clear• Space is utilized well• Layout is not overly cluttered• Although this is a more challenging layout than
the Silly Lilly example, children tend to be familiar with the rhyme and can easily follow along.
NON-EFFECTIVE LAYOUT
Craig Thompson, “Owl and the Pussycat”, Nursery Rhyme Comics
EXPLANATION
• No concrete distinction between panels, they tend to blend together and become confusing• Reading direction is unclear• Page is overly cluttered, very distracting• Hard to follow even for a frequent comic reader
mo oh, “Hush, Little Baby” Nursery Rhyme Comics
EXPLANATION
• Reading direction is extremely unclear• Pages have too many panels• Objects outside of panels may cause reading
direction confusion or be distracting• May require several attempts to understand the
flow
GENERAL PROBLEMS
• Creator is unfamiliar with children, doesn’t understand reading limitations.• Creator does not want to “dumb down” the
product, resulting in a work that is more “All Ages” than “Early Reader”• Many conflicting definitions for what is
appropriate for the age range• Definitions and standards of literacy are nebulous
as well
CHAPTER COMICS-
• Aimed at children 5-9• Has chapters or is broken into segments.• Longer and more complex than early reader• Still fairly simple in design
EFFECTIVE LAYOUT
Winx Club, published by VIZ
EXPLANATION
• More complicated than ‘early reader’, but not so complicated that the reading direction is unclear.• Introduces several interesting techniques
including bleed and overlap in an easily understood way• Panels are still fairly large, so it is easy to see
everything in the panel
“Tomorrow’s Heroes”, Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century, published by DC
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Note: Pages are non-sequential.
EXPLANATION
Figure 1:• Page layout is easy
to read• Large panels display
a great deal of background, making placement easier
Figure 2:• Panel breaks
make for a dynamic page without increasing the reading difficultly substantially
• Occasionally a more difficult page serves as a “treat” for the reader
• Panel shape also makes for a dynamic, “fun” read.
Figure 3:• Panel break is fun
and dynamic, Superman “pushes” the reader in the reading direction without seeming too obvious
• Layout is fairly simple and straightforward
• Large bottom panel allows action to breathe.
NON-EFFECTIVE LAYOUT
Copper, by Kazu Kibuishi
EXPLANATION
• Reading direction is unclear, reader could go left to right, or go down from the first panel. Reading in the wrong direction leads to confusion.• This book utilizes pages that are full of tiny
panels, which become hard to read and can tire the reader out quickly
“Tomorrow’s Heroes”, Legion of Superheroes in the 31st Century, published by DC
Note: Pages are non-sequential
Figure 1 Figure 2
WHY THIS DOESN’T WORK
Figure 1• Poor utilization of
space, a fair amount of the page is wasted• Overlap of panels
is unnecessary and confusing, does not add to dynamism of page
Figure 2• Panel 1 is poorly
executed and confusing• Panels 2 and 3
merge unnecessarily• Borders of panels
aren’t thick enough to prevent visual bleed
Teen Titans GO!, published by DC
WHY THIS DOESN’T WORK
• Inefficient use of space- lot of white space on the page that could be used to show environment• Distracting, unnecessary, oddly-shaped inset
panel. The page is working to accommodate one particular, non-essential panel, instead of vice-versa
GENERAL PROBLEMS
• Pages are too busy, the work becomes difficult and tiring to read• Pages don’t follow a linear format, require several
rereadings with little payoff for the reader.• By introducing more complex comic vocabulary
that’s poorly used, the creator is only making the work more confusing• Creator doesn’t understand audience, work is
either overly childish or overly mature to be a children’s chapter comic.
SOLUTIONS
• Creators should keep the limited reading skills life experience of their young readers in mind when making children’s comics.• Children’s comics should have shorter chapter
lengths and less complex scenarios than all ages comics or adult comics. Layouts should also be simplified for younger, less experienced readers . • Reading direction should be clear, creators should
not need arrows to indicate reading flow.• For early reader comics, reading flow should
follow directionality conventions in the comic, to enforce early literacy practices.
CONCLUSION
• Children’s comics offer different opportunities from children’s books
• A child can learn much from reading comics-timing, direction
• Comics are more interactive than books, engaging the reader.
• Offer more immediate interdependence between text and illustrations, which is useful for word association
• Creators and publishers need to better understand their demographic in order to deliver a better product.