Celebrating Differences with Graphic Novels

Graphic novels are definitely one of the best forms of literature. Growing up, I often would get distracted when reading for homework and in class, and I always wished that there were more pictures in my books as I got older. Thankfully I chose the right profession to study and am now growing my collection!

We read two graphic novels this week: New Shoes written and illustrated by Sara Varon, and Stargazing written and illustrated by Jen Wang.

Jen Wang is a Chinese-American award winning author who also co-founded and organizes Comic Arts LA. She uses inspiration from her childhood to create Christine and Moon and the way they become friends. Her personal webpage is linked here.

Sara Varon is a Brooklyn-based graphic-novelist, printmaker, and children's book author. She found a lot of inspiration for New Shoes in Guyana, where the story takes place. She actually spent time in Guyana takings pictures to reference when creating her drawings. Her husbands family lives in Guyana, so they have visited before. Her personal webpage is linked here.

Stargazing is about a young girl named Christine who lives in a traditional Chinese household. She focuses her time on studying and playing the violin until her family begins renting their extra unit in the backyard to a family in need. She has heard about the young girl moving in, Moon Lin, and how she was a tempered child. After being reluctant to meet Moon, Christine becomes fascinated by her confidence and culture. Moon Lin is Buddhist and vegetarian, and talks a lot about how she really came from a place up in the stars. She introduces Christine to K-Pop, dancing, and painting her nails- things that are not very acceptable in traditional Chinese culture. This builds into a lovely friendship, and Christine is beginning to like Moon more and more each time they hang out. She even becomes jealous when Moon begins hanging out with a more popular girl at school named Madison. Moon has some tendencies to fight other kids who are being mean. She pushed down a young boy who called Christine's younger sister "stupid," and she fights one of her friends for making fun of her drawings at Madison's birthday party. These actions may be caused by the tumor they find in her brain near the end of the book. Christine becomes so worried that Moon may be different now, but finds out that she is still the great friend she had all along. This graphic novel was so fun to read, and watching Christine find herself and her voice throughout the book is inspiring. I'd say that this confidence came from her new friend, Moon.

New Shoes is about a donkey named Francis who makes shoes. Animals come from all over to buy the shoes that Francis makes, including a famous pop star that goes by the name of Miss Manatee- The Calypso Queen. This book is takes place in the jungles of South America showing all different kinds of animals- Capybara, black calmans, even the giant river otter. Francis uses special materials for his shoes, including tiger grass that comes from deep inside the forest. His friend Nigel retrieves the tiger grass for him because he knows the way around the jungle the best. That is, until one day Nigel does not come back. This time turns into days when Francis decides he has to go in the forest to find him. He has never left the village before, and asks his friend Rhoda to journey with him. Along their journey they meet all kinds of animals. They are always nervous for their encounters, and end up realizing that everyone they have met has been nothing short of pleasant. Francis and Rhoda find their friend Nigel trapped by three scary animals; A jaguar, a wild hog, and a howler monkey. After passing out due to being so terrified, they learn that these three animals are pretty reasonable, and they caught Nigel because he was actually stealing their tiger grass. Harriet, the jaguar, ends up giving Nigel some tiger grass and instructions to grow and maintain it himself, and even showed them her collection of Miss Manatee's music! After returning home, Francis could not figure out the perfect pair of shoes for a manatee. He sends a letter to his new friend Harriet, who comes into the village to help the gang create the perfect pair of "shoes" for Miss Manatee. The book ends on a lovely note with all of the animals enjoying Miss Manatee's concert together.

Both of these books are great representation on why differences should be celebrated. I think books that celebrate differences are extra special, especially because this is a lesson most people learn when they are young. As a child, you know only what you learned in your home life and community. Sometimes it is hard to understand that people don't always grow up and live like you do, but Jen Wang and Sara Varon both created literature that gives students the opportunity to understand that our differences make up our world. If Rhoda, Harriet, Nigel and Francis were all the same kinds of animals with the same talents and strengths, they would have never been able to collaborate and create the perfect "pair of shoes" for Miss Manatee. Without Moon Lin, Christine would have kept doing the same thing everyday without that spark of happiness or passion that she found through Moon. This aligns with a critical social issue found in Stargazing- the differences between cultures, and the non acceptance of cultures. Christine was unsure of Moon's culture, and thought at first that it was kind of odd. Bringing this story into the classroom will give students the opportunity to see how Christine was confronted with a different culture, and how she learned to appreciate Moon's differences rather than believing she was odd because of them. I would introduce this story to my class and ask them along the way questions like "Why do you think Christine is acting this way towards Moon?" Questions like this engage students in conversation that confronts them with their own stereotypes. Continuing the book and following Christine's admiration for Moon will show students that differences make us all better, and they introduce us into a life of more understanding of one another. I would specifically point out Christine's emotions on page 27 of the book. This is when Christine meets Moon for the first time, and Christine and her sister are being invited over for dinner while their parents go to an event.

Christine is pictured on the bottom left side. I would ask my students what kind of mannerisms is Christine showing to depict her emotion. I would expect answers like, "her eyebrows are raised which shows her uncertainty," "she has her hands in her pockets, which may show us that she is uncomfortable," or even "her blushing cheeks show us that she may be embarrassed or scared." This is an important page in this book because it shows Christine's uncomfortability with Moon. She is uncertain of her mannerisms, her culture, and who she is overall as a person. This is something I would love to address in class before continuing the book. As we go through the chapters, it shows that Christine comes to appreciate Moon and all of the things that make her different.

Chapter seven, "Honoring Others," from our textbook provided a great synopsis on the importance of teaching and encouraging students to be unbiased in their thinking, and accepting all people of all backgrounds. It is no secret that everyone within our world is vastly different in their own ways, and as educators we have a very important job to teach children that these differences are good! A quote from Fred Rogers says it all:

This chapter goes into detail about creating ways for students to step inside of the story, which makes it more natural for the students when learning the lesson within the book. I provided a graphic below that goes through the character changes, comparing and contrasting characters from different books that go through the same life lessons, and the message of the book. This chart is a great tool for teachers to incorporate in literature studies because it serves as a place where you are able to record your reflections and discuss them as a group.

The last thing I want to touch base about is the importance and benefits gained from using graphic novels in the classroom. Something special about graphic novels are the way they authors and illustrators space out events in the story. Using panels to space out events, like when Francis took off his shoes to cross the river with the Capybara. He was afraid and did not like they way his feet felt when his shoes got wet. Sara Varon used panels to space out these events to show the true emotion that came from Francis. He was overcoming his fears, and this part of the story was important. This is comparable to the way Jen Wang used splash pages. She would incorporate splash pages (when the panel takes up the entire page) when chapters would come to an end or when important parts of the story were happening. My favorite splash page was when Christine was visiting Moon in the hospital at the end of the story, and Christine was finally telling Moon how she felt and that she was sorry for starting the fight at Madison's birthday party by opening her private journal. The splash page features them hugging it out, depicting a very important part of the lesson in this story. Yes they are different, but Moon's differences opened Christine up to a different (and exciting) way of life. She learned confidence and happiness through Moon, and this page is the perfect representation of their unity. All of these aspects of graphic novels make me more inclined to include them in my classroom. I think children of all ages can appreciate a good book with pictures in it, but through the strategies discussed, I think my future students will have a better time analyzing emotions and characteristics through graphic novels while learning core life lessons along the way.

Varon, S. About/Contact. chickenopolis. http://chickenopolis.com/contact/.

Wang, J. About. https://www.jenwang.net/about.