Full Description
A complete critical guide to the history, form and contexts of the genre, Children's and Young Adult Comics helps readers explore how comics have engaged with one of their most crucial audiences.
In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as:
- The history of comics for children and young adults, from early cartoon strips to the rise of comics as mainstream children's literature
- Cultural contexts - from the Comics Code Authority to graphic novel adaptations of popular children's texts such as Neil Gaiman's Coraline
- Key texts - from familiar favourites like Peanuts and Archie Comics to YA graphic novels such as Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese and hybrid works including the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
- Important theoretical and critical approaches to studying children's and young adult comics
Children's and Young Adult Comics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms and a lengthy resources section to help students and readers develop their understanding of these genres and pursue independent study.
Contents
1 Introduction: "Comics Are the Language of the Future"
The educative potential of comics
The relationship between children's literature and children's comics
Features of this book
2 Historical Overview
The parallel development of children's literature and children's comics
The anti-comics crusade
The influencers: Archie and Peanuts
The second golden age of children's literature
From manga to mainstream
3 Social and Cultural Impact
Diversity and intersectionality
Fan culture and author/reader interactions
Censorship and age designations
4 Critical Uses
Thematic concerns of children's literature
Formal concerns particular to the comics medium
Case study: closure and layout
Case study: repetition and braiding
Case study: wordless comics and hybrid formats
Case study: image/text relationships
Case study: focalization and point of view
Case study: line style and color
Case study: manga
Bringing it all together: writing about comics
5 Key Texts
Adaptation
Historical Nonfiction
Informational Texts
Memoir
Fairy Tales
Fantasy
Mystery
Glossary
Resources
Index
