Guest Blogger
April FUNdraising in Chicago for Reading With Pictures
April in Chicago means two things are about to invade the Chicago lakeshore: beautiful springtime weather, and the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) at McCormick place! This year, Reading with Pictures is partnering with local event organizers CrawlNightLong (www.crawlnightlong.com) to make a month-long fundraising extravaganza. Everything kicks off April 1st, when nearby South Loop pizza joint Flo & Santos (http://www.floandsantos.com) celebrates their 5th anniversary by serving up their April pizza of the month, a superhero-themed “The Flame” pie. With pepperoni, garlic, smoked ghost pepper mozzarella cheese, and sriracha sauce, this is surely a pizza you won’t forget. And to […] Read More
KCC BUCKS 4 BOOKS
Today we welcome a guest post from Alex Simmons, founder of Kids Comic Con. He’s sharing a story about a really exciting campaign he’s doing to help get comics into the classroom! About 12 days ago I launched the KCC BUCKS 4 BOOKS fundraiser on IndieGoGo.com. The purpose is to help raise money so that at our event on May 11th, we can give some money to needy children so they can buy books there. How much is explained on the fundraiser web site. How many is dependent on how much we raise. Why am I, and my KCC volunteers, doing this? Let […] Read More
Creative Power to the People
Guest Blogger: Clive Goodinson, Pixton Comics
A few years ago I was browsing Wikipedia and admiring its wonderfully collaborative nature. Anyone could create content and build upon or refine the contributions of others. However, as someone who loves stories and creativity, I lamented that it deals only with objective fact. Poetic license is necessarily sifted out through peer-review and consensus. What if, I thought, there were a Wikipedia for stories and other expressions of the imagination?
Hamlet from Ham Sandwich
Guest Blogger: Conor McCreery When Anthony Del Col and I started Kill Shakespeare we hoped that our comic series would prove popular not just with people who were well-versed in Shakespeare but to those who were less familiar with the Bard. A big part of choosing the comic medium was our feeling that the ability to “see” the lust, love, magic, betrayal, jealousy, and battle that circle through Shakespeare’s works would help the reader realize the Bard was not the “old dead white guy” school told us about.
Building Interact Between the Graphic Novel and Students in College Composition
By Guest Blogger: Ellen Ma “Why are we reading a comic book?” would probably have been something I would have dreaded to hear if one of my students asked me this question, or even from someone who found out I was using graphic novels in my composition course. Perhaps what would be even worse is not being able to provide a reasonable answer and this fear didn’t set in until after my first experience from introducing the graphic novel to my college composition freshman. Due to taking a strong interest in reading comics since grade school, my “comic book self” […] Read More
Why Get Comics into Schools and Schools into Comics?
By Guest Blogger: Dr. Katie Monnin The first time someone told me about the nonprofit organization Reading with Pictures (RWP), I said: “Brilliant!” I would like to take this opportunity to explain why I said “Brilliant!” Perhaps surprisingly to those of you who know me, I did not say “Brilliant!” because I am extremely passionate about using comics and graphic novels in the classroom. I said “Brilliant!” because RWP grounds itself in the fundamental theories behind WHY we must shift our literacy pedagogy to value comic books and graphic novels in the classroom.
Biff! Pow! Boom! Zap!
By Guest Blogger: Shane Berryhill Biff! Pow! Boom! Zap! That’s the sound of the sneak attack that typically begins one’s love affair with the art form inaptly known as comics. I’m no exception. That’s right. I’m a proud, card-carrying member of the graphic literature fan club. Membership has served me well over the years. Not only has graphic literature brought me endless hours of entertainment, but it helped me in the classroom during my younger days as well.
Redrawing the Textbook
By Guest Bloggers: Marie Adachi, Susan Han, Erica MacKenzie, Bailey Miles, Neha Sathe, MS2s Clare Rosean, MFA candidate One would think that a group of University of Chicago medical students, would, at this stage of their academic careers, already know how to study. But faced with more information than we had ever previously encountered, we realized our tired methods of reading (and re-reading) Powerpoint slides, classroom notes, and 1000-page textbooks fell short. We just couldn’t keep it all in our heads. Needing a more engaging way to absorb the material, we told stories and drew pictures that resembled less and less the […] Read More
Where do ideas come from?
By Guest Bloggers: Dan Almoney & Edward Fox Seems like a simple question, but for some it’s a tough one to answer. It’s even harder to explain it to a kid looking to make their mark on the world. Now, try to answer that question in the middle of a school day that’s jam packed with lesson requirements, standardized tests and a home life filled with Playstation and the internet.
The Great Power (and Responsibility) of Perception
By Guest Blogger: Todd Kent “Comics have always been looked down upon as a ghetto medium.” That is a quote from James O’Barr (“The Crow”) from the documentary “Comic Book Literacy” which I recently completed. It is one of the biggest lessons I learned from my experience producing the film. Well, not necessarily from the producing process, but rather the promotional process.