British kids are no different than their American counterparts when it comes to reading prose versus graphic novels, TV, video games, etc., at least based on an interesting story plus interview with Alan Grant who collaborated with Cam Kennedy on an graphic novel adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Kidnapped (now available in the UK and this fall in America) in The Scotsman.
At least, that’s what Grant found when he made an appearance at Wester Hailes Education Centre as part of a literacy workshop involving Kidnapped and began peppering kids with questions about their reading habits. If you’re having a tough time convincing a young one to try reading a comic or graphic novel, share this little tidbit from Grant:
“There are studies which show that when you’re watching TV, you only use one half of the brain, and the other half goes to sleep. When you read a book, it switches over and you use the other half of your brain. If you read comic books though, you’ll use both halves of the brain, and so people who read comics tend to be smarter than people who don’t.”
Not to be outdone, Grant fielded a few “whopper-style” questions of his own from the kids. Perhaps, the most interesting of the bunch: Are you a millionaire?
February 8th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
It’s too bad Alan Grant’s writing fell (or was pushed…) out of style in the U.S. His Batman books had a nice idiosyncratic flair.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Agreed. When I was a kid, I loved Grant’s run on Detective. He gave us a lot of strange, intelligent, and often poignant stories that were just the right tone for Batman.
February 9th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Hi Guys,
I wholeheartedly agree with you about Alan Grant. At a past Comicon, I got to meet Cam Kennedy (he was working on Star Wars books for DH at the time) and he was a great guy as are most of the Brit comix people I’ve met…
Wayne