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.