CANADIAN SOCIAL STUDIES
VOLUME 37, NUMBER 1, FALL 2002

Pow! Zap! Wham!
Creating Comic Books from Picture Books in
Social Studies Classrooms

Gregory Bryan,
Brigham Young University
George W. Chilcoat,
Brigham Young University
Timothy G. Morrison,
Brigham Young University

 

Having a sense of "been there, seen that," I can never resist a smile when I read popular Canadian story-teller Robert Munsch's book Thomas ' Snowsuit (1985). I've seen some dreadfully ugly snowsuits during my time in Canada, but it didn't take me long to recognize that, at least in my life, warmth takes precedence over fashion. Despite my mirth, I find I cannot help but wonder if there really is much to laugh about when enduring those long, cold Canadian winters. There have been times when I've opted for something akin to "three warm snowsuits, three warm parkas, six warm mittens, six warm socks and one pair of very warm boot sort of things called mukluks!" (Munsch 1986). It is a special kind of person who can face those frozen Arctic breezes with a smile on the face. Life in Canada's North Country presents all types of difficult challenges--especially when one considers the additional threat of the mythical Qallupilluit wanting to drag little children through cracks in the ice (Munsch & Kusugak 1988)! One cannot help but be filled with admiration for the Inuit people who for so long have endured Canada's seemingly endless winters, struggling against the elements while retelling legends that help to explain their surroundings.

- lead author

Many social studies teachers continually struggle against student apathy. Students regard social studies as a tiresome subject. The unpopularity is caused in part by traditional approaches to instruction and partly by the textbooks employed in such instruction. To provide a more student-friendly alternative, we advocate the use of popular culture in a literature-based, picture book-reliant, approach to social studies instruction. We believe that through this approach teachers can positively change students' attitudes toward social studies.

Although there are many possible uses of popular culture within the classroom, this article concentrates on a social studies example, with the Inuit way of life as its focus. In this instance, students are involved in design and production of comic books. In their quest for knowledge about the Inuit, students are encouraged to read from a variety of picture books. After becoming familiar with the topic, students begin working upon their comic book presentations. While our focus here is with intermediate grades in the elementary school, applications can readily be made in secondary school settings. Before presenting our classroom example, we provide a rationale for our approach, by emphasizing the value of a popular culture, literature-based instructional design in motivating students. Additionally, we present a brief overview of the history of comic books in Canada.3

Stimulating Interest in Social Studies
At all grade levels social studies is the least popular school subject (Chilcoat 1995; Sewall 1988; Tunnell & Jacobs 2000). The traditional approach to social studies instruction relies heavily upon the course textbook (Holmes & Armmon 1985). Unfortunately, there is evidence that the traditional approach to social studies instruction is a key source of students' disinterest in the subject (Chilcoat 1993; 1995) and that overuse of textbooks is one of the major reasons children find social studies tedious (Sewall 1988; Tunnell & Jacobs 2000)

Trade Books Over Textbooks
Unfortunately, many students do not value social studies as being important in their lives (Chilcoat 1995). This is at least partly because textbooks are ineffective in helping children make relevant connections between social studies content and their own lives (Tunnell & Jacobs 2000). Little wonder that children experience difficulty making personal connections, as children are almost never mentioned in textbooks (Tunnell & Jacobs 2000). Textbooks cover so much material that it is impossible for a reader to obtain intimate, personal views of individual lives (Moore, Moore, Cunningham & Cunningham 1986). After all, "the function of any textbook is to provide a skeleton of subject information" (Tonjes & Zintz 1987, 324).

To help students become more excited about social studies, trade books offer two important advantages over textbooks: more engaging writing and a greater variety of perspectives (Moore et al. 1986). Concerning their value in teaching children, Holmes and Ammon (1985) identify six advantages trade books boast over textbooks: greater range of reading levels, variety of viewpoints, both breadth and depth of content coverage, more current information, more visually appealing, and a variety of styles and formats. Tunnell and Jacobs (2000) go even further and ascribe no less than nine major advantages to teaching the curriculum through trade books: depth of content, many perspectives, current information, variety of writing styles, voice in the writing, range of reading levels, rich language, varied formats and structures, and tools for lifelong learning.

Indeed, the use of children's literature in general has many and varied benefits. Literature provides enjoyable access to and exploration of the world outside children's own limited experience (Morrison & Chilcoat 1998; Yopp & Yopp 2001). A literature-based approach promotes an exciting and stimulating classroom environment because of the inspirational, informative, nurturing, and affective impact literature exerts (Yopp & Yopp 2001). To this end, Pantaleo (2000) has specifically identified Canadian picture books for use in the social studies classroom.

While advantages for use of trade books are great, several potential drawbacks also exist. Authors of fictional books may not utilize standards of accuracy and completeness that authors of informational books. Space restrictions in some trade books may also limit the amount of information than can be presented. Despite these concerns, the advantages to using trade books in classrooms seems warranted.

The Importance of Popular Culture
We live in a time when media messages dominate our lives as never before. Because we are surrounded by media — from books to magazines, film to television, computer games to the worldwide web — teachers should help their students become critical users of a variety of media sources (Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood 1999; Dyson 1997). Students ought to recognize the impact of popular culture in molding their identities. They should also develop critical media literacy, including the ability to appraise the content of media messages (Buckingham 1998). Some teachers are reluctant to utilize popular culture in the classroom, preferring to retain an in-school/out-of-school dichotomy (Stevens 2001). Teachers fear that non-traditional instructional approaches deny students time they could otherwise devote to gaining exposure to supposedly more significant material. Because many teachers want their students engaged in rigorous scholastic endeavors, they resist activities that appear frivolous.

Others, however, welcome additional instructional resources. We suggest three reasons that support the use of popular culture in the social studies classroom. First, popular culture is
relevant to the lives of children. Use of popular culture can, therefore, diminish the disparity children perceive between their lives in and out of school by legitimizing many of their after school pursuits (Buckingham 1998). Second, there is no denying that popular culture is just that--popular. Students do enjoy it (Wright & Sherman 1999). Third, educators are obligated to prepare students for the world outside the classroom walls, where popular culture boasts a significant presence (Stevens 2001).

Many advocate a popular culture approach to teaching across the curriculum (Alvermann et al. 1999; Chilcoat 1993; Dobrowolski 1976; Koenke 1981; Swain 1978; Schoof 1978). We promote the use of student construction of comic books. Such creative projects can be a culminating activity for students to present their learning at the conclusion of a unit of study. The approach can be comfortably incorporated into literature-based instruction, including reference to books such as Munsch's playful creations. Our purpose is to describe how comic book design can be used to inspire greater interest in social studies, while also assisting students in developing their writing, comprehension, and research skills in a cross-curricular activity.

Comic Book History
The comic book has been a staple reading source for children since 1937, when it first appeared as a "markedly different form of entertainment for youngsters" (Walker 1971, 5). This new form of entertainment rapidly gained popularity in the United States, and in just a few months American publishers began exporting thousands of comic books to Canada. As an economy measure during the lean times of the Second World War, the Canadian Government banned foreign comic books. In December 1940, the War Exchange Conservation
Act banned the importation of certain "non-essential" items into Canada (Walker 1971). By this time, however, Canadian children were hooked on comics. A Toronto publisher named Cyril Vaughan Bell enthusiastically and opportunistically stepped forth to fill the void. Bell encouraged his artists to create "All-Canadian" heroes. Thus, Dixon of the Mounted, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, and the Cape Bretoner, Derek of Bras d'Or, were born. Bell bombarded Canadian children with more than 20 million comic books before the war rumbled to its conclusion. Most of these Canadian comic books were printed in black-and-white, which is why collectors refer to these as the "Canadian Whites" (Walker 1971). When the war ended and the restrictions on imports were lifted, Cy Bell's comics disappeared. It has been unfairly suggested that they did so because they paled in comparison to the superior quality of American comics. Comics flooded back from the south, and the Canadian comic industry floundered because it was unable to compete financially.

In 1954, however, comic books came under severe attack for "corrupt[ing] the innocent minds of the American youth" (Chilcoat & Ligon 1994, 35). Throughout the 1950s and 60s, ideological publications called "comix" became underground tools developed to champion social causes (Bunce 1996; Chilcoat & Ligon 1994). By the 1970s comics had reassumed their position of prominence.

Even today, comic books remain popular worldwide, and "their scope continues to expand" (Bunce 1996, 12). Indeed, one publisher claims that comic books are about to exert a greater impact than ever before (Work 2000).Recently, the market for the graphic novel, a long-form comic book, has flourished. Wolk (2000) reports, "Every couple of years there's a graphic novel so strong that it pulls in tens of thousands of new readers who haven't looked at comics in decades" (38).

Our observations show that comics are still popular with children. After all, they are like "a map or a guidebook to vicarious thrills" (Town 1971, 261). The comic is a form of literature with which children are familiar--a form they enjoy. Given the opportunity to create and share their own comic books, students engage in greater literacy exploration than they otherwise might, as the comic provides a popular and easily accessible format. Such methodology enlivens a classroom.

Creating and sharing books is an essential component of holistic approaches to school instruction. Comic book design provides another opportunity for students to be creative in the presentation of their writing. Use of comic books also enhances instruction in comprehension strategies. Ever since Dolores Durkin (1978-79) called attention to social studies teachers' failed attempts — or more precisely, lack of attempts — to provide comprehension instruction teachers have been more aware of the necessity of focussing on this area of student learning. Reviews of research indicate that retelling and determining importance of text are two of a relatively small set of comprehension strategies (Harvey & Goudvis 2000; Keene & Zimmermann 1997; Pressley & Woloshyn 1995). Creating comic books requires students to determine what is most important from their readings, to re-phrase it succinctly, and then to organize it logically. Indeed, one can consider identifying key ideas, summarizing and re-organizing information in a comic book format as an illustrated, intensive version of the proven story-retelling strategy described by Gambrell, Pfeiffer and Wilson (1985).

A further advantage to this approach is that it offers students an opportunity to develop preliminary research abilities, thus developing skills which will be important to them as they progress through the grades. Students are required to locate information, organize it, and present it in a way that both informs and entertains. Emphasizing the use of picture books as reference materials in studying the Inuit way of life can enliven this unit of study. Teachers never seem to have enough time to cover all that is required of them. Teachers, therefore, will appreciate the opportunity to engage their students in this cross-curricular activity which embraces language arts, social studies, and visual arts.

Initially students familiarize themselves with the lives of the Inuit, including several of their legends and some of the unique challenges of living in such a hostile climate. A variety of quality picture books are readily available from many libraries. Students can sup from these abbreviated texts in order to quickly gain an overview of the topic. Teachers could include several titles as read alouds to acquaint the whole class with several features of Inuit culture. Students could read several of the books together as a class with the teacher modeling how to locate and organize information from a book. For your convenience, at the end of this article we include references for selected works appropriate for elementary school readers.

Comic Book Construction
Before students begin to actually design their comic book creations, they need to have researched the topic, having located, collected, and organized their information. We will now proceed to detail the development of comic books, with especial focus upon page layout, story development, drawing, and narration. Following this description, we provide an example of one student's comic book presentation.

Page Lay-Out
A comic book is made up of a number of paneled pages (see Figure 1). A panel is the fundamental unit of comic art. As a series of still pictures, a panel combines with other panels to convey scenes in the story. Each panel is a bordered illustration that contains visual information — drawings, word balloons, captions, and sound effects.

To structure a comic book, determine the number of scenes required to tell the story. A scene can be as brief as two or three panels or can stretch into several pages. Group each sequence of panels into an arrangement that portrays the scene. Determine the size and shape of each panel. The panel's shape is designed to accentuate feeling, provide dramatic impact, and define movement. Varying the size of the panels is one way of slowing down and speeding up the action within a scene. Adding more panels speeds up the action, while reducing the number of panels slows the pacing.

Panels are usually rectangular. The number and placement of panels on a page influence the ease with which readers follow the story. Modifying the size and/or shape of panels makes the story more readable and dramatic. Layouts should be simple, clean and concise. Putting too much information in one panel or creating unusual panel shapes can both inhibit the flow of a story and interfere with understanding.

Panel borders can be drawn freehand or with a ruler. The space between panels, called a "gutter," may be no more than a simple dividing line or may be varied to imply action, movement, or transition between panels. The author might effectively utilize a variety of panels to satisfy different purposes. Contiguous panels are a montage of same-size panels suggesting rapid movement (e.g., five or six individual thin vertical panels presented together create a rapid-fire exchange effect). Text-heavy panels may contain a picture with a side caption bar, an unusual amount of text, a large number of narrative boxes, or a cluster of captions. Insert panels are usually small rectangle panels that highlight in detail something occurring in a larger panel. Meta-panels are a set of effective smaller insert or inner-panels.

The cover page, important to every comic book, is a striking, fully illustrated page that tells the story in one picture. The illustration highlights the basic story line, giving the reader a hint of the comic's content. It should portray the major character(s). The drawing must be clear, visually concise, powerful, dramatic, intriguing, and energetic. The cover page should also include the title of the comic and the name of the author.

Figure 1. Types of panels commonly used in creating comic books.

Story Development
To develop the comic book plot, one must consider three components--story structure, script format, and characterization. Attention to each of these will lead to the overall structure of the comic book.

Story Structure
Story structure helps balance the story by dividing the series of events into three general parts--a beginning, a middle, and an ending. The beginning establishes the setting, including place, time, and main characters, as well as initiating the conflict or problem of the story. The middle contains the bulk of the story. Through a series of events the story develops and escalates as characters face difficulties in achieving their goals. The ending provides the climax and resolution of the story.

Script Formatting
After the plot has been developed, one needs to create a visual road map for the design of the comic book. The story needs to be translated into a number of panels and pages. Determine how many panels and pages are needed for each of the beginning, middle, and ending scenes.
Decide how many panels will fit on each page. The number of panels on each page depends on how the sequence of each of the individual scenes will play out. Each panel includes a rough sketch of its setting, action, and characters, and it also includes notes about possible dialogue, captions, and/or sound effects. These panels can serve as a story outline. For example, one might show borders, make notes about story events, sketch in stick figures representing characters, and jot down possible conversation. Script formatting affords an opportunity to check for inconsistencies and errors of action and sequence before making final drawings.

Characterization
Comic book characters are not developed as completely as one would normally expect in story narratives. They are usually portrayed stereotypically, as larger than life. The protagonist is all conquering, all capable, and all good (e.g., Superman, Johnny Canuck, X-Men, Batman), whereas the antagonist is the opposite (e.g., Lex Luther, Hitler, Magneto, The Penguin). As students are here reporting on historical figures or ways of life, they should portray characters as rounded, more realistic individuals. To avoid confusion, it is important to exercise care in constructing and drawing characters that can be easily distinguished from one another.

Drawing
Although the purpose of this project is not necessarily to produce fine art, if a teacher reminds students of a few simple guidelines their end products will be more visually pleasing. We suggest that students draw each panel as realistically and as believably as possible. In each scene, students should endeavor to reflect what they have learned from their research. Students should keep their drawings simple, avoiding the clutter of too much detail. Finally, it is best not to place the "center-of-interest" in the middle of a panel. A more compelling alternative is to place the focus elsewhere in the panel.

Foreground and Background
In comic books, action may take place on two planes--foreground and background. Generally, people or things in the foreground are the main focus of the panel. It is where most of the action takes place. Foreground illustrations are often larger and more detailed than background drawings, and they sometimes partially obscure background objects.
Along with narration, the background helps create the setting for the panel. Background action usually complements the main action. A background can also serve an integral purpose, depicting such things as fire, storms, or buildings. Excessive background detail can, however, slow the story's pace, distracting the reader from the plot. If background details have been established in an earlier panel, one might omit them and merely draw characters against a white backdrop.

Drawing Characters
Although the narration helps tell the story, images show the story. While backgrounds and foregrounds provide the context for action, it is the characters themselves who carry the action. One must, therefore, take care in depicting characters. Their moods, feelings and attitudes can be expressed in facial expressions, gestures, and body movements.

Penciling, Inking, and Coloring
Cartooning requires penciling, inking, and coloring. Penciling entails lightly drawing background and foreground details in all panels. After the details have been penciled in, the inking stage involves tracing the pencil lines to make them permanent. Adding color helps create mood and stimulate interest.

Camera Angle
To make a page more visually appealing, one can employ a variety of visual perspectives. One way to accomplish this is to consider the composition of each panel in terms of a "camera angle." Among the many camera angles found in comic books, the more frequently used include close ups, long shots, bird's eye views, and low angle shots.

Narration
Narration is chiefly used to convey essential written information and to carry the plot forward. There are three basic devises for narration: caption boxes, dialogue balloons, and sound effects.
The caption box is third person commentary describing the action in the panel. It may provide information about time, dates, names, or locations, etc. It is usually squared off at the top or bottom of the panel with text inside.

The dialogue balloon is a graphic dramatic device inside the panel that contains characters' thoughts or words. It is a shape linked with a "tail," or a row of ellipses, pointing to the character from whom the thoughts or words emanate. An off-panel balloon, with the tail pointing to a side of a panel is a useful technique to emphasize a point or just to make the panel more interesting. Most balloons occur in the top third of the panel. When more than one balloon appears within a panel, the highest balloon is read first. Manipulating graphic elements of the balloon, such as its shape, size, and boldness, combines with words and illustrations to render desired emotions.
A sound effect is the graphic written representation of a particular sound. It is a bold, onomatopoeic word located near its source. The size, color, and arrangement of the lettering help to capture the essence of the desired sound. When inscribing caption boxes, dialogue balloons, and sound effects, one should remember to keep lettering simple, straight, direct, and legible. This contributes to the overall quality of the comic book presentation.

Culminating Activities
By creating comic books, students are immersed in literature that provides them with information in an interesting format. At several points in the process of comic book construction, students could be reminded that they have acquired information that relates to the goals of their unit of study. Students could be asked to summarize their understanding on a series of charts that outline their learning. This process could lead to new questions that guide their search for additional information. After students have located and organized the information, they can create their comics and prepare to share them with others.

Culminating activities give students opportunities to demonstrate their learning and to share their work with others. Among many possible alternatives, we suggest the following two--a comic-book convention and a panel discussion.

The convention is a social event displaying student comic books. Students design trade show booths with a dramatic backdrop featuring a giant display of their cover pages. Within these booths, students feature the original pages of their comic books and summarize their content. In addition, students provide information on how their comic book was designed and how they conducted the research to develop it. They also discuss how the book relates to the assigned topic. Inviting others to attend this event allows comic book creators to present to a wider audience.

A second activity, the panel discussion, features groups of students, exhibiting and discussing their comic books. Behind each discussion area is a backdrop similar to the trade show booths. The activity begins as students display their comic books and give brief synopses. They then discuss the development, research, and motivation for their comic books. Finally, they answer questions about their experiences. The teacher may encourage students to develop a set of questions they could ask panel members.

Conclusion
Student-generated comic books serve a variety of purposes. Comic book construction "is like literature in that it is concerned with telling a story, like illustration in that it uses drawings to give visual information, and like cinema in that it uses a combination of words and images to carry its message" (Tiner 1997, 145).

The comic book activity described in this article is a means to an end. By creating and sharing their own comic books, students engage in literacy exploration. They also investigate use of dialogue, succinct and dramatic vocabulary, and non-verbal communications in interesting and lively ways. A creative presentation of student expository writing can be achieved using comic book design.

Comic book construction requires students to thoughtfully utilize appropriate comprehension strategies. Students determine the main ideas from their research and summarize their learning in comic book format. Students display information in a manner that both informs and entertains, embracing social studies, language arts, and visual arts.

The comic book activity presents an innovative outlet for students, providing them with an avenue to construct meaningful associations and relationships. Students who have participated in this creative process support it enthusiastically. They believe they learn a great deal more from this type of approach than by traditional teaching methods.

The value of comic book construction is enhanced by the use of picture books. Students begin to realize that many sources of information exist beyond the textbook, sources to which they may turn in the future as they search for new knowledge. Teachers can share current picture books that invite students to experience a variety of cultures and issues. Picture books can breathe life into content area study.

A Selection of Picture Books Useful in Learning about Inuit Life

Dabcovich, L. 1997. The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale. New York: Clarion Books.

Ekoomiak, N. 1988. Arctic Memories. Toronto: NC Press.

George, J. C. 1997. Arctic Son. Illustrated by W. Minor. New York: Hyperion Books.

George, J. C. 1999. Snow Bear. Illustrated by W. Minor. New York: Hyperion Books.

Hewit, G. 1981. Ytek and the Arctic Orchid: An Inuit Legend. Illustrated by H. Woodall. New
York: Vanguard Press.

Leunn, N. 1990. Nessa's Fish. Illustrated by N. Waldman. New York: Atheneum.

Leunn, N. 1994. Nessa's Story. Illustrated by N. Waldman. New York: Atheneum.

McDermott, B. B. 1975. Sedna: An Eskimo Myth. New York: Viking Press.

Philip, N. (Ed.). 1995. Songs are Thoughts: Poems of the Inuit. Illustrated by M. Foal New York: Orchard Books.

Sage, J. 1993. Where the Great Bear Watches. Illustrated by L. Flather. New York: Viking.

Shaw-MacKinnon, M. 1996. Tiktala. Illustrated by L. Gal. Toronto: Stoddart.

Steltzer, U. 1981. Building an Igloo. New York: Henry Holt.

Taylor, H. P. 1998. Ulaq and the Northern Lights. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

References

Alvermann, D. E., J. S. Moon, and M. C. Hagood. 1999. Popular Culture in the Classroom: Teaching and Researching Critical Media Literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Buckingham, D. (Ed.). 1998. Teaching Popular Culture: Beyond Radical Pedagogy. London:
UCL Press.

Bunce, A. "Looking Back at Comics Over the Decades." Christian Science Monitor, 18 June 1996, 12.

Chilcoat, G. W. 1993. "Teaching About the Civil Rights Movement by Using Student Generated Comic Books." Social Studies 84: 113- 18.

Chilcoat, G. W. 1995. "Using Panorama Theatre to Teach Middle School Social Studies. Middle School Journal 26 (4), 52-56.

Chilcoat, G.W., and J. Ligon. 1994. "The Underground Comix: A Popular Culture Approach to
Teaching Historical, Political and Social Issues of the Sixties and Seventies." Michigan Social Studies Journal 7 (1): 35-40.

Dobrowolski, A. 1976. "The Comic Book is Alive and Well and Living in the History Class." The Social Studies 67: 118-20.

Durkin, D. 1978-79. "What Classroom Observations Reveal about Reading Comprehension Instruction." Reading Research Quarterly 14: 481-533.

Dyson, A. H. 1997. Writing Super Heroes: Contemporary Childhood, Popular Culture, and Classroom Literacy. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gambrell, L., W. Pfeiffer, and R. Wilson. 1985. "The Effects of Retelling Upon Reading Comprehension and Recall of Text Information." Journal of Educational Research 78: 216-20.

Harvey, S., and A. Goudvis. 2000. Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance
Understanding. York, ME: Stenhouse.

Holmes, B. C., and R. I. Ammon. 1985. "Teaching Content with Trade Books." Childhood Education 61: 366-70.

Keene, E.O., and S. Zimmermann. 1997. Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader's Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Koenke, K. 1981. "The Careful Use of Comic Books." The Reading Teacher 34: 592-95.

Moore, D. W., S. A. Moore, P. M. Cunningham, and J. W. Cunningham. 1986. Developing Readers and Writers in the Content Areas. New York: Longman.

Morrison, T. G., and G. W. Chilcoat. 1998. "The 'Living Newspaper Theatre' in the Language Arts Classroom." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 42: 2-14.

Pantaleo, S. 2000. "Canadian Picture Books in Social Studies Instruction." Canadian Social Studies 34: 48-51.

Pressley, M., and V. Woloshyn. 1995. Comprehension Strategy Instruction that Really Improves Children 's Academic Performance (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Schoof, R. N. Jr. 1978. "Four-color Words: Comic Books in the Classroom." Language Arts 55: 821-27.

Sewall, G. T. 1988. "American History Textbooks: Where do we go from here?" Phi Delta Kappan 69: 552-58.

Stevens, L. P. 2001. "South Park and Society: Instructional and Curricular Implications of Popular Culture in the Classroom." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 44: 548-55.

Swain, E. H. 1978. "Using comic books to teach reading and language arts." Journal of Reading 22: 253-58.

Tiner, R. 1997. Figure drawing without a model. Brunel House, England: David & Charles.

Tonjes, M. J., and M. V. Zintz. 1987. Teaching reading thinking study skills in content classrooms (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown.

Town, H. 1971. "Afterword." In The great Canadian comic books, M. Hirsh, and P. Loubert, 260-264. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates.

Tunnell, M. O., and J. S. Jacobs. 2000. Children's literature, briefly (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Walker, A. 1971. "Historical perspective." In The great Canadian comic books, M. Hirsh, and P. Loubert, 5-21. Toronto: Peter Martin Associates.

Wolk, D. "Comics: Not Just for Specialty Stores Any More." Publishers Weekly, 16 October 2000, 36-43.

Wright, G., and R. Sherman. 1999. "Let's create a comic strip." Reading Improvement 36: 66-72.

Yopp, R. H., and H. K. Yopp. 2001. Literature-based reading activities (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn
& Bacon.

Greg Bryan taught for four years in elementary schools in Northwestern Ontario. He is presently pursuing graduate studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Skip Chilcoat is a Professor of Social Studies Education in the Department of Teacher Education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Tim Morrison is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Teacher Education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.