(no subject)

[rivka]

Alex just read aloud an Art Spiegelman graphic novel.

No, not that one.

This one. Jack and the Box, a graphic novel for emergent (i.e., beginning) readers. Which just happens to have been written by Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Maus. As you might expect, it's a somewhat unsettling story with dark notes under the surface. But engaging! Alex seemed to find it less creepy than I did.

Spiegelman's wife Francois Mouly is in charge of a new line of comics/graphic novels for very early readers. As far as I can tell, Spiegelman's only written one of them so far. I've listened to a lot of early readers lately, since Alex has been on a learning-to-read kick, and man are most of them painful to sit through. This one was cool.

I like this quote from a Booklist review: "It’s one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for moments," says Spiegelman. "After years of saying comics are not just for kids, we sort of have to say, 'But wait, they’re also for kids!' "

Comments

[columbina.livejournal.com]

Spiegelman's always got a little unsettling below the surface. Alex might also like Open Me, I'm a Dog, where the idea is that the book actually IS a dog - which has been turned into a book!

http://www.amazon.com/Open-Me-Im-Dog-Art-Spiegelman/dp/0060273208/

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

We were supposed to each bring in a Hugo winner and give a report on it for December's bookgroup, but the 20" of snow stopped that. We're doing it March now, and I'm doing Girl Genius from graphic novel. I asked our librarian to pull some specific graphic novels so I could show them to the other members, and everything, even Maus was either YA or J.

[matthewwdaly.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd be more surprised at a library carrying some graphic novels but not Watchmen (speaking of picture books that have won a Hugo) or stocking it as YA.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

The bookgroup already did Watchmen as the total group, so since I've read all the novel winners except Rainbow's End, which two of the guys are reading for the meeting, I decided to show them Girl Genius, Vol. 8.

I don't know why they're all stocked as YA or J, but the librarian put in an inquiry.

[matthewwdaly.livejournal.com]

If she likes Spiegelman, maybe she'd enjoy Gorey. I have every expectation that she would find "The Curious Sofa" to be less creepy than you would.

[naomikritzer]

My kids found some Gorey collections as we were going through my father-in-law's stuff in preparation for his move.

They LOVED the alphabet (A is for Amy who fell down the stairs...) and memorized it and recited it gleefully to random friends and family members for weeks afterward.